Jessa Duggar Seewald just dropped a plumb line in the United States. Duggar, of 19 Kids and Counting Fame, is turning heads and stirring the spirits of her Facebook followers this week with a post about God’s judgment.
In Duggar’s opinion, one of the most quoted verses from the Bible is Matthew 7:1 “Judge not!” But she believes that’s misinterpreted because folks don’t like other folks to criticize how they are living their life.
“I will speak to you a hard truth. I do not write this because I think that it will bring me popularity. It won’t. But it is Truth from the Word of God: the Bible. To not tell people this is to hide the truth from them. To keep silent is to not care for their eternal destiny! I care about you, and this is why I am speaking out!” Duggar wrote on her Facebook page.
“In this world, people have seared their consciences. The standard of what is ‘ok’ or ‘permissible’ in our society today, hardly reflects God’s standard.
“People are content to live on in lying, cursing, pride, anger, bitterness, disrespecting of parents, lust, pornography, fornication, adultery, and other sexual sins– and if anyone tries to confront them, their attitude and response is, ‘You live your life, I’ll live mine. Don’t you tell me what to do! Only God can judge me!’
“They don’t even realize what they’re saying. God’s judgment isn’t something to be taken lightly! It should scare you! Man’s ‘judgment’ is a 1000x lighter… usually just a voicing of disapproval. But when unbelieving, sinful men die and stand before God, He justly condemns them to hell.”
Duggar went on to say that people disregard the Bible, using “all kinds of human logic” to try to justify their lifestyles. She gives examples of those who claim they’ve been living sinful lifestyles for years and don’t believe God is angry with them; that a loving god would not send people to hell; that they have peace about their lifestyle and are listening to their heart; and that if God disapproved why doesn’t He strike them dead?
But people disregard the Bible, and instead use all kinds of human logic to try to justify their way of living:
“First off, our human hearts are bent toward sin and not righteousness. We shouldn’t follow the inclinations of our heart, but rather we know what is right and wrong according to what we find in God’s Word: the Bible,” Duggar wrote.
“This should be concerning to you. I know it was for me! When I saw myself in light of God’s standard, and I knew that I fell short. But I found hope in the Gospel—the ‘good news’ of Jesus Christ! I would still be lost today were it not for His grace!
“Repent! Turn away from sin, and to Jesus Christ today! Be saved from the wrath to come. The believing man has Christ’s perfect record put to their account. God gives him a new heart and new desires. If you find yourself a sinner in need of Jesus, then open your Bible today and begin to read the books of John and Romans. Let the Word of God root out the sins of your heart. Do not let up until you have found Salvation for your soul!”
The reactions were mixed. Some used the false justifications Duggar offered. Others thanked her for being bold enough to speak the truth.
“He is the only one that knows what circumstances have happened in that person’s life, and what they have gone through. This is why we are not to judge lest we be judged. We cannot know the heart of another person,” wrote Cindy Griggs. “So when you look down at a person for lying or being caught up in a sexual sin, you don’t know what life they had to lead to that.”
Oscar Yturriaga applauded Duggar for using her platform to share the truth of the gospel. He finds it “curious” how people can be so defensive and hateful toward someone who isn’t preaching anything to others that they haven’t first preached to themselves.
“I don’t get the sense that you think you’re better than anyone or more deserving of God’s grace and mercy. You’re identifying with the human condition of sin and sharing the only known cure, which can spare them from much pain and torment,” Yturriaga wrote. “There’s nothing more loving a person can do for another.”
