The Test, Judging & Regretting in Time

(i) We are to ‘test’ and only hold fast to ‘what is good’

“but test all things. Hold fast to the good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

(ii) Judging is for beyond that time after it is fulfilled (later only) because ‘the people could change’ or ‘nothing happened further as we imagine negatively, say about a person’

“Therefore do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord shall have come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the motives of the hearts; and then the praise will come to each from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5)

(iii) We can always ‘regret in time’ and ‘seek to fulfill the Will of God’ in our lives:

“And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went.” (Matthew 21:29)

For me, I ask two questions to myself namely,

(a) In anything I pursue in life, will it stop me from fulfilling the Will of God especially with regards to obeying written Scripture?

If the answer is ‘no’, I feel safe to pursue it and vice versa too.

(b) Did I ‘continue’ in that sin or stopped & gave it up? If the answer is ‘stopped & gave it up’, we are back, ‘safe’ in the Will of God.

“The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.

“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 21:30 – 31)