Christ Our Friend, Not Our Judge

You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. John 8:15 

Christ doesn’t want to judge. He wants to help. So don’t picture Christ as a judge for whom you must do this or that to be reconciled. No, he is the Light of the World. He judges no one. Whoever follows him will no longer walk in darkness.

Christ says, “If you feel your sin and admit it, and if you’re terrified by it, then hold tightly to me, follow me, and believe in me. Think of me as the Light. Then you won’t have to be afraid of being brought to court and being convicted. I have come to save the world. However, those who reject my help will bring judgment on themselves because they don’t want to be saved.” Christ’s words are similar to what a physician would say to a patient: “I haven’t come to poison you. I want to help you. If you follow my advice, you won’t need to worry. If you refuse my advice and call me a scoundrel, if you hate me and reject my medicine, then you are willfully sentencing yourself to death. Then it’s your own fault. Certainly I am not putting you to death. No, I’ll have to let you die because you despise and reject my medicine.”

We’re in the same situation. Christ will certainly keep his promise to us: “I pass judgment on no one. So don’t judge yourselves. You aren’t condemned in my eyes, for I am the Light that illumines the way to eternal life and salvation.”

Source: Quoted in Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, p. 277.  James C. Galvin. Zondervan (2009).