what she had done or of the spiritual
consequences that her evil would
bring. The Lord simply said: “Neither
do I condemn you. Go and sin no
more.”
Just as there is an appearance that
the Lord must forgive us, so there is
an appearance that He condemns the
guilty to hell. We are told that the
Lord does not judge or condemn.
He is the True. He is the Good. He is
the standard. We measure ourselves
against that standard. What we choose
to love and do in relation to Him is
what judges us.
This choice is ours and becomes
clear with time. It definitely becomes
clear when we die and find ourselves
in the spiritual world, where nothing can be hidden. We then make our home
with our like.
So the Lord’s statement, “Neither do I condemn you,” is a genuine truth.
He never condemns anyone. He only longs for us to turn from evil and live.
And this is something He cannot do for us, apart from our effort. That is
why He calls us to repentance in the Word. We read in Ezekiel about how the
prophet’s job was to be a watchman, warning people when they were in evil.
The Lord knew that this message would be a burden to us. He anticipated that
the Israelites would feel hopeless and say:
We are told that the
Lord does not judge
or condemn. He is the
True. He is the Good.
He is the standard.
We measure ourselves
against that standard.
What we choose to love
and do in relation to
Him is what judges us
If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can
we then live? (Ezekiel 33:10)
We can easily feel hopeless about our evils. Did we hurt someone again
with biting words? Did we fall prey to feelings of resentment toward our spouse
for the thousandth time? Hadn’t we learned before that it would not solve
our problems, but only lead to other negative thoughts, and to a prolonged
coldness that would sap our energy and our spouse’s? Hadn’t we resolved last
time we knew the glow of reconciliation and that sweet feeling of freedom
from resentment, that the next time that problem came up we would seek a
different path? A path of prayerful patience, or communication, or tolerance?
Evil is addicting and it is easy to feel that we are powerless against it.
This is where the idea that the Lord can forgive us has appeal. If we only
believe in Him in a moment of contrition, He will take away our evils or our
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