Can we judge God's elect?

At the outset, the term "accusation" is to be clearly understood from legal and scriptural points of view. The motive of a person making an accusation is to be kept in mind. If a person, with the ulterior motive of harming the reputation of another or causing embarrassment to another out of jealousy, ill-feeling or personal prejudices, finds fault with the latter, his action may be considered as an act of accusation.

In legal terminology, an accusation is brought against an accused person by an aggrieved person. Until and unless the charges are proved through evidence, the accused would not be pronounced guilty by the judge. Every aggrieved person or an advocate on his behalf has a legal right to bring an accusation before an earthly judge. Scripturally speaking, the book of Moses teaches us clearly on the subject. According to the New Testament doctrines, such an accusation should not be railing or intended to judge a fellow brother or sister in Christ. The Word of God teaches that a "railing accusation" should not be brought (2 Pet.2:11 and Jude 9). The term "railing" means "using vigorously or mockingly a reproachful language".

Paul in his letter to Timothy (I Tim.5:19), based on Duet.19:15, writes, "Listen to no accusation preferred against an elder except it be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses". When a charge is laid "against an elder", it should be confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses. No doubt, the divine Advocate will appear before the Father on behalf of the accused elder if he has since confessed his sins and got the same cleansed by the precious Blood of Jesus (I John 1:8-10 & 2:1). In this context, it would be appropriate to read what Paul has said in Rom.8:33-34 - "Who can lay a charge against God's elect...?"

Admonition of those who sin

Paul exhorts the young Timothy to "rebuke and admonish" them including the elder who are found guilty, and who persist in sin "in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels - "thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality...." (I Tim.5:20-21).

Open rebuke is better than secret love (Pro.27:5). David says in Psalm 141:5, "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head; for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities". In 2 Tim.4:2, Paul charges Timothy before God and Christ to "reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine".

If an elder or a servant of God who has committed a sin and persists in such sin without repentance, the younger generations like Timothy have a right to bring an accusation against that elder through the mouth of witnesses and, if the charges are proved, to "rebuke and admonish" the elder concerned "before all" so that "others also may fear".

Judgment of false doctrines

A false doctrine which strikes at the very roots of Christian faith or the basic tenets of the New Testament is very pernicious. It deserves to be exposed and condemned by all because those influenced by such false doctrines are made to forsake "the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam...." (2 Pet.2:15). According to Rev.2:14, the false doctrines likened to "the doctrine of Balaam" casts a stumbling bloc before the children of God. Accordingly, if an elder or a servant of God preaches a false doctrine which militates against the very foundation of the Christian edifice built on the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner Stone, every child of God has a right to warn the elder concerned against such a false and pernicious doctrine. In the West, the ministers of God preach a false doctrine justifying marriage of divorced persons during the life-time of their spouses which is an abomination in the sight of God. This false doctrine has brought many people to the brink of the hell fire. Please read the Biblical doctrines concerning marriage and divorce.

The truth, the two-edged sword of the Spirit, should be upheld by all. We are to contend for, and not to compromise the truth. "Now just as Jannes and Jambras were hostile to and resisted Moses, so these men also are hostile to and oppose THE TRUTH. They have depraved and distorted minds, and are reprobate and counterfeit and to be rejected as far as the faith is concerned" (2 Tim.3:8 - Amplified).

The Truth under the New Testament is compared to the Moses of the Old Testament. No servant of God under the New Covenant is supposed to take the place of Moses, and to claim immunity or protection from the Word after preaching a false and pernicious doctrine. The personality of Moses matters under the Old Testament but what matters under the New Covenant is not any human personality but the Personality of Christ Jesus which is revealed through the multi-membered Body, the Church. The Truth is more precious and important than any human personality under the New Testament.

No New Testament believer can take shelter behind the adulterous woman who was judged by the Pharisees of the days of Jesus, if he has resisted the Truth, having been accused of, and found guilty of falsifying the truth of the Word. True, nobody (neither a human being nor an angel) can condemneth him as per Rom.8:33-34. But the Word of God would judge and condemn him for the judgment begins at the House of God.

For the purpose of edifying the Body of Christ, God has set "prophets secondarily" in the Body of Christ. Their duty is to alert the children of God if they deviate from the Word, warning them of divine judgment that begins at the House of God. The prophets are not "accusers" but are defenders of the Word. A servant of God under the New Testament cannot and should not carry on his ministry, ignoring the prophetic warnings or stifling the voice of the Truth through the prophetic ministry which is part of the Body of Christ. If he deliberately chooses to ignore the trumpet call of the prophets who are required to "cry aloud, spare not, lift up their voice like a trumpet, and declare to His people their transgression...." (Is.58:1), such intransigence would bring about his fall, due to sheer pride. A warning given by a prophet about certain false doctrine, should not be construed as an accusation against God's elect because it is God who has ordained the prophets as watchmen unto the House of God. A prophet appointed by God to the Body of Christ should warn with all long-suffering and tears a preacher of the Word who preaches a false doctrine. A prophet is also a defender of the Body of Christ when one member of the Body is defamed publicly through a railing and malicious accusation.

If Martin Luther had not cried aloud nor had lifted up his voice like a trumpet against the unscriptural practices of the Roman catholic Church, then the Church would not have ushered in the epoch making Protestant Movement. Martin Luther contended for the Truth, though he was branded as an apostate.

No servant of God can claim protection or refuge under the Word of God in Isaiah 54:17, if the charge of falsifying the truth of the glorious gospel is proved against him. Nobody can claim to have the abiding Presence of Christ, the divine Advocate, to defend him if he/she has trampled under his/her foot the holy Word of God. None can claim to undergo persecution in terms of Matt.5:11-12 (for the sake of Christ), if he/she undergoes suffering due to divine judgment in consequence of certain false doctrine preached by him/her.

As spiritual men, we are supposed to judge all things (I Cor.2:15).

-Job Anbalagan