Condemnation
- Michael Haldas
- Sep 5
- 8 min read
“If we look inside ourselves and try to see our tendencies, we will easily notice that we already have a developed habit of condemning others…Condemning is an expression of our pride, through which we claim for ourselves the possibility to judge another person. Self-exaltation is a quality of every person and is deeply rooted in each of us. Feelings of smugness and self-worth always warm us from the inside…Everything pleasant that we hear said about us gladdens us, but if someone says anything against our own opinion of ourselves… he’s in for it! Some even become furious, saying: “What did you say to me?!”A feeling of self-worth can be a strong stimulus for reaching great heights, it is a strong engine! But we know that in fact it works on fleshly, earthly energy. And we know that the Scriptures say, God resists the proud… (Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5).” (Archpriest Georgiy Bryeyev)
“It is not enough to simply learn to bottle up anger and hold it back. This is important, but not enough. It is just the same as if we were to remove only the symptoms and consequences of a sickness, but not heal it. What is the main medicine against passion? Implanting in the soul the habit of virtue, the opposite passion…Nature abhors a vacuum. It’s not enough to only cast out anger and stop getting irritated. And it is almost impossible—it will anyway burst up to the surface from the depths of our souls where we had stuffed it. The habit of getting angry, irritated, and condemning should be transformed into another steadfast habit, another dominant. Which one? Forgiveness, compassion, sympathy with people, understanding, patience, and humility. Basically, these are all manifestations of one great virtue—love of neighbor.” (Archpriest Pavel Gumerov)
“Saint Paul reminds us that there’s no invisible creation as far as God’s concerned, but everything’s naked and visible under his gaze. And there’s another aspect that we don’t take into account when we condemn other people which is particularly horrific for us: censure acts as a prophecy regarding our future sins: ‘As you judge, so will you be judged’ (Matth. 7, 1).The Lord Himself confirms this: whatever we condemn in others, the Lord will permit us to suffer ourselves. This is a spiritual law which we thoughtlessly and frequently ignore when we censure other people.” (Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis)
“The fathers of the Church often speak of sin as not simply a choice, it is also an illness, a condition into which humanity has fallen. So when we see that someone has fallen into sin, it is not good to judge or condemn the person. We can judge the actions or behaviors as wrong, but we must see the person as truly sick with the sickness that afflicts everyone, everywhere, at all times. It only afflicts them to differing degrees and with differing severity. This is why the Lord teaches us not to judge others, because we are immediately judged by that same judgement.” (Fr. James Guirguis)
“True righteousness does not lead to condemning others, but rather to praying for them that they too might be saved. Otherwise, our spirituality is that of the condemned Pharisee rather than that of the justified Publican.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“…‘As you judge, so will you be judged’ (Matth. 7, 1).The Lord Himself confirms this: whatever we condemn in others, the Lord will permit us to suffer ourselves. This is a spiritual law which we thoughtlessly and frequently ignore when we censure other people.” (Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis)
“…it is easier for us to see the faults in others than to see our own faults. We readily condemn others but often commit the same faults or worse. And sometimes we project our faults on others, assuming they think just like us. People who frequently lie often assume others do as well. Then, because we assume others think like we do, in our minds this both justifies our sin and causes us to be further jaded about what others are doing. Thus, we move deeper into that dark hole which makes us less likely to acknowledge our own faults and to repent.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“If we dare to call upon God’s forgiveness for our sins, we will condemn only ourselves when we refuse to forgive others. He is infinitely holy and we are each the chief of sinners against the Father Who sent His Son for the salvation of the world. (Jn. 3:17) As those who ask for mercy beyond what we could possibly deserve, we are never justified in refusing to forgive someone else. The God-Man enables us to become like Him in holiness, and He forgave even those who rejected, betrayed, and killed Him. Since Christ has identified Himself with even the lowliest people, how we treat those who have offended us is how we treat our Lord. Everyone is a living icon of God. As St. John wrote, “If anyone says ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” (1 Jn 4:20) When we refuse to forgive others, we demonstrate not only a lack of love for them, but also for the Savior.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“When someone forgets God and no longer lives according to His commandments, which were given to mankind in order to cultivate life and protect it, and, even worse, puts himself (in his extreme madness) in God's place, he already lives and acts against his own nature, against his own kind and against all Creation…But another, no less terrible extreme is the instrumentalization of faith, turning it into an ideology—when a person condemns his neighbors, excludes them from his social circle and even kills others in the name of his faith. Without realizing it he thereby denies both faith and God Himself. Unfortunately, all religions and denominations face such a fundamentalist and violent environment. We…cannot act by force or by prohibitions against all these deviations. Because our weapon is spiritual and, above all, it is in the power of a personal example.” (Metropolitan Seraphim Joanta)
“We very often rush to condemn a person not knowing his true motives for his truly unseemly deed, instead of trying to understand his behavior and what might be behind it. We have all been raised in completely different families; we have different life experiences, education, inherited traits, health, and life conditions. Everyone has his own entirely individual life situation that may be different from ours. We think that a person wanted to insult us but perhaps his parents simply raised him wrong, and we were luckier in that respect. I think that if we do this we will begin to have pity on our neighbor, and it will be easier for us to forgive him. Only when you know a person well enough can you partially understand what is really behind his actions. Although we will never know everything, for even the person himself does not always suspect what truly motivates his behavior. Only the Lord knows the heart of man and therefore only He can judge him—but we in no way can.” (Archpriest Pavel Gumerov)
“The Lord Jesus declares that God’s concern is to “save” and not to “condemn” (John 3:17). Why, then, does the Lord place the emphasis on condemnation (vss. 17-20)? The answer is quite simple. God sees a condemned race – His own creation – perishing and given over to the oblivion of death. The Source of Life looks lovingly upon a creation permeated by death. Its self-destruction is an affront to His very nature.” (Dynamis 4/28/2020)
“Adam’s first act earned divine condemnation not because he behaved in a self-determining manner. Rather, Adam and Eve chose to make themselves (i.e., self-gratification) the sole end of their self-determination. This transmuted their natural individuality into an instrument and expressivity of a newly born self-will or autonomous self, the self that makes itself its own law and is moved by a love of self to the exclusion rather than inclusion of others, most especially God.” (Vigen Guroian)
“Just as immortality is far superior to mortality, so also the grace of Christ exceeds the death we inherited from Adam. For by grace, not only is Adam's sin covered, but the sins of the whole world are covered as well. In other words, justification in Christ far exceeds condemnation through Adam (Romans 5:16). As we all inherited Adam's mortality (Romans 5:15), we shall all inherit Christ's immortality. This saving gift (Romans 5:15) must be received through faith.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Romans 5:15-17)
“Our Lord reminds us that He came into the world not to judge sinners, but to save the world (John 12:48). As we recall, Jesus Himself hesitates to judge, for when He saw the adulterous woman who was about to be stoned to death, He came to her defense and protection and said, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her, and they all left” (John 8:7). Then Jesus turned to the woman and said, “Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). Remember that only God has the authority to judge, yet He hesitates to judge.” (John 5: 30).” (Bishop John of Amorion)
“God restores us to life through the gift of His Son, so that we may dwell with Him in His eternal Kingdom. He does not abandon us to condemnation. He makes His forgiveness tangible (1 Jn 1:1-3) so that we, who are dependent upon what is concrete, may trust in Him. When He becomes incarnate, making Himself one of us, Christ our God gives us a solid basis on which to trust Him (vs. 18), to know the truth (vs. 21), to come to the light (vs. 21), and to avoid condemnation. God loves His world, and the Lord Jesus is palpable proof. We need not perish eternally but may choose everlasting life in Him.” (Dynamis 4/28/2020)
“God condemns us whenever we place our trust in outward forms such as church services rather than in His divine commandments and expectations. “Our God is refuge and strength, a helper in afflictions which mightily befall us” (Ps 45:1), according to the Prophet David. Yet the psalmist also declares that “the ungodly . . . are like the chaff which the wind doth hurl away from the face of the earth” (Ps 1:4). Attending liturgy or helping with parish functions cannot be considered true religion. God expects us to follow His guiding Spirit in every aspect of our lives. Trusting Him and obeying Him is the basis of true worship of the undivided Trinity.” (Dynamis 2/18/2019)
“God condemns external observance if it is not the product of a righteous heart.” (Foundation Study Bible, Romans 2:29)
“People are condemned not for what they don’t know but for what they do with what they know. Those who know God’s written Word and his law will be judged by them. Those who have never seen a Bible still know right from wrong, and they will be judged because they violated those standards that their own consciences dictated. God’s law is written within them.” (Life Application Study Bible, Romans 2:10)
“While Christ came to save and not to condemn, man has free will. Thus, he can reject this gift, and he becomes condemned by his own rejection.” (Orthodox Study Bible, John 3:17-18)
“No one is redeemed except through unmerited mercy, and no one is condemned except through merited judgment.” (St. Augustine)
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