NOTE HOW GOD ALONE IS ABLE TO MEDIATE OUR CASES BECAUSE HE ALONE KNOWS US INTIMATELY:
Pertinent verses:
"... Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?.." (Romans 8:33, ESV).
"... If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31, ESV).
"Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; state your cause, that you may be proved right" (Isaiah 43:26, NASB).
"Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say..." (Isaiah 45:21, NLT).
"I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering" (Isaiah 48:10, NLT).
"... [T]hrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22, ESV).
"We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life. They aren't working, but they are meddling in other people's business" (2 Thess. 3:11, CEV).
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts" (Prov. 20:27, ESV). "The LORD's light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive" (Ibid., NLT).
"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23, NKJV).
"... [F]or the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought..." (1 Chronicles 28:9, ESV).
"O LORD, you have searched me and known me! . . . and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:1,3, ESV).
Scripture teaches us to mind our own business and not to get on each other's case or become busybodies, "meddling in other people's business" (cf. 2 Thess. 3:11, CEV). Just as Paul admonishes the saints at the Thessalonian church: "Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you" (1 Thess. 4:11, CEV). In other words, get off your brother's case! We all have unique situations and cannot judge by the outward appearance, for God looks on the heart (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7) and sees the motives: "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit [motive]" (Proverbs 16:2, ESV; cf. Prov. 21:2); Jesus also commanded us not to judge by appearance but with righteous judgment in John 7:24. We are fruit inspectors, for we shall know them by their fruits (cf. Matt. 7:20): "....for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. 12:34, KJV).
We don't have the wisdom to label people and labeling is wrong, as an amateur diagnosis or prognosis--what's more, it's judging! What would you take a man for who constantly psychoanalyzed you and tried to peg you or label you? We shouldn't put our friends and neighbors into boxes and think we have them figured out, for only God sees the heart. We cannot judge simply because we don't have access to all the facts and we are inherently biased.
But there comes a time to intercede for someone and to come to his aid by taking up his case and giving him all the aid we can accommodate. 'You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge my cause" (Lam. 3:58-59, ESV). God is in the position and has all the authority to come to our aid in our time of need. We are likewise to become a Good Samaritan and see the needs of others in their time of crisis and do all we can muster of our God-given resources.
Job thought he had a case against God and relied on his own righteousness; the flaw of his character was self-righteousness, though. Keep the faith! "[F]or he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men" (Lamentations 3:33, ESV). They say: God is too wise to make a mistake, too kind to be cruel, and too deep to explain Himself--so we never have a case against God, and He doesn't owe us an explanation for anything He allows to happen by His sovereignty in our lives. "No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, 'You have done wrong'" (Job 36:23, NLT).
God is all ears if we want to come to him in sincerity and seek truth and an honest dialogue: "Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case to prove your innocence" (Isaiah 43:26, NLT). Let me end with one more verse: "For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil' (2 Cor. 5:10, ESV).
Soli Deo Gloria!
Pertinent verses:
"... Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?.." (Romans 8:33, ESV).
"... If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31, ESV).
"Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; state your cause, that you may be proved right" (Isaiah 43:26, NASB).
"Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say..." (Isaiah 45:21, NLT).
"I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering" (Isaiah 48:10, NLT).
"... [T]hrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22, ESV).
"We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life. They aren't working, but they are meddling in other people's business" (2 Thess. 3:11, CEV).
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts" (Prov. 20:27, ESV). "The LORD's light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive" (Ibid., NLT).
"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23, NKJV).
"... [F]or the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought..." (1 Chronicles 28:9, ESV).
"O LORD, you have searched me and known me! . . . and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:1,3, ESV).
Scripture teaches us to mind our own business and not to get on each other's case or become busybodies, "meddling in other people's business" (cf. 2 Thess. 3:11, CEV). Just as Paul admonishes the saints at the Thessalonian church: "Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you" (1 Thess. 4:11, CEV). In other words, get off your brother's case! We all have unique situations and cannot judge by the outward appearance, for God looks on the heart (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7) and sees the motives: "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit [motive]" (Proverbs 16:2, ESV; cf. Prov. 21:2); Jesus also commanded us not to judge by appearance but with righteous judgment in John 7:24. We are fruit inspectors, for we shall know them by their fruits (cf. Matt. 7:20): "....for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. 12:34, KJV).
We don't have the wisdom to label people and labeling is wrong, as an amateur diagnosis or prognosis--what's more, it's judging! What would you take a man for who constantly psychoanalyzed you and tried to peg you or label you? We shouldn't put our friends and neighbors into boxes and think we have them figured out, for only God sees the heart. We cannot judge simply because we don't have access to all the facts and we are inherently biased.
But there comes a time to intercede for someone and to come to his aid by taking up his case and giving him all the aid we can accommodate. 'You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge my cause" (Lam. 3:58-59, ESV). God is in the position and has all the authority to come to our aid in our time of need. We are likewise to become a Good Samaritan and see the needs of others in their time of crisis and do all we can muster of our God-given resources.
Job thought he had a case against God and relied on his own righteousness; the flaw of his character was self-righteousness, though. Keep the faith! "[F]or he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men" (Lamentations 3:33, ESV). They say: God is too wise to make a mistake, too kind to be cruel, and too deep to explain Himself--so we never have a case against God, and He doesn't owe us an explanation for anything He allows to happen by His sovereignty in our lives. "No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, 'You have done wrong'" (Job 36:23, NLT).
God is all ears if we want to come to him in sincerity and seek truth and an honest dialogue: "Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case to prove your innocence" (Isaiah 43:26, NLT). Let me end with one more verse: "For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil' (2 Cor. 5:10, ESV).
Soli Deo Gloria!