Romans 2:1-4

"(1) You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (2) Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. (3) So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? (4) Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?"

When I was writing my last post I was really concerned about how I would come off. I wanted to write the truth without appearing like I am looking down my nose at people's sins. This section of Romans highlights why I was so concerned - God says don't pass judgment on people. I think there is a clear difference between trusting your intuition/voice of the holy spirit and passing judgment. Here's an example - you notice someone following you as you walk down the street, you're not crazy or wrong for judging them to be dangerous. That judgment has probably saved many people from disaster. But if you're at Walmart and you see an African American wearing baggy jeans and dreadlocks and you judge them to be a gang banger, you're passing a judgment that God would not approve of. Paul says that if you condemn someone, you will be condemned. God's judgment is based on truth, our judgment is based on something else - prejudice, experiences, things you've read, things you've heard, etc. How could our basis for judgment compare to God's basis - TRUTH? It can't! Paul goes further to say that you can't pass judgment on someones sins because you do the same thing! Basically he's saying that if you judge someone, you'll be a hypocrite. God can never be a hypocrite because he doesn't sin so he is worthy to pass judgment, but we are just men and not worthy of that responsibility.

One thing to understand: God doesn't just sit up in the clouds passing judgment. He is kind and patient and allows you to repent before he makes his ultimate judgment when you approach the pearly gates. But don't mistake his patience for acceptance of your sin. If you do, you may not like the judgment you get when you finally make it to heaven.

P.S. I just realized I accidentally skipped like 5 verses in Chapter 1...I'll get to those in my next post :-)