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They pick and choose what they want to obey in the Bible, and throw out what they don’t.
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They believe that all you need to do to be saved is say a simple prayer, then go back to their lifestyle before they prayed.
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They believe in, follow, and promote such a thing known as “cheap grace”.
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They use the saying, “I’m not perfect, just saved” and such to water down, if not even to justify their sin and disobediences to God.
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They take on the culture of the times and their surroundings and completely throw out the need to be holy, as God is holy and demands that His people be holy, as He is.
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They justify their sin as nothing major so they won’t feel guilty when they commit it.
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They’ll judge others when they give opinions or show facts that don’t match their own opinions and beliefs, but then criticize people for judging them.
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They’re closed-minded, in that they don’t believe in the facts, only their pre-chosen beliefs.
As you can see, I’ve written a lot about such people who have this disease. Unfortunately, it’s also extremely contagious, especially in this region of the world.
The Bible is One Book
See, when you read the Bible, you have to remember that all 66 books (the 39 in the Old Testament and the 27 in the New Testament) are all part of the same book. In fact, if not for the time gap between Malachi and Matthew, you could actually read it straight through and it would all make sense, because most everything in the New Testament refers back to the Old Testament, and most everything that’s talked about in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. In other words, the message that’s in the Old Testament is the same as what’s in the New Testament (and vice-versa). It’s when you take things out of context and use them for your own agenda, or to match your own (preferred?) understanding, that it becomes a problem.
Love Thy Neighbor
Mark 12:28-34 tells us about a man asking Jesus what the greatest commandment is. Jesus’ answer was “Hear, O Israel: ‘The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
So Jesus combined the 2 greatest commandments into one: Love God with your full being (heart, soul, mind, strength), and in the same way, love others (love God and love others).
Loving others
I’m not sure if you’ve attempted this, but to love God is one thing, but loving others, even strangers and people who you’d most often prefer not to associate yourself, is really difficult to do. But then, the question that needs to be asked is, if we’re not loving others, are we then still loving God? Because Jesus said “if you love me, you’ll obey my commandments”. So if we’re not loving others, then we’re disobeying God’s command to love them. And if we’re disobeying God’s command to love them, then we’re disobeying God’s commands, and not doing a good job at loving God.
Rebuking Others in Love
But now, we also need to understand that loving others doesn’t mean that we give them everything they want, nor do you support their sin and bad decisions. For instance, some time ago, one of my younger sisters shared with me her life’s plans to move in with her boyfriend and the time. I didn’t think it was a good idea, so I told her this and why. She burst out into tears, asking, “why can’t you just be happy for me like everyone else I know?” My answer was because I apparently cared more about her than her happiness (and possibly more than everyone else she knew).
Likewise, if somebody you know wants to do something that’s not good for them, could be harmful, could lead them to sin or danger, or likewise, then rebuking them, or even simply not agreeing with them, is a sign of love for them. They may not be happy about it at that moment (and may even get really mean towards you in regards to it), but if you’re correct to be concerned, then they may realize this later, and also realize that you stepped out in love to warn them when nobody else would.
Judge Not, Lest You Be Judged
I’ve noticed that a LOT of people who don’t know the Bible seem to know this one verse. However, when they recite it, they’re often taking Jesus’ words completely out of context, using them to hopefully prevent people from interfering with their (sometimes bad) decisions.
How Judgment is Taken Out of Context
Many look at “judge not…” and say, “The Bible tells you not to judge, so don’t judge me!” But actually, Jesus never told us not to judge, but that WHEN we DO judge, we should judge righteously, not unrighteously. So He never tells us not to judge, but HOW to judge.
How To Judge Righteously
If you read the next section right after Jesus tells us not to judge, then you’ll read Jesus telling us also not to throw our pearls to swine or precious things to the dogs, for they’ll just rip everything up and destroy it. But how would you know the difference between pigs and dogs if you’re not allowed to judge? It’s like, you wouldn’t intentionally ask a known child molester to babysit your child, right? Of course not! But to know not to do that, you’d have to judge (discern from) that person, right? And if you shouldn’t judge under any circumstance, then you’d be (forced?) to hire them. But that’s not what Jesus said. So to know better than to hand them over would be to judge righteously.
I suppose you could say that to judge righteously is to discern from good and evil. So in a sense, it’s not really judgment, but discernment. But when was the last time somebody yelled at you, “Don’t discern me!”? Sounds a little funny, right? But that’s actually what we’re doing, because we’re not the Judge, Christ is. But we are told to discern (or judge) accordingly, as long as it’s righteous judgment.
Christ is Judge
Also, Christ is Judge. No, He didn’t come to this world the first time to judge, but He will the 2nd time, and you don’t want to be among those of judgment when that happens. And as I said about John 3:18 (the verse nobody gets to when reading John 3:16), that if you reject Christ Jesus, you’ve already been judged and condemned. So judgment from others is the least of your worries. The judgment you need to be concerned about is that of God’s when He returns.
When Judgment Takes Place
In the days of Genesis, people were judged immediately for their sin:
- Lot’s wife turned to salt
- Cain was banished and given a black thumb (a farmer who could no longer farm)
- Adam & Eve were kicked out of the garden, curses were handed out accordingly, the first blood sacrifice was done, etc.
- The animals and all of creation were tainted with sin when the humans & serpent sinned
(just to name a few).
Always the Opportunity to Repent
Thankfully, God doesn’t exact judgment on us (immediately) like that anymore. Sure, for some people we wish He would, but God has always given people the opportunity to repent of their sin. For instance,
When Adam and Eve sinned, God was walking in the garden, and they hid. God asked, “Where are you?” God knew where they were; He was giving them the chance/option to approach Him on their own. It’s like when a child breaks some, and the parent finds it. The child’s first response is often to hide so as to not get into trouble. So Adam & Eve hid because guilt from sin causes us to fear God (and human authority), and hide from Him.
After they came out from hiding, they explained why they were hiding. God asked them, “Who told you that you were naked? What have you done? Again, God knew what they did, but in asking, He gave Adam a chance to acknowledge and confess his sin. He also gave Eve the same chance when He asked her, “What have you done?” All she had to do was acknowledge her sin, repent of it, and all would’ve been…maybe not good, but surely better than it turned out.
But I digress.
How Christians Should Judge
Paul also talks about how to judge, in that we’re to “judge” only those within the Church, not those outside, and when we do judge, it’s as one holding the other accountable for their actions and sins so as not to fall deeper into their sin or to fall away from God. But God is the only judge, and frankly, when choosing between God and man as judge, one should be terrified of God’s judgment, way more than that of humans. But that’s just another example of the backwardness of “Liberal Christians” who do just as you said, they throw away most of the Bible and follow just what they want or can agree with, and keep to only certain “popular” commands. They’re not doing what it takes to be a real Christian. And unfortunately, that’s exactly what a lot of “American Christians” do.
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