“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
“Judge not” is one of the most confusing concepts written in the New Testament. On one hand it makes sense that one human being cannot judge another, on the other hand it seems to be in order that to “judge not” we will have to ignore sin. I will try to make sense of this for myself and for you. “Judge not” does not mean that we cannot recognize sin. Sin is a reality that was brought into the world by our first parents, and it has been with us since. The whole Bible deals with the reality of sin. Why was there a flood that destroyed the whole world? Sin! Why were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed? Sin! Why did David write Psalm 51? He wrote it because he had sinned and he knew that he needed to be forgiven for those sins. Why did Jesus come into the world, to live a perfect life and die on the cross? It was because of sin. Sin is real and it is the reason for all of the things that happen in this fallen world. We do not have to judge sin, because God has already judged it and it is always wrong. “Judge not” does not mean that we can’t warn people about sin in their lives . If we know that someone is headed in the wrong direction and that this direction could ruin their lives, we are negligent in our Christian witness if we do not give a word of warning. It is not “ugly and mean” to warn people about how certain sins can ruin their lives. We are, however, to approach people in an attitude of compassion and love. I know that I have been helped by loving and compassionate Christians reminding me of the reality of sin in my life. This was especially true in the years that I was growing up and experimenting with what the world had to offer. I did not always heed the warnings, but I surely needed the warnings and I think that my life is better because of intervention of fellow Christians. We are not doing anyone a favor when we ignore sin in their lives. “Judge not” does mean that we need to be careful when we are warning other people about their sins, that we are not doing the same things, or maybe even worse. Jesus made this plain in Matthew 7:3: “And why behold thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but do not consider the beam (or log) that is in your own eye?” Paul gave a warning about this in Romans 2:1: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are that judges: for wherein you judge another you do not consider yourself, for you that judge are doing the same things.” It is much easier for us to recognize sin in someone else’s life than it is to recognize it in our own lives. We need to remember that our sins are being judged by someone much higher than ourselves, and that He knows what is in our lives. “Judge not” does mean that we are not to be pharisaical and condescending ("holier than thou") when we are warning others about their sins. We need to remember that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and that this verse applies to us as well. Paul wrote about this in Ephesians 4:15: “But speaking the truth in love may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” We are not qualified to be condescending before any person, no matter how bad they seem to be. Remember that Jesus was not impressed by the Pharisee who went to pray and in his prayer condemned the tax collector who was praying at the same time. (Read Luke 18:10-14.) “Judge not” means that there is only one real judge, and He is not us! (I know that is bad grammar.) It is certainly not wrong to be concerned about sin in other people’s lives, but it is wrong when we think that we are qualified to look down on them. If anyone has ever been qualified to look down on people it was Jesus, and that is not how he treated sinners. When we look down on people, we are committing the sin of false pride, which is certainly condemned in the Bible. We are not to ignore sin, and this means that we are not to ignore our own sins. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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