JUDGMENT: Gods Righteous Judgment Is Based On Truth Could our - TopicsExpress

JUDGMENT: Gods Righteous Judgment Is Based On Truth Could our judgment of people in whom Christ lives also be somewhat distorted because of carnality still active within us? This is part of the equation. We may be ill-equipped to make a sound judgment because we are unable to recognize godly qualities or to understand the factors involved in anothers conduct. Judgment is the noun form of the verb to judge. According to Websters New World Dictionary, it means a legal decision, order, decree, or sentence given by a judge or law court. This has a number of biblical applications and practical ramifications regarding our conduct. Another facet of judgment is the ability to come to opinions about things; power of comparing and deciding. In this meaning, synonyms include discernment, sagacity, and good sense. In a circumstance for which no specific law exists, judgments are usually made on the basis of previously existing laws and/or principles. A clear example of this involved Zelophehads daughters in Numbers 27:1-11. When Zelophehad died, he left five daughters but no sons. Israel had no specific inheritance laws covering such a circumstance, and Moses did not know what to do. He took it to God and received a judgment. From that point on, that judgment became the law of the land. God used existing principles involving the closeness of blood relationships, establishing a progressive sequence to cover inheritance. His judgment became the law of the land. He also employed all of the above definitions. He understood the circumstance, compared the various existing principles with the new situation, and wisely made a decree covering this specific instance. Undoubtedly, it became a precedent for subsequent cases. Judging is the act—the process—of seeing, hearing, reading, sifting, calculating, reckoning, comparing, and evaluating evidence for reaching or determining an opinion or decision. It is one of the most commonly occurring acts in life. In a wide variety of situations, we perform such a process many times a day. We do it so frequently and automatically that we rarely stop to consciously think of the numerous evaluations we make in comparing quality, cost, value, safety, danger, ethics, or morality. From the time we arise in the morning to begin the day, our minds are processing information to determine what we should do, in what order we do it, how well we do it, and if we will complete it. The process of judging leads to personal judgments, which, in reality, are and become the beliefs, opinions, preferences, and convictions underlying our choices. How could we possibly not perform such a vital function of life? Taken to an extreme, not to do so would be to drop out of life itself! The very quality of life here and now largely depends upon the quality of our judgments. The better prepared we are to make quality judgments, the greater the probability of success. Is this not the underlying purpose of education? Of course, learning to make quality judgments ties directly to Gods purpose. He shows clearly in such places as Matthew 13:10-17 and I Corinthians 2:6-9 that mankind is blinded to vital elements of His purpose and plan. Thus, salvation is impossible until God reveals these things to us (I Corinthians 2:10-16). At the proper time in each persons life, God reveals the missing elements and then commands him to choose. To make right choices, a person must judge. John W. Ritenbaugh