It seems that the most widely quoted passage of scripture in our time is Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Often, it is shortened as a part of the statement, “Jesus said, ‘Judge not’!” The statement is true, Jesus did say, “Judge not.” To understand His statement, however, takes some explanation. It is not as cut and dried as many would have you believe.
First, consider the full statement of Jesus in the text, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (1-2). The context shows that this is not a blanket condemnation of judging. It is, rather, a warning. No man can judge another without being judged himself—and, with the same standard of judgment.
This can be easily illustrated by another text. In Matthew 18:23-34, Jesus taught Peter a parable. It is commonly called the parable of the unforgiving servant. A master forgave his servant a large monetary debt. This was a great show of mercy. Later, the servant was not willing to forgive the debt of someone who owed him. When the master heard of this, he was angry with the servant. He said, “‘Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him” (33-34).
The type of judgment under consideration in the text of Matthew 7 is what we might refer to as “unrighteous judgment.” It is judgment that you render to others, but would not want rendered to you. It is hypocritical and ungodly. This becomes clear as he points out the hypocrisy of saying to another “Let me remove the speck from your eye” when you have a “plank” in your own. (3-5).
Later in the chapter, Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (15-20). Jesus does intend for us to be discerning about sin and error. There is a standard that has been set in God’s word. As we consider that standard, and compare our and others actions against it, we can know whether we or they stand with God. “By their fruits you will know them.”
With this in mind, consider what Jesus said in John 7:24, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” In fact, our purpose in sharing the gospel message with the world is to convict the world of sin! The righteous standard with which we judge is God’s word!
Did Peter sin when he said to the Jews on Pentecost, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36)? Was Paul wrong to encourage the Corinthians to withdraw themselves from the immoral man among them, saying, “For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed” (1 Corinthians 5:3)? Was John sinning when he condemned Diotrephes in his letter to Gaius, (3 John 9-10)? The answer of course, is no! They were judging with righteous judgment, and in so doing were convicting men of sin.
Judgment is necessary in order to differentiate between faith and fables (cf. 1 Timothy 1:3-4), and between wholesome and unwholesome words (cf. 1 Timothy 6:3-5). In fact, concerning those who bring unwholesome words, Paul wrote to Timothy, “From such withdraw yourself.” How can this be done unless judgment is made?
When people tell us to “judge not” they mean that they don’t want us to tell them they are wrong! In fact, that is exactly what “you who are spiritual” are to do! (cf. Galatians 6:1). When we tell people what God’s word teaches, we are not judging by our own standard, we are warning them of His standard, to save their souls!
