Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged”
There are many Bible verses that unbelievers, and even believers, misinterpret. And I think we can agree that this verse is one of the most misused verses in the secular world. I’m sure we’ve all heard, don’t judge me, we shouldn’t judge others, or only God can judge me. We hear these responses from people who want to justify sinful behavior. Or in the case of believers, they just may not have an understanding of this verse. One thing we may not realize when we say only God can judge me is that we should be the most terrified by His judgment since God is Holy, and we are guilty of sin.
When we look at a verse, we can’t just isolate it and use it as we see fit. We must look at the surrounding verses, chapters, and use the analogy of faith, which requires that we look at other parts of the Bible to see what it says about a specific topic. We have to look at this verse in context to understand what Jesus is saying.
JUDGE NOT
I’m going to break down the verse into two parts- focusing on the judge not part first. Jesus is warning us to judge righteously, not to stop judging overall, which we will see once we look to the following verses and other parts of the Bible. He is pointing out that sinful judgment that condemns others is not okay. However, we must use righteous judgment to discern what is good, evil, and what goes against God’s commands. Here are four examples of what Jesus did not mean by judge not.
1) He isn’t telling us to stop using discernment regarding the character of others or not to evaluate unrepented sinners. If we go to verse 6, we will see this to be true. The verse calls us to discern what is Holy and what is not, and to recognize it. I wouldn’t be able to obey this command unless I use discernment. In verse 20, it says we will recognize false teachers by their fruit. This passage requires that I distinguish what is true and false and it can only be done if I use discernment. In Romans 16:17, Paul instructs us to watch out for those who cause division. Again, I must use discernment to determine this.
2) Jesus didn’t mean that we should dismiss discernment of the teaching of men. Verse 15 tells us to beware of false prophets. Galatians 1:8-9 and 2 John 9:10 also call us to discern false teachings. 3) When Jesus said judge not, He didn’t mean Church discipline should be dismissed. We can go to Matthew 18:15-17, where we see this is commanded. There must be discernment towards those who have fallen into sin. 4) Jesus also wasn’t referring to the civil government when He said judge not. God approves this type of judgment and uses it as an instrument to bring the judgment of evildoers (Rom. 13:1-7, 1 Pet. 2:13-14).
THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED
Now we focus on the second part of Matthew 7:1 to see what Jesus means by these words. When our Lord said judge not, he followed with, that you be not judged. This is a warning that when we sinfully judge others, we’re incurring God’s judgment on ourselves. God condemns the self-righteous, critical spirit, contrary to the attitude in the Beatitudes. This condemning attitude goes against 1 Corinthians 13. Here are a few examples of the types of judgments God condemns.
1) Unnecessary criticism. We must avoid this. There are times when professing Christians get together and the conversations turn into criticizing others when it’s not necessary. We may not see anything wrong with pointing out sin at that moment, but there are places and times for everything. We shouldn’t look for opportunities to criticize. 2) Drawing a premature negative conclusion. This means we make conclusions before having all the facts. This is the attitude that doesn’t want to bother on gathering more proof before passing judgment on someone. This can lead to bearing false witness which is prohibited (Prov. 19:5).
3) Not attempting to find a good motive for a person’s actions. This is the attitude that automatically assumes there’s a wrong motive in an action without looking for the good. In other words, we are judging the hidden purpose of the heart. 4) Refusing to see a balanced picture. For example, a person may have plenty of godly virtues, and when they sin, that’s all we focus on. Placing our focus on the bad and not thinking of the fruits of the spirit they have also displayed. This means we overlook the good and magnify the bad. God condemns the hypercritical spirit. 5) An attitude of condemnation when we find legitimate sin in others. We shouldn’t condemn and write someone off because we found sin in an area of their lives. In 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15, we find the right balance. We should exercise discernment but not regard a brethren as an enemy.
DON’T JUDGE UNRIGHTEOUSLY
First and foremost, because it’s sinful. In addition, we’re incurring God’s judgment on ourselves. The second reason is that when we partake in sinful judgment, we are setting a standard in which we will be judged by God. We look to verse 2 to read this. It says, “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” For instance, have we dispensed criticism and condemnation in large quantities while dispensing grace, mercy, and compassion in little quantities? Whatever amounts we’ve dispensed grace, mercy, understanding, and compassion, thats how God will measure it towards us. For with the judgment that I judge, I will be judged.
A perfect example of this is in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:21-35). Although the master forgave his servant for his debt, this servant refused to forgive his fellow-servant, who owed him a hundred denarii and asked him to pay. This servant pleaded with the servant who was forgiven, but despite him being shown mercy, he refused to show mercy and put him in prison. When the master of this servant heard what he had done, the master summoned him and said to him, “you wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (v. 32-33). The master than delivered the servant to the jailers until he pays all his debt. The servant showed judgment without mercy, so he ended up receiving judgment without mercy. Matthew 5:7 says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
And the third reason why we shouldn’t judge sinfully is in Matthew 7:3-5. When we judge others, there must be a right reason for such judgment and we should be fit for this type of task. Failure to judge righteously is disobedience towards God.
VERSE THREE AND FOUR
Verse 3 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”
The word why in verse 3 is important. So why are we passing judgment? If the real reason is for a desire to see righteousness in others, then we would want to first start with our righteousness. We can’t honestly be judging others for this reason if we haven’t dealt with our plank. So if we’re not judging with the right motive, we’ve fallen into sin ourselves. The reason for judgment must genuinely be to see our brothers and sisters in Christ growing in righteousness and holiness.
Verse 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?”
The word how in verse 4 is also important. How are we pointing out sin when we’re unequipped for this task. We must first be able to recognize our sins (plank) and work on them, to then be able to help others. We should be the example before we go point others in the right direction. For instance, if a sister or brother in Christ come to us to point out our sin, and we know this person is constantly sinning without attempting to work on their sin, we’re less likely to feel like this person is equipped to guide us since they aren’t willing to work towards their righteousness. However, if we know the person coming to us is constantly acknowledging their sin and working on eliminating it, we will welcome their righteous judgment, since we know they are concerned about their righteousness and holy living. Our concern for the pursuit of righteousness must start with ourselves.
VERSE FIVE
In this verse, we will find that Jesus is not saying that we can’t judge sin in others or that we should dismiss sin. What is being asked here is how can we be so quick to judge others when we aren’t first dealing with our sin. That’s hypocrisy, which Jesus clearly states in this verse. He is telling us that we must first face our plank, then we can go help others. Also, in dealing with our sin struggles first, we are more likely to be sympathetic towards others since we’re aware of the constant battle with sin. We’ll be able to relate instead of having a self-righteous attitude that makes it seem like we are somehow better than others. Let’s look at our sin, is it easy to deal with? No. So we shouldn’t assume sin is any easier of a battle in someone else’s life. We must deal fairly with our sin, then we must deal with the sin of others with gentleness.
STRIVING FOR RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
As we battle with indwelling sin, we must fight off the critical, self-righteous, unloving, unmerciful criticism based on human standards. Jesus is forbidding this type of attitude-which reflects that of the Pharisees. They lacked grace, mercy, and criticized those who didn’t meet their standards. A perfect example is in Luke 18:9-14. We know God opposes the proud (James 4:6). We also shouldn’t be quick to judge without knowing the reason behind sin. This doesn’t mean that we should justify sin, it simply means that we should approach the situation with an understanding heart. We are all guilty of sin and constantly falling short of the glory of God. How much more wouldn’t we want God to be merciful and understanding towards us?
Righteous judgment, which God commands, requires that we approach someone in sin for the right reason. There must be a real concern towards those who have fallen into sin or have departed from God’s truth. The reason must be out of the desire to see them walking in righteousness. We must also be equipped by first tackling our sins. And how we deliver righteous judgment matters. We must display humility, kindness, and compassion (Col. 3:12). Are we loving and understanding? This demands that we approach the person with a sympathetic heart. If we approach someone out of selfishness or with a condemning attitude, we have fallen into sinful judgment.
Not only should we exercise righteous judgment, but we must also be open to our brothers and sisters in Christ judging us. God commands that we’re confronted about our sin. They should not condemn us, but out of love, they should call us to repentance. We can’t simply agree with righteously judging others while opposed to others righteously judging us.
CONVICTION
I’ll be honest, I was convicted as I studied these passages- realizing I have sinfully judged others without even knowing it. This also made me pause to evaluate my conversations, and I was heartbroken to see where I had led certain discussions. It made me realize how many opportunities I’ve passed in keeping my mouth closed. I’ve repented and prayed that God uses this article to reveal sin in areas of your life as well.
Our walk with Christ is not easy, but we must fight at putting to death the things of this world. We must strive to pursue righteousness for every area of our lives, including how we judge others. So before we go on judging, let us ask ourselves, “How does this align with Scripture, is this righteous judgment?”, “What are the motives behind this judgment?”, and “Am I dealing with my plank or am I simply looking for specs in others?” Let us display mercy and grace towards others as we know how hard it is to deal with our own sin in our day-to-day lives.
Thank you for this very sound look at this often hotly debated topic.
Thank you for your feedback, Alison. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.