11月16日

標　　題： 不論斷

經　　節： 你們不要論斷人，就不被論斷；你們不要定人的罪，就不被定罪；你們要饒恕人，就必蒙饒恕。（路加福音六章37節）

論斷和明辨有絕大的不同。神識透人心，他知道人真正的動機（箴言十六：2）。只有神可以正確地審判那些該受懲治的人。最終，基督在審判的那一天，神會坐在寶座上審判我們。

我們的問題是：我們喜歡坐在審判寶座上，定罪那些我們認為有罪的人！聖靈告訴我們，不要去論斷或定罪他人，因為我們不能同時論斷又贖罪。我們很難一面論斷人，一面真誠地為此人禱告。有時候，論斷的態度似乎會變成我們的藉口，不願加入神在某人身上的救贖大工。聖經提醒我們，神會以我們對待別人的恩慈或嚴酷的態度，來對待我們（路加福音六：38）。

神命令我們不要論斷人，但要我們能夠分辨。耶穌說，我們可以由人們生命的果子，得知此人的屬靈狀況（馬太福音七：16）。他說荊棘叢中不可能長出葡萄。如果一個人的生命充滿刺，我們可以知道此人不是一棵葡萄樹！我們是否在論斷人？不，我們是在分辨。聖經命令我們，要避免與褻慢人及愚昧人相交（箴言廿二：10，十七：12）。除非能夠分辨褻慢人及愚昧人，否則不能遵行神的命令。這不是論斷，這是明辨。身為基督徒，我們被教導要觀察其他人的生命，好叫我們在不被罪的影響下，可以幫助他們。

除非能夠以神的眼光看人，你才能成為他人的幫助。如果你論斷他人，要懇求神饒恕自己，並且願意在使人和好的事工上，讓神使用你（哥林多後書五：18）。

Judge Not

Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)

There is a significant difference between judgment and discernment. God sees people’s hearts and knows their motives (Prov. 16:2). Only God can accurately judge those who deserve punishment. Ultimately, Christ will sit in judgment upon us all in the day of judgment (2 Cor. 5:10). Our problem is that we like to sit in the judgment seat and pronounce condemnation upon those whom we think have sinned! Scripture commands us not to judge or condemn others, for we cannot be judgmental and redemptive at the same time. It is difficult to pray sincerely for someone while we are judging them. At times our judgmental attitude can seem to provide us an excuse not to become involved in God’s redemptive work in someone’s life. Scripture reminds us that God will treat us with the same grace or severity with which we treat others (Luke 6:38).

God commands us not to judge others, but He does want us to be discerning. Jesus said we would know people’s spiritual condition by the fruit of their lives (Matt. 7:16). He said grapes are not produced by thorn bushes. If a person’s life produces thorns, we can assume that person is not a grapevine! Are we being judgmental? No, we are being discerning. Scripture commands us to avoid associating with scoffers or fools (Prov. 22:10; 17:12). Unless we are able to identify scoffers and fools, we cannot obey God’s command. That is not being judgmental, it is being discerning. As Christians, we have been instructed to observe the lives of others so that we can help them while avoiding any sinful influence.

You will be helpful to others only if you see them as God does. If you have been judgmental of others, ask forgiveness and pledge yourself to let God use you as His minister of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18).