By Greg Holt

I recently made a comment on a post on Gab; this post showed a group of men that obviously were pretending to be women.  My comment was – “Absolutely disgusting. Men pretending to be women – deceived by Satan.”  Maybe that was harsher than it needed to be.

So, another Gab member stated the following in a comment about my comment:

“Tell me Greg, what is the basis by which you are judging (condemning) these people? You might very wall [sic] be the one who is being deceived by Satan? Try reading Matthew 7, but you need to understand the relationship of a Christian to the Law. If a Christian is ‘saved by grace’ and freed from the condemnation of the Law’ = what happens if you judge others for not following the Law? As Jesus said you condemn yourself by the same standard you use to judge others. As a Christian we already acknowledged that we are sinners who broke God’s Law, so we have no defense if we blame others for violating the Law, AND therefore have condemned ourself by the same standard. This returns that Christian to the condemnation of the Law, and they lose their ‘salvation by grace’ (dependent only upon Jesus [sic] patience and long suffering).”

I did reflect on what this person said, as I have a mutual respect for him as a fellow Believer in Christ, and I am not always right.  As I said, maybe my original comment was a tad harsh, I should have left the “absolutely disgusting” part out of it I suppose.  I don’t really think that what I said was in any way wrong however.  I have worked hard to not be so judgmental, to restrain my social media comments, or to simply not comment at all – because I know that I’ve been in the wrong, or at the very least, what I said did not reflect well on Jesus (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31).  I have seen the “need” to be quick to judge, quick to snap at others etc., this is basic human nature, we’ve all done it, and it takes a lot of work to not do this.

I need to however set the record straight here – my comment was in no way a judgment of those men posing as women (I can see how it would look that way).  Judging their actions, as in being transgender, dressing and acting like a woman?  Yes, I see that as being wrong.  Judging them personally?  No.  That is God’s job, not mine.  I have no idea what their circumstances are in life, what brought them to this point, etc.  I will admit, the less I (we) judge, the better.

The Law

The Law, or the Mosaic Law, whatever you want to call it, does not apply to those of us who are not Jewish, and it never did, it doesn’t apply to the Jews anymore either (Romans 3:23-25).  This can get difficult to understand, and in truth, trips up many a seasoned believer in Jesus, even those who know their Bible pretty well.

“¹⁶ Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. ¹⁷ And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Galatians 3:16-18
**Underlining mine**

We, Believers in Jesus, seem to pick and choose what “rules” we will follow, what parts of the Mosaic Law we will endorse, and what parts of the law we will discard, because those parts are apparently not convenient for us.

We will say that we are not under the Law, but we are under grace, then turn around and quote the Old Testament.  How’s that again??? 

This happens for two primary reasons;

1. Many people are largely biblically ignorant, because they don’t read their Bible, and if they do, they understand very little of it. Or, their understanding is flawed because it is not based on proper biblical context etc.
2. Unfortunately, many do not understand how the Law and grace work, and what our relationship to each one really is.

The Mosaic Law was given to the Jewish people; it was a sacred covenant between God and the Jewish nation of Israel (Romans 3:19-20).  This covenant did not ever include the Gentiles (Non-Jewish people).

Consider the following:

“Consider, for a moment, the regulations of neighboring states. Californians are not under the laws of Nevada, but if they cross that border, then Nevada’s rules reign, not the Golden State’s.

“The exact same principle—that a government’s statutes apply only to those under its jurisdiction—pertains to God’s statutes, too. A covenant is a contract. It is binding only on the signatories. No one else.

“The Mosaic Covenant was an arrangement between God and the Jews in the commonwealth of Israel. It was given to the people of that nation for that time and had no direct application to anyone outside its borders.

“Gentile nations were not under the laws God established for the Jews in the theocracy. They lived in a different “state.” Therefore, nothing in the Mosaic Law, in virtue of being in that Law, governs any Gentile at any time, in any place.” (Source)

The old covenant, between God and Israel, is no longer in effect, including for Israel and the Jewish people (The Jewish people do not accept this).  There is a new covenant (The covenant of grace, as opposed to the covenant of Law) that covers all people, between God, and as stated, all people, instituted and paid for by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:11-14; Romans 8:2).

However, some of the old Law still applies, even though we are under grace.

Grace and Law

Think about the Ten Commandments, originally given as part of the Mosaic Law.  Nine of those commandments are still in force, excepting the Sabbath (Romans 14:5-6).  Think of the commandments as universal laws.  Why did God want to drive out/destroy the people that populated the places where the Jewish nation was headed to that would eventually become their inheritance?  These “natives” were more than a little sinful, more like downright evil.  Human sacrifice, nasty sexual practices, idolatry, murder, theft, lying, extreme corruption, etc., they basically violated all of the commandments that God had given to the Israelites, before the Lord even gave them to His people.

Now look forward to the New Testament – Murder is still a no-no, so is; lying, idols and idol worship, sex outside marriage, same-sex relationships, using the name of God as a swear-word, worshiping other “gods,” stealing, bearing false witness against others, etc. (Galatians 5:19-21).

Some Laws, transferred into the new covenant of grace.  So, while we are not under the Law, we are still bound by some laws.

Look at it this way, Jesus said that there are two commandments that are of the highest importance for those who believe in Him (These actually apply to all people, but unbelievers will ignore them at will).

We are to love the Lord our God with our entire being, heart, mind, and soul.  Secondly, we are to love our “neighbor” as ourself.  Neighbor here means everyone, no exceptions.

I say this repeatedly – if we really followed these two commands of Christ’s, would we willingly do anything, whatsoever to cause even the most minor harm to anyone at all?  I believe the answer should be obvious.  These two commands of Christ, are even more exacting than the old Mosaic Law!  Jesus also said that these two commands fulfill all the Law (Matthew 22:40).

Grace

All that being said, we are under grace, not Law (Romans 10:4).  One cannot lose their salvation for making judgments (Or for any other reason), in fact, we are told to judge (John 7:24; Luke 17:3)!  Matthew 7 is more about those who make harsh, ill-informed judgments, without mercy, and those who judge, when they themselves are doing the same things that they judge others for.

As for the actual judging, as I said, many “Laws” still apply in the new covenant.  We are therefore not judging according to the Law, because if you have placed yourself under the Law, then the grace of Christ is of no effect to you, and you are guilty of breaking all the Law (Galatians 5:4; James 2:10)!  Rather, we judge according to the “universal” laws, and the Royal Law of Love (James 2:8; Romans 13:8-10).  It is plain to see what is wrong and against God in the New Testament, we do not need to invoke or involve the Mosaic Law.

Even Jesus “judged” others, such as the Pharisees (Matthew 23).  No, we can’t compare ourselves to Him, but the same rules still apply.  If Jesus said it’s wrong, or His apostles etc., who wrote the New Testament, then it’s wrong, no need for the Mosaic Law.  The New Testament quotes many parts of the Old Testament, that is another clue that, that particular “Law” still applies today.  The New Testament, and the New Covenant are basically, the new Law – the Law in Christ.

Paul, in Galatians 5 for example, made many “judgments”.  We need to make judgments, and no one’s salvation is at risk for doing so.  Again, proper and righteous judgment has absolutely nothing to do with the Mosaic Law!  We are by no means placing ourselves under the Law by judging, that is a very serious misunderstanding of the Scriptures.

That being said, be careful to judge people’s actions, never the people themselves.  Don’t cast your judgment on others, for things you yourself do.  By the way, this is all speaking to me as much as anyone else (Me more so than others actually).  If you judged inappropriately, to someone’s face, apologize to them, ask for forgiveness.  If you did such only in your mind, take it to God, apologize to Him, and ask for forgiveness and future guidance.

I hope that this has been helpful to you.  God bless.

 

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