Paul wants us to understand that we are all guilty before God. We are ‘all in the dock’. He wants us to put ourselves in this position because this is where grace will meet us. If, however, we put ourselves in the judge’s seat we are effectively taking God’s position. This is a dangerous place to put ourselves. Often, when we are offended or wronged, we take the position of judge over someone. It is one thing, when someone hurts us, to communicate and express our feelings and quite another to disdain a person for what they have done. We might respond by saying things like, “How could they do such a thing?” Or, “I just can’t understand how someone could be so callous, ungrateful, so rude, so mean, so malicious, etc.” Really? Do you really think you are so different? Are you really prepared to ‘throw stones’ at others? As Paul says in Romans 2:1: “You…who pass judgement on someone else… you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things.” In other words, if you take the place of judgement, you are in a very dangerous place. It isn’t right, because we are not the judge; we are far from it; we are an offender, and we belong in the dock with all the other offenders. This is the safest place to be. There is grace for those who are convicted and in the dock, but if we put ourselves in the judge’s seat we place ourselves outside the realm of grace.
Pray for someone who has hurt or offended you.
Read John 8:1-11 in the light of Romans 3:9-20
