Romans, Part 80

JudgmentalPerhaps every old human (παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, translated old man) should come with this warning label, but love says: Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions.[1]  Paul continued his discussion of love with a then current example (Romans 14:2, 3a NET):

One person believes in eating everything, but the weak (ἀσθενῶν, a form of ἀσθενέω) person eats only vegetables.  The one who eats everything must not despise (ἐξουθενείτω, a form of ἐξουθενέω) the one who does not…

Luke introduced Jesus’ parable contrasting religious and righteous prayer this way: Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.[2]  The Greek word translated looked down is ἐξουθενοῦντας (another form of ἐξουθενέω) like ἐξουθενείτω, translated despise in Romans 14:3.  Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders[3]….This Jesus is the stone that was rejected (ἐξουθενηθεὶς, another form of ἐξουθενέω) by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.”[4]  Paul wrote believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NET Table):

Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters.  Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.  But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak (ἀσθενῆ, a form of ἀσθενής) to shame the strong.  God chose what is low and despised (ἐξουθενημένα, another form of ἐξουθενέω) in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence.  He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Love doesn’t despise the faith-weak the way the world despises all believers.  And love doesn’t judge those who do not adhere to the rules the faith-weak live by.  Paul continued (Romans 14:3b NET):

…and the one who abstains must not judge (κρινέτω, a form of κρίνω) the one who eats everything, for God has accepted (προσελάβετο, a form of προσλαμβάνω) him.

Therefore do not let anyone judge (κρινέτω, a form of κρίνω) you with respect to food or drink, Paul wrote believers in Colossae, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days – these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ![5]  Yet of love Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 8):

With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.”  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.  If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know.  But if someone loves God, he is known by God.

With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.”  If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live.

But this knowledge is not shared by all.  And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak (ἀσθενὴς, another form of ἀσθενής), is defiled.  Now food will not bring us close to God.  We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do.  But be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak (ἀσθενέσιν, another form of ἀσθενής).  For if someone weak (ἀσθενοῦς, another form of ἀσθενής) sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” to eat food offered to idols?  So by your knowledge the weak (ἀσθενῶν, a form of ἀσθενέω) brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed.  If you sin against your brothers or sisters in this way and wound their weak (ἀσθενοῦσαν, another form of ἀσθενέω) conscience, you sin against Christ.  For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them to sin.

Paul continued for believers in Rome (Romans 14:4a NET):

Who are you to pass judgment (κρίνων, another form of κρίνω) on another’s servant?  Before his own master he stands or falls.

Jesus said, there is One who seeks and judges[6] (ἔστιν ὁ ζητῶν καὶ κρίνων).  I quoted the NAS because the NET translation reads, There is one who demands it, and he also judges.  This leaves me with the impression that Jesus told the Ἰουδαῖοι (Judeans, NET; Jews, NAS) that his Father demanded glory for Jesus from them and would judge them for failing to deliver it.  The latter is simply false, the Father does not judge (κρίνει, another form of κρίνω) anyone, but has assigned all judgment (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις) to the Son[7]  What the Father seeks (ζητῶν, a form of ζητέω) was specified earlier in John’s Gospel: But a time is coming – and now is here – when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks (ζητεῖ, another form of ζητέω) such people to be his worshipers.[8]

I think Jesus meant what He said: I am not trying to get (ζητῶ, another form of ζητέω) praise (δόξαν, a form of δόξα) for myself.[9]  The person who speaks on his own authority desires (ζητεῖ, a form of ζητέω) to receive honor (δόξαν, a form of δόξα) for himself; the one who desires (ζητῶν, a form of ζητέω) the honor (δόξαν, a form of δόξα) of the one who sent him is a man of integrity (ἀληθής), and there is no unrighteousness in him.[10]  Clearly, the translators of the NET thought of δόξαν as honor, also translated praise, something originating with people.  The Father has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor (τιμῶσι, a form of τιμάω) the Son just as they honor (τιμῶσι, a form of τιμάω) the Father.[11]

In that light then since the Father seeks true worshipers who worshipin spirit and truth, then He might also seek honor from those worshippers for his Son.  The one who does not honor (τιμῶν, another form of τιμάω) the Son does not honor (τιμᾷ, another form of τιμάω) the Father who sent him.[12]  And granted, Jesus prefaced his remarks with, I honor (τιμῶ, another form of τιμάω) my Father – and yet you dishonor (ἀτιμάζετε, a form of ἀτιμάζω) me.[13]  But I’m still not convinced that made δόξαν a synonym for τιμάω.

I think Jesus meant glory from or of God, his Father.  “If I glorify (δοξάσω, a form of δοξάζω) myself, my glory (δόξα) is worthless.  The one who glorifies (δοξάζων, another form of δοξάζω) me is my Father, about whom you people say, ‘He is our God.’”[14]  I glorified (ἐδόξασα, another form of δοξάζω) you on earth, Jesus prayed to his Father, by completing the work you gave me to do.[15]  And I think Jesus was focused on that work, both to seek the Father’s true worshiper’s—For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise[16]—and to do it in a way that satisfied the Father’s judgment (of Him as opposed to others).  I think Jesus expressed a relationship to his Father very similar to the relationship Paul expressed to Jesus (1 Corinthians 4:3, 4 NET):

So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged (ἀνακριθῶ, a form of ἀνακρίνω) by you or by any human court.  In fact, I do not even judge (ἀνακρίνω) myself.  For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this.  The one who judges (ἀνακρίνων) me is the Lord.

And that relationship answers why He was so impressed with the faith of the centurion: “just say the word and my servant will be healed.  For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it.”[17]  The servant and the slave honored the centurion but Caesar glorified him.

I consider when Jesus sought his own glory and what He did with it: “Father, the time has come.  Glorify (δόξασον, another form of δοξάζω) your Son, so that your Son may glorify (δοξάσῃ, another form of δοξάζω) you[18]  Now, Father, glorify (δόξασον, another form of δοξάζω) Me together with Yourself, with the glory (δόξῃ, another form of δόξα) which I had with You before the world was.”[19]  Then He took that glory and nailed it naked, bruised and bleeding to a cross; Jesus said (John 10:17, 18; Matthew 26:53, 54 NET):

This is why the Father loves me – because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again.  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again.  This commandment I received from my Father.

Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now? [Table]  How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?

The prophet Isaiah described it this way (Isaiah 53 NET):

Who would have believed what we just heard?  When was the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) power revealed through him?

He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.

He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.

But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים), and afflicted for something he had done.

He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.

All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord (yehôvâh, ויהוה) caused the sin of all of us to attack him.

He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth.  Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth.

He was led away after an unjust trial – but who even cared?  Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.

They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully.

Though the Lord (yehôvâh, ויהוה) desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) purpose will be accomplished through him.

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.

“My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.  So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, because he willingly submitted to death and was numbered with the rebels, when he lifted up the sin of many and intervened on behalf of the rebels.”

Paul described it this way for believers in Rome, For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened (ἠσθένει, another form of ἀσθενέω) through the flesh.  By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.[20]  And he described it this way for believers in Corinth: God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.[21]

Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Paul wrote.  Before his own master he stands or falls.  And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.[22]  Though it may seem at first that this latter applies only to the less faith-weak, I don’t think that is the case.  I as a believer stand not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.[23]  And this confidence in Christ’s faithfulness may be the ultimate meaning of thinking of one another.

[1] Romans 14:1 (NET)

[2] Luke 18:9 (NET)

[3] Acts 4:8 (NET)

[4] Acts 4:11 (NET)

[5] Colossians 2:16, 17 (NET)

[6] John 8:50b (NAS)

[7] John 5:22 (NET)

[8] John 4:23 (NET)

[9] John 8:50a (NET)

[10] John 7:18 (NET)

[11] John 5:22b, 23a (NET)

[12] John 5:23b (NET)

[13] John 8:49b (NET)

[14] John 8:54 (NET)

[15] John 17:4 (NET)

[16] John 5:19b (NET)

[17] Matthew 8:8b, 9 (NET) Table

[18] John 17:1b (NET)

[19] John 17:5 (NAS)

[20] Romans 8:3, 4 (NET)

[21] 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NET)

[22] Romans 14:4 (NET) Table

[23] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 1

I received the following question in a personal email:

John 5: 28 and 29  “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out —  Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

OK.  I don’t really like these verses because it’s like the verses about the sheep and the goats and the wheat and the tares.  It makes it seem like some people are going to be saved and others aren’t.

HOWEVER, couple it with Romans 7:14-20 and it seems to mean something else.  In Romans 7:20 “Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

Now that verse seems like a real cop out!  I’ve never understood it very well.  But it seems to be saying that that part of the person doing “evil” is separate from the person himself or herself (maybe as far as east is from the west??).

So maybe John 5:28 and 29 can be talking about all us dead being raised and our “old selves” get condemned and our “new selves” live eternally with the Lord.  After all, the one on the white throne in Revelation said he was going to make all things new.

I hope the whole point is God’s going to save everybody!  Am I nuts???

Do not be amazed at this, Jesus said, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (κρίσεως, a form of κρίσις).[1]  The first two things I noticed were, 1) the phrase do not be amazed at this invited me to look earlier in the passage for Jesus’ meaning, and 2) κρίσις (κρίσεως), judgment, was translated as if it were κατάκρισις[2] (κατακρίσεως),[3] a judgment against, condemnation.

In context, Jesus was answering Jewish leaders who wanted to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath [by healing a man through the words, Stand up!  Pick up your mat and walk”[4]], but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.[5]  For the Father loves the Son, Jesus continued, and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed.[6]  Then He specified two of these greater deeds:

Greater Deeds…so that you will be amazed…

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes (θέλει, a form of θέλω).[7]

John 5:21 (NET)

Furthermore, the Father does not judge (κρίνει, a form of κρίνω)[8] anyone, but has assigned all judgment (κρίσιν, another form of κρίσις) to the Son…

John 5:22 (NET)

And He did this so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.[9]

So the themes of Jesus’ discourse are that the Son gives life to whomever he wishes, and the Father…has assigned all judgment to the Son.  These themes were repeated, just in case I missed them: For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has granted the Son authority to execute (ποιεῖν, a form of ποιέω)[10] judgment (κρίσιν, another form of κρίσις), because he is the Son of Man.[11]  So I wondered what prompted the translators to make such an abrupt change to Jesus’ stated themes (John 5:24, 25 NET):

I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται; literally, “into judgment will not come” [or “go”]), but has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

A note in the NET acknowledged the more literal meaning: “Grk ‘and does not come into judgment.’”  There is a significant difference between not coming into judgment at all, and coming into judgment but not being condemned.  Consider Jesus’ words recorded by Matthew (25:31, 32 NET Table):

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations (ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος)[12] will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

If the one who hears [Jesus’] message and believes the one who sent Him “does not come into judgment,” that one would not be present at this event as a participant.  It makes some sense, since the stated criteria for separating the “sheep” from the “goats” is not hearing Jesus’ message and believing the one who sent Him, but something else entirely (Matthew 25:35, 36, 40 NET).

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.

Conversely, the only people who would not hear the words, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,[13] are those who managed to live their entire lives without showing a single human kindness to one of the Lord’s brothers or sisters.  I, too, was socialized into essentially the same religion as the translators of the NET.  I can feel how this alone might give them cause to translate the phrase εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται as will not be condemned (making the one who hears [Jesus’] message and believes the one who sent Him the “sheep” Jesus spoke about in Matthew’s Gospel).  But consider Peter’s response to the Jewish leaders who questioned him (Acts 4:8-12 NET):

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed – let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy.  This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

We have taken this to mean that the only way to be saved is to hear [Jesus’] message and believe the One who sent Him.  And we have added to it, more or less, say a sinner’s prayer, get baptized, go to my church, like me, and tell me how good and wise I am to have understood this before you.  But if Jesus, who may give life to whomever he wishes, who has been granted the…authority to execute judgment, decides that not only those who hear his message and believe the One who sent Him, but those who show them kindness, are worthy of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, who am I to dispute Him?  Are they saved by some other name when it is Jesus who sits on the throne, judges them worthy and grants them life?  Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? He asked in a parable.  Or are you envious because I am generous (ἀγαθός)?[14]

Do not be amazed at this, Jesus continued his discourse with the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Him, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good (ἀγαθὰ [another form of ἀγαθός] ποιήσαντες [a form of ποιέω]) to the resurrection resulting in life (εἰς[15] ἀνάστασιν[16] ζωῆς[17]), and the ones who have done what is evil (φαῦλα[18] πράξαντες[19]) to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (εἰς ἀνάστασιν κρίσεως).[20]  Viewed as I’ve been suggesting here one can’t arbitrarily assume that everyone who comes into judgment will be condemned.  Some, if not many, if not most, will hear the Lord say, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

So it seems more appropriate to me to translate the verse more literally: the ones who have done what is good, that is the ones who heard Jesus’ message and believed the One who sent Him, hear his voice and will come out [of their tombs]…to the resurrection resulting in life [they have eternal life[21]]; while those who have done [literally, practiced] what is evil (φαῦλα) [that is anything that kept them from hearing Jesus’ message and believing the One who sent Him] will come out [of their tombs]…to the resurrection resulting in judgment (as opposed to condemnation).

I can do nothing on my own initiative, Jesus concluded.  Just as I hear, I judge (κρίνω), and my judgment (κρίσις) is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.[22]


[1] John 5:28, 29 (NET)

[3] 2 Corinthians 3:9

[5] John 5:18 (NET)

[6] John 5:20 (NET)

[9] John 5:23 (NET)

[11] John 5:26, 27 (NET)

[13] Matthew 25:34 (NET)

[14] Matthew 20:15 (NET)

[20] John 5:28, 29 (NET)

[22] John 5:30 (NET)