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Judgment, Mercy, and Faith

Those of us who are apostolic Christians, who value the importance of the faith as it was known during the time of the apostles are definitely in the minority among those who profess a modern Christian faith. We are such a minority, that some modern Christians completely reject us as legalistic in our practices much in the same way that Jesus would have rejected the Pharisees.

Matthew 23:23
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Could it be that modern Christians see apostolic Christians as focusing on the lesser issues of the law while ignoring the weightier matters of the law? It might be fair to say we see modern Christians as ignoring the lesser issues of the law, or ignoring the law altogether. The truth is to some degree we all show judgment, mercy, and faith in our actions and thereby acknowledge these weightier matters of the law. While we cannot control the practices of others or the perceptions that others have of us, we can control our actions and strive to keep the law including the weightier matters of the law.

Judgment as used in the New Testament is translated from several Greek words that today form the root of the English words crime and crisis. When the Greek word that forms the root of the English word crime is used, the meaning is that of condemnation.

Matthew 7:2
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

The words of our savior tell us that to the degree we condemn others, we will be condemned. This rule applies not only spiritually as there is an immediate real-life equivalent as stated in the rule, what goes around comes around. In some verses, like this verse from the Book of James, the Greek word that forms the root of the English word crisis is used, and in these cases, judgment means decision.

James 2:8-13
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

James shows that if we make decisions without mercy, we will be shown no mercy. It is in this context that James adds the following in the next verses.

James 2:14-17
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

This is a concept that causes much of modern Christianity so much trouble, because works are linked to the law, as they should be, but the focus of how this linkage is made is to use mercy when making judgments. James helps us make the connection between judgment, mercy, and faith by showing that mercy is a work that brings our faith alive. Mercy as translated in the New Testament comes from several Greek words that mean compassionate, compassion, and pity. So as we make decisions about situations we encounter in life, we need to make those decisions based on compassion, or we very quickly end up looking like the Pharisees that Jesus chastised. With all of our beliefs that set aside apostolic Christians from modern Christians, our faith is dead, unless our faith is based on the works of judgment and mercy. With our beliefs, we claim to be the original church. Are we guilty of doing what has happened time and time again throughout history? Did we replace the oppressors, the scribes and Pharisees? Have we become oppressors based on our own interpretation of the Bible? Or in our judgment are we showing mercy so that faith prevails?

All verses are from the King James Version.
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