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July 18th, 2002
Received by H.R.
Cuenca, Ecuador.
Do you feel better now? So then, as I promised you yesterday, I
am going to deliver a short message. It will not be very difficult.
What I want to do is to take you by your hand and lead you to a
condition where you may receive once again longer messages and of
a deeper content. For this end, we have to practice, yes, you understand
me. It would be good if we could deliver a message every day. Yes,
I know that this will hardly be possible. Nevertheless, promise
me that you will at least try to.
I wish to talk about the subject of "judging
others."
You have read how some people make fun of the Bible and of the
contradictions contained therein. It is true, it contains such,
but these supposed contradictions are sometimes due to out of context
statements or simply to the bad understanding of their authors.
Firstly, keep in mind that the word "to judge" in the
Bible often does not refer to a judgment in the juridical sense
or to an evaluation or criticism of people or their actions, but
is rather synonymous for "to rule." Here you find some
typical examples:
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Luke 22:30 …. Yes, you will sit on
thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel!
John 5:22 The Father is no man’s judge:
he has put judgment entirely into the Son’s hands...
John 5:27 And he has given him authority
to judge because he is Son of Man.
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Yet, there are enough passages left as to cause
confusion. For example:
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Luke 6:37 Don’t judge other people
and you will not be judged yourselves. Don’t condemn
and you will not be condemned. Forgive others and people will
forgive you.
John 7:24 You must not judge by the appearance
of things but by the reality!"
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Hence, ought we to judge?
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Romans 2:1 Now if you feel inclined to set
yourself up as a judge of those who sin, let me assure you,
whoever you are, that you are in no position to do so. For
at whatever point you condemn others you automatically condemn
yourself, since you, the judge, commit the same sins.
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So, we shall not judge.
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1 Corinthians 5:12,13 Those outside the
church it is not my business to judge. But surely it is your
business to judge those who are inside the church — God
alone can judge those who are outside. It is your plain duty
to expel this wicked man from your fellowship!
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But here, we should judge. This passage even alludes
to the possibility of availing oneself of lawsuits.
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1 Corinthians 6:4 In any case, if you find
you have to judge matters of this world, why choose as judges
those who count for nothing in the church?
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However, James’ opinion seems to differ...
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James 4:11,12 Never pull each other to pieces,
my brother, If you criticize your brother and judge your brother
you have become in fact a critic and judge of the Law. Yet
if you start to criticize the Law instead of obeying it you
are setting yourself up as judge. There is only one judge,
the One who gave the Law, to whom belongs absolute power of
life and death.
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How can you then be your neighbor’s judge?
And it is this sequence of contradictory statements that has led
many "critics" to ridicule the biblical teachings, asserting
that there is no straight teaching in the doctrine, and that each
of the authors held to their personal opinion. Well, in some ways,
it was so, but in our specific case, there are actually no contradictions.
What determines the attitude of people, either mortals or spirits?
Definitely, it is the development of their souls. If people really
want to improve, they have to improve the condition of their souls,"
to grow spiritually," so as to say. There are several roads
leading to this goal, as you know: through the development of natural
love, or Jesus’ way, "seeking the Kingdom of God,"
that is, to seek the Love of God, because this way "all these
things will come to you as a matter of course."
When we see that people, or ourselves, act badly — and with
that we already emit a criterion, we are already judging —
we may say so. There is nothing bad in evaluating situations or
attitudes. However, the evaluation should not exhaust itself in
mere criticism, "never pull each other to pieces", but
it should rather lead immediately to a helping action. If we want
people who acted wrongly to change, then we have to guide them,
so that they may succeed in changing their souls’ condition.
Moreover, simple criticism will not lead to this goal. We must help.
It is true, only the individuals themselves can achieve this change,
but often they need other’s guidance.
In the Padgett messages, Jesus also "judged" Padgett,
his state of receptivity, and he exhorted him to pray more. That
was not criticism for just criticizing, but guiding and helping.
And so you should proceed. The "admitted judgment" - it
is the judgment of love, where one does not raise a menacing finger,
but extends a helping hand.
But, of course, this procedure also demands the affected people’s
consent. If they do not show any intention of changing, then all
our "criticism" will not be useful at all, and the best
thing to do will be to separate from those people.
However, the important thing is, always to keep in mind that all
our reactions depend on our soul development. When we find that
people have acted badly, what they have done perhaps was the best
thing they were able to do, considering their condition. Perfection
on earth does not exist, yet there is the possibility of bending
every effort to come closer to the ideal. If the structure on which
our decisions are based on, that is to say, our soul, does not change,
all good intentions will fail.
This message has not been so short at all, but you have received
it satisfactorily. We will continue practicing.
With much love,
Judas
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