A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (July 18, 2017)
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. (Philippians 1:9-10)
People that read and study the Bible often look at the word “judgment” as a negative thing. They immediately think that God is going to judge them for some sin and cast them into a lake of fire. That type of mental approach to this particular word can distort what the Word of God is trying to tell us if we aren’t really careful. Let’s look at an example in the Bible:
And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. (John 9:39).
The Greek word used for judgment in this verse is “krima” which means a decision for or against. In this scripture Jesus is talking to the man he healed that was blind from birth. The Pharisees had kicked this man out of the church just for telling his testimony about Jesus healing him. Jesus heard they had kicked him out and went to find him and led him to salvation (note that the man was healed by Jesus before he was even saved). Jesus was explaining to this man (and us) that He came into the world for judgment. He was not just talking about Him and His Word judging us. He was talking about us making a judgment. It was about us making the right choice.
Let’s look at this same verse in the Amplified and Message Bibles:
Then Jesus said, I came into this world for judgment [as a Separator, in order that there may be separation between those who believe on Me and those who reject Me], to make the sightless see and to make those who see become blind. (AMPC Bible)
Then Jesus said, “My coming into this world is itself a judgment—those who cannot see have their eyes opened and those who think they can see become blind.” (Phillips Bible)
In context, the unsaved blind man could see but the religiously trained Pharisees, who thought they could see, were blind.
Jesus, by His words and His works, presents a profound question to all of us. Do you believe or do you not believe? It boils down to that simple and most powerful question of belief. That blind man believed and never backed off that belief even in the face of religious persecution and even though he did not know who Jesus really was at first.
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (John 12:46-48)
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:34-38)
Jesus wants all of us to make good judgments. There is no middle-ground. There is no gray area. You are either all-in or all-out. You either believe or you don’t believe. There is no looking back. That was the mindset of the blind man that was healed, regardless of the persecution, and that is the mindset that we should have. The simple act of believing is the key to receiving all of the benefits that are available to you and I which were paid for on the Cross of Calvary and are contained in the Word of God.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (Mark 9:23)
