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| Don’t Judge…Help series |
What do we do when we see someone struggling with sin? In this series we’ve focused on Matthew 7, where Jesus calls us first to not simply pass judgement on them, to condemn them for violating God’s law. But He didn’t stop at what we were called to NOT do, but what we were called TO do. By contrast, He calls us instead to help them overcome that struggle, to help remove the speck from their eye. We’ve seen how this process starts with taking the log out of our own eye and developing a heart to help.
Last time we saw how Jesus demonstrated this in the way that He relied on the Father’s judgement to accomplish His purpose which was not to judge the world but to save the world. But what does this all look like? And does it look the same for believers as for unbelievers? Let’s start with the first question. Jesus illustrated it for us with an inspirational demonstration in John 13.
Washing Our Feet
John 13:8-11
Notice how Jesus connects being washed here with salvation, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me”. In speaking to Peter (a believer), Jesus says that he is already cleansed (i.e., of sin), that Peter is already bathed (i.e., baptized). By contrast, in referring to Judas, Jesus says, “Not all of you are clean.”
However, even as a believer, Peter still needed his feet washed. Even as believers we still struggle with sin, our feet still get dirty and need to be washed. This is a process called sanctification. Ephesians 5:26 describes how Jesus sanctifies the church similarly: “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Ephesians 5:26)
After Jesus demonstrates this by washing the disciples’ feet, He tells us to do the same: “you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15) In seeing all of this, I hear the echoes of Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 7 to help remove the speck from our brother’s eye.
Warning to Blessing
Of course, as we’ve demonstrated, we don’t do this by using our own judgment, but by looking to God to enable us to help. In describing this kind of loving judgement from God that helps us, we describe something that we should desire not fear. It’s in this way that the warning in Matthew 7 becomes no longer a warning, but a promise of blessing:
(Matthew 7:2, NASB)
If we judge in this way, like Jesus did (with love, seeking to help one another by relying on God’s judgment), then we will be judged in the same way. We will receive help from God to be cleansed of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) so that we can enjoy the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11). We have the promise that Jesus will wash our feet, will remove the log from our eye, so that we are set free from the sin that wreaks such havoc on our soul.
If we desire to overcome the damage of sin, then we must accept that we will always need Him to wash our feet. While inviting judgment doesn’t sound all that appealing at first, this is exactly what it looks like to be teachable. This is what David demonstrated for us when he said “search me, O God, and know my heart” (Psalms 139:23-24). When we’re teachable, this kind of help actually starts to look like a blessing. When we’re teachable, we look at this offer to receive God’s loving, kind, helpful judgment and genuinely say: Sign me up!
Who Are We Helping?
So, we are called not to judge, but to help “take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” We’ve seen how this describes a process of lovingly helping others to overcome their struggle with sin. But, does this process apply to unbelievers in the same way it applies to believers?
Notice how Matthew 7 tells us that we are to help remove the speck from our brother’s eye. Similarly, Jesus’ instruction to the disciples was to wash one another’s feet. In other words, the lessons we’ve learned from these verses teach us how we are to help other believers. So, does that mean we aren’t supposed to help non-believers? Certainly not. But what we help them with is very different. We help them with the issue of salvation not the issue of righteousness (sanctification). Let me explain.
We know that knowledge of the law does not produce righteousness. Even if someone accepts the law, it’s only faith in Jesus that transforms the heart. To use an analogy, whenever Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He first raised him and then took the grave clothes off him. In the same way that it doesn’t make sense to try to remove grave clothes off someone that’s dead, it makes no sense to try to remove the act of sin from someone who doesn’t have faith.
In a verse we mentioned last time, Paul describes this same distinction
1 Corinthians 5:12
It should not surprise us, let alone offend us when unbelievers don’t do what believers are supposed to do. After all, we struggle enough with it and we have Christ! To put it simply, it is of no help to unbelievers if we confront, let alone condemn them on issues of righteousness. Of course, we can testify to the peace that righteousness has produced in our own life. At the end of the day though, the only way we can really help them is to light the way to a personal introduction to Jesus.
Such a Holy Spirit teaching – thank you for bringing these powerful and important understandings into focus and I love the way the Lord works through His people to highlight things at a time when we can really see more clearly and take in what He is saying in a way that makes really great heart sense to us – kind of like writing His commands on the fleshly tables of our hearts!! I really like this series! (But then I have liked all of them 😊✝️)