The Righteous Judge

As believers, we probably don't consider God being the Righteous Judge as often as we should. Maybe it's because we know that Christ's sacrifice paid our sin debt and we've escaped eternal punishment in hell. Maybe it's because we compare ourselves to others and bask in our own self-righteousness. Or maybe it's just too uncomfortable to think about God judging our thoughts and our actions because of unrepentant sin in our lives.

Whatever the reason, we should be eternally thankful that God is the Righteous Judge. Psalm 7:11 is our assurance that He is righteous and is indignant toward wrongdoing. Ecclesiastes 3:17 is our assurance that God will judge all and that He sees all so that nothing escapes his knowledge and awareness. Jeremiah 11:20 is our assurance that because of God's righteousness, we can trust that He will deal with the unrighteous in a manner that they deserve--removing any need we would have to seek revenge. And finally, 2 Timothy 4:8 assures us that the Righteous Judge will reward those who love him and serve him for his glory.

We still need to apply biblical truth to our lives so that we have discernment in making God-honoring choices; which is vastly different from judging others. God's Word makes it crystal-clear that we are woefully unqualified to assume the title of Righteous Judge. Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37 remind us not to judge others unless we want to condemn ourselves from the same judgement. It's sad to think about how much joy and peace we sacrifice because we fail to just let the Righteous Judge be the Righteous Judge.