Righteous vs. Unrighteous Judgment

In Part 1 of our Leadership Series entitled “The Responsibility of Leadership”, the responsibilities of delegated authority as outlined in I Thessalonians 2:10-12 were explained, namely charging, comforting and exhorting. Exhortation not only has a prominent aspect of encouragement, but also encompasses corrective rebuke and righteous judgment. For example, in John the Baptist’s address to the multitudes seeking baptism, he called them a “brood of vipers” and rebuked them saying, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.” At the end of his message, Luke notes, “And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.” (Luke 3:7-18).

Of the three responsibilities of leadership, the correcting, disciplining or judging aspect has been the most misunderstood, misused, and underutilized in the Church. Indeed, there has been an abundant harvest of unrighteous judgments, and a famine of the authorized execution of righteous judgments by church leadership. Therefore, understanding not only the stages of righteous judgment, but also the foundation for and characteristics of righteous judgment is a great need in the Body of Christ.

The Stages of Righteous Judgment

The Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church at Corinth, summarizes the three stages of righteous judgment that the Lord uses to correct and discipline His children.

I Corinthians 11:31, 32 “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.”

The first stage is self-judgment, where we submit to the correction that the indwelling Holy Spirit brings. Personal conviction of sin and judgment from the Holy Spirit may manifest through an inward witness, His still small voice, or the Holy Scripture that He inspired men to write.

John 16:8 “And when He (the Helper) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

II Timothy 3:16, 17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

If we fail to judge ourselves about a matter over a period of time, the Lord will judge us by His chastening hand, which is the second stage of righteous judgment. Whether it is a parent, a teacher, or minister, the Lord will usually use His delegated authority to bring this type of correction to us. If we do not submit to His delegated authority’s discipline and correction, there are other more severe forms of judgment that the Lord may allow in our lives so that we might repent. These judgments may include sickness or some other type of loss or life-shaking event. For example, the Apostle Paul decreed a severe yet righteous judgment upon a person in the Corinthian church who was having sexual intercourse with his father’s wife.

I Corinthians 5:3-5 “For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged as though I were present, concerning him who has so done this deed . . . deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

If we repeatedly fail to surrender in repentance to the chastening hand of the Lord, we are in danger of being condemned with the world to an eternity in hell without Christ. This is the third and final stage of righteous judgment (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Hebrews 10:26 “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”

The Foundation for Righteous Judgment

The foundation for all righteous judgment is God given authority. Without being granted authority from God over a person, all judgments become unrighteous. For example, a parent is given authority to righteously judge his child, an employer his employee, a pastor his congregant, a king his subjects.

Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

If there is any question whatsoever regarding one’s authority in a relationship, ask the following questions. Am I in some way responsible for this person? Do they answer to me and will I have to answer to God for their life? If the answer to these questions is “Yes”, then we have a responsibility to not only command and protect this person, but also to correct or judge them when necessary.

Today, in the church there is a famine for the righteous judgment of God similar to what the Apostle Paul experienced and related in his first letter to the Corinthian church. The Corinthian leaders refused to confront and rebuke a fornicator, who was a member of their church (I Corinthians 5:1)

I Corinthians 5:12 – 6:2-5 “Do you not judge those who are inside? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters. . . Do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame.”

The need for righteous judgment extends beyond the ministry gift of the pastor in the local church, but is even more crucial as we move into the apostolic age.

Apostolic Judgment

The ministry of the apostle is in the process of being restored to the Body of Christ. An apostle has a fatherhood role and is responsible before God to exhort (correct), comfort (protect) and charge (command) other five fold ministers under his or her authority. Today we have apostles providing covering for hundreds and even thousands of ministers and churches. Yet when situations arise that require apostolic judgment, where there are conflicts, sin, or doctrinal errors that require confrontation, these issues are oftentimes ignored.

Unfortunately, there are false apostles today who are more concerned about their title, reputation and size of their ministerial networks, than for the sheep they are responsible for. Of the true apostles on the scene, many are simply immature and are discovering the many aspects of apostolic ministry. As a result, thousands of ministers are left uncorrected and their sheep unprotected. The Lord designed apostles to serve as His chastening hand. When apostolic judgment is deferred, ministers and members alike are likely to become disillusioned with church leadership, leading to rebellion, deception, division and defilement.

Hebrews 12:5,6,10,11 “Do not despise the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives . . . He chastens us for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness . . . yielding the peaceable fruit of righteousness.”

Indeed, genuine, mature apostleship cannot merely be measured by the ability to network and influence ministers and churches, but by the capacity to effectively administer fatherly correction. We are deceiving ourselves if we believe that the present stage of the apostolic movement is more than infantile.

Characteristics of Righteous Judgment

Having laid the foundation for righteous apostolic judgment, we can now discover the characteristics of righteous and unrighteous judgment. The New Testament has many scriptures exhorting us not to engage in unrighteous judgment (Romans 14:10-13, James 4:11, 12).

Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Romans 2:1 “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself.”

The spirit of righteous judgment is the fear of the Lord. Jesus delighted himself in the fear of the Lord and because of this did “not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears”, but judged righteously (Isaiah 11:3, 4). On the contrary, unrighteous judgment is characterized by a haughty spirit. Similarly, the fruit of those who fear the Lord and execute righteous judgment is humility, whereas the fruit of the haughty, who judge unjustly, is pride.

Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.”

Righteous judgment is motivated by selfless submission. The Bible says, “The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Jesus’ judgment is just and righteous because He is not self-seeking, but completely submitted to the will of the Father.

John 5:30 “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father Who sent Me.”

In contrast, selfish ambition is the motivation behind unrighteous judgment. Immature revilers attempt to exalt themselves by criticizing others. This behavior often backfires, not only exposing the darkened heart of the accuser, but also bringing them humiliation.

The ministry of righteous judgment is intercession, whereas the ministry of unrighteous judgment is accusation (Hebrews 7:25).

Revelation 12:10 “The accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.”

Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

The trademark of a true prophet is intercession. Prophets must have God’s heart towards His people, before they can accurately communicate God’s message for His people. Obtaining the heart of God for His people comes through intercession.

Jeremiah 27:18 “But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of Hosts.”

Righteous and unrighteous judgments have both personal and corporate missions. The personal mission for righteous judgment is repentance and restoration, whereas unrighteous judgment seeks to bring condemnation.

Galatians 6:1 “If a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

The corporate mission for righteous judgment is to promote unity. On the contrary, the corporate mission for unrighteous judgment is division. It follows that the motto for righteous judgment is “Unite and Prosper”, and the motto for unrighteous judgment is “Divide and Conquer”.

Proverbs 16:19 “These six things the Lord hates, seven are an abomination to Him . . . one who sows discord among brethren.”

Unrighteous judgment is a plague that deters the unity of the Spirit from becoming a reality in the Church, and keeps the world from believing in Christ.

	Unrighteous Judgment	Righteous Judgment
Spirit	Haughty	Fear of the Lord
Fruit	Pride	Humility
Motive	Selfish Ambition	Selfless Submission
Ministry	Accusation	Intercession
Mission (Personal)	Condemnation	Repentance & Restoration
Mission (Corporate)	Division	Unity
Motto	“Divide and Conquer”	“Unite and Prosper”

John 17:21 “That they may be one . . . that the world may believe that you sent Me.”

A Time to Judge

Of the numerous charges that the Apostle Paul gave young Timothy, the one that perhaps is most needful today is to convince, rebuke and exhort believers by preaching the Word of God (II Timothy 4:1-3). There are many in the Church today with itching ears that have turned aside to doctrines of demons and fables heralded by false teachers who lie in wait to deceive.

Recently, the Lord said to me, “If you really knew how much My church was in sin, you would preach differently.” Preachers today need the boldness to preach the truth in love regardless of the consequences. Instead, many ministers’ chief goal is to grow a large, popular and prosperous church, so they preach “feel good” messages that don’t confront or judge sin, so as not to offend anyone. We have substituted “Spirit sensitive” preaching accompanied by the conviction of sin and repentance with “seeker sensitive” messages. As a result, our pews in America are filled with lukewarm, lazy, spoiled, “Sunday morning” Christians, some of which are fornicators, adulterers, pornographers, liars and thieves.

There must be a revival of the fear of the Lord for the Church at large to turn around in America. Without it, we neither will depart from evil, nor be perfected in holiness (II Corinthians 7:1). Without holiness, we will neither see the Lord in all of His glory, nor will we experience the outpouring of His Spirit, nor the harvest of souls that He has promised us.

Proverbs 16:6 “By the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”

Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue . . . holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”

As ministers of God and under-Shepherds, we are responsible for the sheep He has entrusted us. Let us first repent of our lukewarm condition and pray that the Lord rekindle the flame of revival within our hearts, cleansing us with the spirit of judgment and of burning. Only then can we boldly and effectively preach repentance and administer the righteous judgment of God necessary to prepare the Church to become vessels of honor fit for the Master’s use.

I Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God.”