Judgement of Others

This is a big one for me (I have a lot of "big ones!"). Throughout my life, I've noticed that there are people in the church (not just a particular denomination, but the church at large) that tend to have a superiority complex when it comes to people who believe in a different way, or believe other things entirely. Now, I understand that this tends to come from the idea that what a person believes will usually stem from what they deem to be "the truth." However, with a book as controversial as the Bible, who is to say what the truth is? Ok, one can of worms open.

For instance, in Romans, Paul talks about the final judgment when God will judge each individual.

"But no, you won't listen. So you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin. For there is going to come a day when God, the just judge of all the world, will judge all people according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who persist in doing what is good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and practice evil deeds." Romans 2:5-8 NLT

This seems to seal the deal that our eternal life is based on works; however, not even two chapters later, Paul states this:

"Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law." Romans 3:27-28 NLT

So, with this seeming contradiction, what are we to think? Are we saved by works or by grace through faith? I am not going to answer that because that's not the point of this discussion.

The point is that when we have such confusion about what is right, that should open our eyes to see that it's not our place to judge other people-that's God's job and his job alone. There is a time for judging others, which is the whole "remove the speck in your own eye" discussion, but I think that God will judge us based on a number of variables, not least of which is our individual experience of and walk with God. Would it be fair for God to not accept someone who worshiped on Sunday because they were never taught the 7th day Sabbath? Who knows?

I think it would be much more beneficial for us to stop trying to save other people, which isn't our job anyway, and to just love them for they are as brothers and sisters in Christ. Encourage them, and let them encourage you, in walking with God. But we need to stop looking down on others because they are different than we are; they are still a child of God and we should treat them as such. Period.

Thoughts?