There are those who believe that the Church needs to show greater compassion for sinners and tolerance for diversity. They tell us not to be judgmental. They tell us to find less fault with others. Then there are those today who believe the Church needs a good house cleaning. They say there needs to be more judgment about actions which are bad and which are not in conformity with God’s will. Both sides appeal to Holy Scripture texts to justify their position. Does Holy Scripture contradict itself?

There is no contradiction. If you are going to get it right, you must keep in mind that both sides in this matter are to take into account all that Holy Scripture would teach them in their examining of Holy Scripture.

It must be said, however, that speaking in favor of showing more compassion for sinners, if done in a wrong way, can lead to going against God and acting above God. And that is often the case nowadays.

Keep in mind that there are different kinds of judging, such as sensory judgment, intellectual judgment, moral judgment and judgment of the soul. Keep in mind as well that we are always judging in the sense that the second act of the intellect is judgment, or as St. Thomas Aquinas puts it, intellectual composition or division, combination or separation. Logically, judgment may be described as the identification or non-identification of two concepts, or the attribution of one concept to another.

Saying ” Who am I to judge?” is to confuse everything and everyone, including yourself. There is a great misleading about judging. There is a great misleading about what it is to be judgmental.

Being judgmental, this is a negative word to describe someone who rushes to judgment without good reason. The key words here are without good reason. Think about it, people who are said to be with good judgment are not considered judgmental. There is so much misleading and confusion about this matter that you have to wonder if any of even the very elect in the Church thinks God is serious about anything anymore.

Turning to the Scriptures in Matthew 7:1 we are told “If you want to avoid judgment, stop passing judgment.” Yet in 1 Cor. 5 we see that we are to judge, and we see judgment passed. “Still you continue to be self-satisfied, instead of grieving, and getting rid of the offender! As for me, though absent in body I am present in spirit, and have already passed sentence in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ on the man who did this deed.”

Not only did St. Paul judge this man, but he passed the most severe of sentences on him. He excommunicated him. “I hand him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”(1 Corinthians 5:5)

Further on St. Paul has this to say: “What business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Is it not those inside the community you must judge? God will judge the others. Expel the wicked man from your midst.” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13)Clearly seen here in Holy Scripture is that there comes a time when judgment must be passed. So then, how are we to reconcile the two teachings?

If you read on in the Word of God St. Paul speaks about us judging one another in minor matters. He does so bringing to light how we who are believers in Christ are to judge the world and angels. He was upset about Christian lawsuits in Roman Courts.(1 Corinthians 6:1-30

In Matthew. 7:1-6 we see that we ourselves must repent from that which blinds us, that which is evil, and that we are to help our brother with his blindness that he not be condemned but saved. The point is that we must seek always the salvation of others and not their condemnation.

We see that judgments of condemnation upon one’s neighbor and refusal to pardon him entail loss of God’s pardon for one’s own sins. What God is saying to us is that it is only for Him to judge whether a man is worthy of heaven or hell. It is not for us to judge in this way. Even if the man is a man like Hitler, we must not judge anyone as unworthy of being saved.

Again, we must always seek the salvation of others and not their condemnation. There comes a time, however, as we see in 1 Cor. 5:1-13,when judgment must be passed in the Lord that there might be salvation. This is not judging as God forbids us.

Moreover, we are to judge the actions of those inside the community, those who call themselves Christians, and expel the wicked; not for the purpose of their condemnation before the Lord, but as to possibly stir them to salvation in Christ and to protect others from sinning the same. Absolutely God wants us to judge this way to protect the souls of others who might otherwise be lost in the acceptance of sin.

In Matthew 16: 18-19 one can see that Jesus did give the Church authority to pass judgments when necessary. “I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Even if Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them, even if the Church is made up of sinners, still Jesus does not condone willfully continuing in sin(John 8:11), nor can the Church.

In 1 Cor. 5: 1-13 for the Church to tolerate a man taking his stepmother as his wife implied that it was a matter of indifference how Christians behaved after their conversion.

What of the Church in this day? Terrible sins are being condoned in the Church today. And now it has come to the point of the condoning of man being married to man and woman being married to woman. Fools! So many of you men of God are! So many of you saying you love God and follow God but endear yourselves to Satan. How will you escape damnation?

All of you who are calling yourselves Christians, calling yourselves saved, but who are caught up in the evil agenda, even if it is just one of the many sins that you embrace, of the many sins being embraced by many bearing the name of Christ, you stand self-condemned. You are in great need! Unless you repent, you will not see salvation.

Important for all of us to remember is that we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our thoughts and in our judgments and we must have Christ’s compassion. One must not be too judgmental. Nor must one be too tolerant.

Keep in mind that sometimes the role of one of us in someone’s life is the opposite of another in that same person’s life.

In Acts 15:38 St. Paul judged John called Mark not fit to be taken along for having deserted them at Pamphylia. Was St. Paul wrong to do this? Was he too judgmental? Was he unforgiving?

St. Paul parted with St. Barnabas over this, his best friend for years and years. After parting with Barnabas over the disagreement he was commended by the brothers to the favor of the Lord in choosing Silas to accompany him on his journey. So, does this mean that St. Paul did the right thing and St. Barnabas the wrong thing?

St. Paul did exactly what the Lord wanted. He showed Mark and all of us the severity of God. When we abandon God (sin), we banish ourselves from Him. There is a grave consequence. We need to know the truth of the matter. At the same time St. Barnabas did exactly as the Lord wanted. He showed Mark and all of us the mercy of God. When we abandon God (sin) we banish ourselves from Him, but God does not abandon us. He gives us the grace to repent and return to Him. He waits with open arms. And if we use His grace, turning to Him with a contrite heart, He enters into relationship with us once again. He embraces us with all that He is.

Both were true to God, even as they acted so very differently. The contradiction would have taken place had one of them followed after the other and not God.

Holy Scripture has so much to say concerning judging. Yet so many refuse to hear it. So many, even of you the very elect, refuse to listen.

So many of you men of God fail to hear properly all that Holy Scriptures says on the matter. And you ignore, distort and twist the Word of God to suit your own purposes and that of others you wish to please over God. As a result, you men of God go about using the Word of God to support your wrong belief as well as your right belief. Repent! Be with God.

Romans 2,for example, is often used out of context. It is misunderstood because one fails to look first at Romans 1 and all of what Holy Scripture is saying in both Romans 1 and 2 and elsewhere throughout all the Word of God. It is important to see all that there is to see. It is important to hear all that there is to hear.

In Romans 1 we see that the pagans or Gentiles being spoken of misread the evidence of God contrary to nature itself which provides evidence of God’s existence, power, and divinity through creation. God reveals Himself to all men. And these men, instead of responding to God, fashioned gods of their own that could not exert any moral restraint, and freely indulged their perverse desires through every kind of wickedness. God delivered these men up to disgraceful passions because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.

With this in mind from Romans1, let us now look at Romans 2:1 which so many do not see in the true light of Christ today. “That is way every one of you who judges another is inexcusable. By your judgment you convict yourself, since you do the very same things.” St. Paul is addressing Christians who are doing the very same sins as the pagans spoken of in Romans 1 . One can know this from the final verses in the passage. It is not being said that we cannot discern or judge the spirits. It is not being said that we cannot judge between good and evil. It is not being said that we cannot judge a man as acting wicked, or that we cannot judge whether a man speaks for God or for Satan or himself. It is not being said that we cannot judge, rebuke or even designate a wicked man, false teacher, false prophet, heretic or schismatic. Nor is it being said that we cannot expel the wicked man. So, what is it that is being said?

What is being said is that the Jew, or whoever has the law of God (Christianity is the extension of the Jewish faith), cannot condemn the Gentile who does not, not without implicitly condemning himself. The Jew cannot demand the same standard of conduct since God did not address its revelation to the Gentile. God gave to the Gentile the law of reason and conscience by which he was to be judged. Mere possession of the law by either Jew or Gentile does not give evidence of virtue. It is by observance of the law of God that virtue is seen.

All must strive to do what is right. God loves all mankind. He seeks the condemnation of no man. He seeks the salvation of all mankind. He plays no favorites!

We will all be judged by God. And our actions are the proof of our virtue. So let us discern the spirits and avoid that which is evil; including judging people as lost because they are not Christians or because they are not Christians like us.

We are to avoid evil men, especially those speaking in the name of Christ. In Romans 16:17 St. Paul even begs the community of believers to beware of those who cause dissension and scandal, contrary to the true gospel of Christ. St. Paul tells them to “avoid their company.”

Such men are on the seen today like those which St. Paul warns to watch against. But sadly, often these men and women can be seen being embraced, along with their perversion of the gospel of Christ. And this is being done by the majority of Christendom.

Where are you men of God who know better? Where are you men and women of position who should be rebuking these other leaders and the many, many, who follow their lead? Are you hiding under a cloak of darkness saying you cannot judge? Is this why you are silent?

Evil is never to be tolerated. Isn’t that what the pagans did in Romans 1? They just didn’t do evil but accepted and approved it in others. See Romans 1:32.

Do not go along with the false gospel of Christ so loved and preached which is greatly responsible for rapid increase of the evil of our times. I tell you true to God that it is God who moves me to the task.

A moral judgment is a decision as to whether an action is good or bad. It is a decision as to whether it is true to God or not. Those committing idolatry, worshiping the devil or anyone or anything which is not God, those who are committing atrocities like that of Hitler, or planned parenthood, or those who are practicing sodomites, for example, are to be judged as being what they are: People acting evil!

Anyone saying today ” Who am I to judge.” takes no stand against what is evil. Nor do they help those doing what is evil.

And if you are the Pope saying this? Any coward and traitor to the faith, especially one who is the vicar of Christ, does great harm to those whom God loves and that includes those locked into sin who are continually doing it, as well as those locked into sin who are not doing the actual sin but who continually sin with their compromises and support for those doing the evil actions. And of course, that man does great harm to himself.

Christ condemned those who are nether hot nor cold in their commitment to His commandments and to the faith (Rev. 3:14-16)16) So when the very elect (Such as a Pope, or Cardinals, or Bishops, or Priests, or Ministers) become deceived, what do they become to the rest of the elect? ( see Matthew 24:24)

Never are we who are in Christ to tolerate wicked men and women who are imposters to Christ. ( Rev. 2:2) We are to hold fast to what we believe without compromise. ( Rev.2:20-29)

What is going on today in Christendom on a grand scale is the disdaining of Christ and an insulting of the Holy Spirit.(Hebrews 10:26-30) Sadly, most in Christendom, including the very elect, are more inclined to listen to and believe in the teachings of the counterfeit spirit over the Holy Spirit. Thus, they are rejecting the Holy Spirit who convicts us to the truth.(1 Thessalonians 3:7-8)

Foolish are you many Christians who are deceived with the worthless arguments:” I or He or She was born that way.” Oh, I or she was raped and its ok for me or her not to have the child”, and so on. All of you with this mindset, following the counterfeit spirit and the world’s teachings and not that of God, you have no place in heaven. You are bringing down the wrath of God. ( Ephesians 5: 5-7)

You are to have love of God and of family and of neighbors. Yes, love for those of those caught up in sin and the lies which tell them it’s ok to do what is evil and call it good and that it is ok for them to be as they are as they do evil before God. But do not rejoice with them in their sin or be with them in the lies keeping them trapped from God’s rescue.(1 Cor. 13:6-7)

Anyone who preaches Christ and the Gospel has to live by Christ and the Gospel. It is an order from God!(1 Cor. 9:14)

Woe to you irreligious and perverse among us in high places hindering the truth! (Romans 1:18) You claim to be wise but have turned into fools.(Romans 1 :22)

Why is there so much unnatural intercourse going on in our day? Because so many do not see fit to properly and truly acknowledge God.(Romans 1:28)

Why is there legalized abortion and so many unborn babies being killed? Again, because so many do not see fit to properly and truly acknowledge God.

Who are you to judge you say? I am one who acknowledges God. I am with God. And God is with me. I am not perfect. But God who is with me is perfect.

If you are the Pope then you represent Christ in a very special way and you should know God’s just decree that all who do such things as planned parenthood does, and all those for gay rights and same sex marriage , and all those for abortion, deserve death.(1 Romans 32) And you should tell such unrepentant sinners the truth so that they leave the path of death and go on to the path of life.

We must judge good from evil. Not to do so is to be evil. We must speak out to dissuade the wicked. If we do not, we will bear also the guilt of their sin.(Ezekiel 33: 1-9)

What of a Pope who comes to this country (USA), a country so blessed by God but so fallen from Him, without any words of rebuke? Such a Pope approves those doing such evil in their evil. No one is above God’s rebuke!

I will add this: We have in President Trump, for once, a President who invokes God as he should be invoked. He is not perfect. I am not saying he has no sins to repent of. But to put prayer back in the white house honors God like no other president recently. This has great meaning.

Our president, at the time of this writing, does have his faults. His biggest ones are not what he might think. One is believing that Alabama went too far. Another may be his acceptance of one of his daughters leaving Christ. As it is that she is baptized, her soul is in great danger. Apostasy from Christ is a great problem. This is something he and so many others must see for the good of this nation and for the good of their sons and daughters and other family members caught up in it in some way. Hopefully he, at some time, has had that talk with his daughter.

Yes, this president is hated now by the evil media and by many who are following after the counterfeit spirit in this the last hour of the last days who hate as Satan hates goodness and truth. And yes, he will be persecuted even more for Christ’s sake. The evil minded have the greatest voice. But they do not have God. And this is to have nothing but great pain for eternity in the end.

One cannot make another do what is right, but one can tell another the truth that they at some point allow God to change them. And that is what we all must do, tell the truth in right judgment.

Anyone who is told to give a rebuke by God on God’s behalf and who does not is guilty of sin. Myself, I will do as God asks.

May all of us see by the light of the Holy Spirit and only by the light of the Holy Spirit from this point on. May we all repent of our sin. May we all be brave in Christ.

Your brother in Christ who loves you, Eddie