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Wednesday, October 06, 2021

Condemn What Jesus Condemned

Clearly Jesus approved of adultery. How do we know? Well, He told the woman caught in the act, "Neither do I condemn you." See? He was on board with that.

Of course, that's nonsense. Jesus did not affirm adultery. In fact, he was harsher on adultery than Moses was. "You have heard that it was said," He said, "'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matt 5:27-28). As if that wasn't harsh enough (adultery based on intent?), He went on to talk about tearing off body parts if they cause you to sin in that way (Matt 5:29-30). So if Jesus condemned adultery, what else did He condemn? I mean, if we are to be followers of Christ, we should embrace what He embraced and condemn what He condemned. What did Jesus condemn? (Hint: The right answer is not "Nothing.")

Jesus was famous for His opposition to the Pharisees. He applauded their devotion to Scripture (John 5:39) and their purity (Matt 5:20). Their religious core wasn't His problem. It was the rest. It was pride (Luke 18:10-14). It was hypocrisy (Matt 23:13-31). It was false religion (Mark 7:6-13). And it wasn't just the Pharisees.

Jesus warned His disciples to "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." (Luke 12:15). How many of us think that possessions make life good? Jesus said, "If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt 6:14-15). How many of us refuse to forgive? Jesus classified hatred as murder (Matt 5:21-22). How many of us thrive on hatred? Jesus had harsh words for those who lacked faith (Matt 6:30; Matt 8:26; Mark 6:5-6; John 10:25-26). How constant is your faith?

There are those who would like you to think that Jesus was nonjudgmental. "Jesus never condemned anyone." It only takes a cursory reading of the Gospels to find out that's not true. It doesn't take a deep thinker or clever philosophy to see that Jesus did use a whip in the Temple to drive out the money lenders ... and no matter what you think of that, it is unavoidable that it was not another "neither do I condemn you" moment. In fact, Jesus said, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son." (John 5:22). That sounds a lot like Jesus is the Judge, doesn't it? Besides, it's really difficult to keep up this pale version of some "nice-guy Jesus" who winks at sin and forgives everyone everything when Jesus spoke more about Hell than Heaven. That nonjudgmental Jesus is popular among some, but it is not the biblical Jesus. It is a Jesus of their own making.

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