A friend of mine in ministry, P. Andrew Sandlin, recently wrote a noteworthy entry on his blog. He clarifies the point that must be repeated in every generation. Namely, that God’s wonderful grace does not grant license to antinomianism, but calls us to joyful, faithful obedience. You can read it for yourself at this link.
http://web.me.com/pandrewsandlin/New_CCL_2/Blog/Entries/2010/11/5_A_Disgraceful_Grace.html#
Grace and peace!
http://www.esvonline.org/search/titus+2%3A11/
Tim
Hey Tim,
This is a solid reply. Most of what your friend writes is on base, but I question negating Jesus’ command not to judge because of what follows. “Do not judge, that you be not judged,” doesn’t necessarilly imply that it is OKAY to judge, if we’re okay being judged. To treat this as a conditional statement, I think, would be akin to saying we are precluded from having to obey our parents if we’re not interested in things going well with us and enjoying a long life on earth (Ephesians 6:3). In fact, Paul later gives the same command not to judge without any prerequisite in 1 Corinthians 5:12, and also gives an important clarification of when the church should and should not judge: “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.” So, I think Paul’s answer would be: Don’t judge people who don’t claim to be Christians. You can, however, judge people who do.