Tag: judgment

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You’re Pure for Sure

Do you remember Pure gas stations? Their slogan, “Be Sure with Pure,” was something of a losing proposition, seemingly, for in the late 60s its parent company rebranded Pure as Union 76. It seems people were willing to tolerate a little dose of impurity in their gas tanks, after all. So it is likewise with our spiritual life: we accept some measure of impurity; in fact, our sin nature prefers it. But God does not.

Sometimes we errantly look upon God’s mercy as a “replacement” for His judgment, as if sin is no longer sin — or no longer to be judged as sin — and as though sin has somehow outlasted God’s Word and won the day. For example, a pastor friend once mused about sexual sin clearly condemned in the Bible. “I think under the new covenant, it may no longer be a sin,” he said. I was stunned, for by no means will God ever taint His purity through capitulation. Such would be unmerciful to us.

To understand God’s mercy, we must understand our sin. By its nature, sin separates us from God, as David confessed in song, “No evil can dwell with You.”1 Isaiah proclaims of humankind, “your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God.”2 Moreover, even “our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”3 And lest we think God grades us on a curve, James warns us, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”4 It is into this squalor that God’s mercy brilliantly shines.

Then to understand God’s judgment, we must understand His purity. Sin must be completely eradicated, but how could a flawed people so separated by sin from God even begin atone for our sins, let alone succeed in doing so? Only God’s sinless life can sacrificially atone for a people made in His image. And so it is that God “made Him who knew no sin [Jesus] to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”5 This sinless Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.”6 In Hebrews we read, “Such a high priest truly meets our need — one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”7 In His purity, Jesus withstood God’s judgment and, in His mercy, He purifies all who live in Him. In Christ, we’re pure for sure. He makes us so.

Then, “since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”8

Be sure. You’re pure.

Father, thank You for Your judgment of sin, and thank You for purifying us through the sacrificial atonement of Your Son. In His name we pray. Amen.

1 Psalm 5:4 NASB
2 Isaiah 59:2 NASB
3 Isaiah 64:6
4 James 2:10 ESV
5 2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB
6 Titus 2:14 NASB
7 Hebrews 7:26 NIV
8 Hebrews 10:21-22 ESV

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Not up to the Job

Through International Friendships (IFI), Peggy and I have hosted many international students in our home upon their arrival to the U.S. If our guests stay over a weekend, we invite them to church, where I’ve seen them occasionally navigate their cell phones during the service. I must confess being miffed in the past at such apparent disrespect. Can’t they “unplug” for one hour? What took me a regrettably long time to realize, however, was that they were using translator apps to look up theological terms completely new to them. They were not being disrespectful at all; on the contrary, they were trying to engage! If anyone sat in need of judgment, it was this erroneous judge.

I’m not alone in this regard; there is plenty of company. For instance, as Hannah weepingly implored God in her heart to grant her a son, “her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli [the priest] thought she was drunk and said to her, ‘How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.’”1 He had judged the woman from appearances without knowing her heart; he had made himself understood before seeking to understand. “‘Not so, my lord,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.’”2 (What a great response!) Not only are we capable of false judgment, we are prone to it.

The prophet Jeremiah once pondered, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”3 Yes, who are we to judge the heart of another when we cannot fully understand our own? At the very least, we should recognize what we do not know —the heart of others, their appeal to God for His grace, and His plan for their life. Why should we shackle others with heavy chains of judgment when God would liberate them with words and acts of mercy?

Upon Hannah’s self-defense, a corrected Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”4 Then perhaps this is our take-away — to be God’s vessels of blessing to others, and leave the judging to Him who alone is up to the job.

“First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”5 — Jesus, to us.

Father, You — and only You — are right in judgment. Give us a distaste for judging others, and incline our hearts toward them in care, compassion, mercy, and grace. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 1 Samuel 1:13-14 NIV
2 1 Samuel 1:15-16 NIV
3 Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
4 1 Samuel 1:17 NIV
5 Matthew 7:5 NIV

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Judgment, Mercy, and a Skilled Physician

“The doctor said I’m cancer-free!” I can only imagine the relief, joy, and new lease on life shared by new survivors. Being cleared of life-threatening disease — even if through harsh treatment — must be one of the most euphoric feelings in all humanity. Yet if bodily healing buys us additional finite time, be it 10 years or 40, how much more glorious must be our purification from the eternal-life-threatening presence of sin, for any amount of it, even one “cell,” is spiritually lethal. James writes, “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it,”1 and Isaiah tells us our sins separate us from God,2 in whom life exists.

The prophet Habakkuk once proclaimed, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.”3 Indeed, our God is holy and He will not allow His purity — purity’s only source — to be compromised, as we have. Then we have a problem, a soul sickness to be cured and a closeness to be restored. We need a physician who can “get it all,” we need our sin to be removed and ourselves declared “sin-free.” So like an oncologist, God detects our sin, declares it, and condemns it; He goes after it with a vengeance — zero tolerance. For God will not taint His purity by ignoring ours, nor does He will to abandon us to our sin condition. Sin must be judged: it must be named for what it is, and then eradicated.

Then judgment is a kindness, for God would kill the disease of sin while saving the patient. And so it is that God judges with mercy; He is harsh on our sin, yet merciful to us. For though we were dead in our trespasses — judged and found condemned — God removed them from us through the sacrificial death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul writes, “God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”4 And again, “Our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus . . . gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.”5 He killed the cancer and saved the patient.

Judgment speaks truth, then sends us to mercy. It confronts us with reality of sin— no compromise, zero tolerance — then points us to healing and life. In judgment, God displays His purity, and in mercy He declares our own.

Thank You, God, for your judgment and Your mercy. Both proclaim Your purity and speak Your love. Send us with confidence to proclaim You with joy. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 James 2:10 ESV
2 Isaiah 59:2
3 Habakkuk 1:13 NIV
4 Romans 8:1-4 NLT
5 Titus 2:13-14 NASB