Merciful Judgment- A Good Idea or Impossible

I apologize for the length of time it has taken me to post. Our internet has been out and has only started working last night late.

It has been some time since I have thought about this topic in a specific way. I suppose I live my point of view on this topic daily, but I haven’t discussed it as an ideal for some time. I have had many a debate on this topic and have offended many people by my point of view. But, it is very important for the Christian to have a proper understanding of this topic so that they will be able to be judged in good conscience and judge others in good conscience.
I will not go into an argument regarding whether or not we have the authority to judge. It is clear in the Scriptures that we are to judge those in the church (1 Corinthians 5:12). This is generally understood by the relatively mature Christian. What is not so readily understood is how we are to judge them.
What brought this topic to my attention was reading a letter that stated in so many words that it was wrong to “Judge without mercy”. This once again brought the topic to my mind and spurred me to write a dissertation on this largely misunderstood topic.

As the title of my post says, there is a possibility that there is no such thing as merciful judgment. This is true. There is no such thing as merciful judgment. There should be no such thing as fair judgment. There is righteous judgment. There is equitable judgment. There is mercy instead of judgment. But you will never see something called merciful judgment in the Bible. This is a fictitious idea that a majority of Christians believe because they are to soft or to liberal to want true righteous judgment. Well I assure you that if you believe that you are pleasing God by giving merciful judgment you are wrong. This is an abomination to God. We will see this in due time.
Now that I have said this, let us look at the facts in the Word of God.

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I was debating this topic with a lady once, and when I mentioned that the Biblical mandate was equitable judgment she looked at me and said, “The Bible never says Equity in relation to judgment. Where are you getting this?” I found this amusing as ALL the Bible references is equitable judgment and never merciful judgment.
If you look up the words “mercy” and “judgment” appearing in the same verse all through the Bible you will find many verses. All of them separating judgment and mercy as two separate entities. If you look up “equity” and “judgment” the same way you will see God links the two as inseparable. One follows the other and if you don’t have one you can’t rightly have the other.
Why is this?
We must look to the definitions of these words to understand this. Mercy is a term that means to refrain from passing judgment. It is not a partner to judgment it is the opposite of judgment. When the slave in the parable fell down before the king and pled for mercy he was requesting the king to forbear judgment. He was not asking for a kind judgment. You either pardon someone or you punish someone. Saying someone is guilty and then giving an improper punishment is a sin. Proverbs 24:24 says “He who says to the wicked, ‘You are righteous,’ peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him; but to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight and a good blessing will come upon them.”
To give an improper judgment is a sin. But to show mercy and no judgment when we have the jurisdiction to, is a very Christian practice.
The term judgment means to execute right on someone who is acting wrong. Equity means to dispense correctly. So to have equitable judgment is to have righteous judgment. It is giving to the person what they deserve, no more and no less.
In common law England there was a court of law and a separate court of equity. This brought about rash and ungodly rulings because God had always designed the two to be together. When our founding fathers wrote the Constitution they made one superior court, one that judges both Law and Equity- the United States Supreme Court.
For a Christian to say that we are to only have mercy and gentleness do not understand what it is to imitate the true nature of God. God is judging us daily. He is going to send many people to hell. He is the same God in the New Testament as He was in the Old Testament. Judgment is required in the Church.
To try and make merciful judgment is an oxymoron. It is impossible and is evil. God is a righteous God. He abhors evil. Christians who do not like the thoughts that we are still obliged to follow the Law of God do not like the fact that there is right and wrong. We don’t determine that, God does. He is the decider of right and wrong. He establishes the principle of judgment in the Church. If we try to use our own standard we are sinning against God.
So, don’t forget that we have a responsibility to judge. So prepare yourself for that responsibility.