Thou Shalt Not Judge?

The Misuse of “Judge Not” in Matthew 7

Judge not that you be not judged. Does Jesus really say that? Yes, He does. Matthew 7, 1. But do not miss the context. Jesus is not saying that we shouldn't judge at all. He's saying don't judge hypocritically.

Continuing on, He says, How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there's a log in your own eye? You hypocrite. First take the log out of your eye and then you'll see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Biblical Commands to Judge Righteously

Did you get that? First take the log out of your eye and then take the speck out of your brother's eye. By this, the Bible is actually telling us that we're supposed to judge. Proverbs 27 .5, Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Proverbs 31 .9, Open your mouth, judge righteously. Matthew 18 .15, Tell your brother his faults. John 7 .24, Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. 1 Corinthians 2 .15, The spiritual person judges all things.

Judgment in the Church and the Call to Gentleness

1 Corinthians 5 .12, Judge those inside the church. 2 Timothy 3 .16, The Bible is useful for reproof. Now, we're definitely not supposed to be jerks when it comes to judgment. We also read in 2 Timothy that the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, correcting opponents with gentleness.

Titus 3 .2 says to be gentle and show perfect courtesy to all people. The purpose is not to point out everyone's wrong so that we can show how much more right we are. The purpose is to point them to Christ, who forgives sin and gives eternal life.

Know the Word of God so that we're able to instruct each other properly when we understand the text.