005 – Believing, or Believing in? (Romans: A Life of Faith)
We all judge other people. It’s a very human thing to do but it’s not a Jesus thing. Why? Because judging others makes us a hypocrite. When we judge others, we also judge ourselves. We agree that there are standards they fail to meet, and when we make that assessment, we unconsciously include ourselves. If we’re honest, we have to admit that we all fail to meet even our own standards, let alone God’s.
Paul writes about the cure for this kind of judgmental hypocrisy. He calls it faith, and he gives us a concrete example in Abraham. When we lean into what Paul is writing, we see a difference between believing in something (or someone) and believing them, which is the essence of faith.