How To Judge Justly 

The Bible says that we are not supposed to judge.  

Matt. 7:1-5: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  2 For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” 

In this saying Jesus is warning us that we must not judge others unfairly or harshly, for the standard of judgment we use will be used on us. If we judge mercifully, we will receive mercy; if we judge harshly, we will be judged harshly. 

Many people have not properly understood this passage. Jesus is not saying that we should ignore sin in others, that we must tolerate every kind of evil. Today tolerance of sin is exalted as almost the highest virtue. Quite often this passage, “Judge not,” is quoted whenever anyone brings up the biblical view of sin. Anyone who takes a stand against sin is considered intolerant, and intolerance is the unforgivable sin. Many unbelievers accuse us of violating this scripture when we quote what the Bible says about their particular sins. 

But we are required to denounce sin, to warn sinners of their impending judgment, and to recall Christian brothers from error. If we boldly declare, for example, that homosexuality is ‘an abomination to God,’ we are not judging; we are stating the facts as we understand them. When we denounce adultery in God’s name, we are not being ‘judgmental.’  If God calls certain acts sins, then we may safely do the same. Granted we should do so “in meekness and fear,” not in an ugly, abusive manner. We should do it with love and concern for the sinner, not in a gloating, hateful way. 

Gal. 6:1: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” 

James 5:19-20: “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” 

I Pet. 3:15-16: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 

Those Christians who publicly make a strong stand against sin, while they privately live loose lives themselves, are rightly called hypocrites. But it is neither hypocrisy nor judging to uphold God’s standard of holiness before men. 

II Tim. 2:23-26: “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” 

So you see it is not “judging” in the sense that Jesus condemns when we present the righteous judgments of God against sin in the hope of reclaiming the sinner.

But when we consider our brother’s speck to be a plank, and our plank to be a speck, our hearts are wrong. Love “...always protects, always trusts, always hopes” (I Cor. 13:7). When love corrects, it does so “with meekness and fear,” its words always gracious, “seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:6). Our denunciations of sin must be done for God’s honor and out of compassion for the sinner.  

So what Jesus is warning against is harsh judgment, judgment without mercy: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James. 2:12-13).  I believe we should regard our own sins as more serious than our brothers’; that is, we should see our own sins as planks or ‘beams,’ and others’ sins as specks or ‘motes.’ 

And we must not judge motives. Since we cannot know the hearts of men, we are not to attribute motives to others that they do not own for themselves.  

RIGHT AND WRONG WAYS OF JUDGING: 

Jesus warns us to be “wise as serpent” though “harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16). Therefore we must be discerning; we must make wise judgments. In the secular world men use the expression ‘due diligence’ to refer to the careful examination of the facts in order to make wise decisions. If one makes decisions without ‘due diligence,’ those judgments are often wrong. It is never wise to make hasty judgments based on superficial knowledge. Jesus warned the disciples of this:

John 7:24: “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” [NASV “Judge not according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment”] 

The most important “facts” we need in order to make righteous judgments are the facts of God’s Word. We need to see things, whenever possible, with God’s eyes.

By learning His Word diligently (due diligence), we can, in a sense, “have the mind of Christ” (I Cor. 2:16).  

Let me suggest to you two applications of this—one to unbelievers and one to believers. 1) First of all, unbelievers will almost always judge “by mere appearances.” How can it be otherwise? They don’t have God’s perspective because they don’t believe the revelation of His will and wisdom. Therefore they do not take into account the rule of God through Providence, the final Judgment, the possibility of the new birth, or the nature of the human soul and spirit. Psychologists are supposed to be students of the soul (psyche); yet they do not believe in the soul’s existence. The psyche of the secular psychologist is not the soul of man created by God. Without seeing the big picture, they have little chance of making wise judgments. 2) In the case of believers, many Christians, even Christian psychologists, omit the whole dimension of demons and the Satanic Kingdom in their commentaries and teaching. Some Christians ignore the supernatural gifts in I Corinthians chapters 12 through 14. How, then, can they make right judgments when they try to minister to people who are oppressed, sick, or in bondage?  The truth is, they cannot. 

Even the spiritual leaders of Israel did not understand spiritual reality (John 3:10-11). Jesus accused them of judging “according to the flesh” (John 8:15). Because they did not acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, they missed the most important opportunity of their lives; they got it all wrong, and opposed God in a dreadful, tragic fashion.   

John 8:13-16: “The Pharisees challenged him, ‘Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.’ 14 Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards [according to the flesh]; I pass judgment on no one [at the present time]. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.’” 

Even Jesus did not make His final assessments during His time on earth; that He reserved for the time of His return. But such judgments as He did make were right, because He judged what the Father showed Him. Many times we must reserve judgment because we CANNOT possibly have all the facts we need.

For instance, we cannot, like the Old Testament prophets, declare any particular disaster to be a judgment of God. We know that God uses natural disasters and acts of war to judge nations and peoples, but we cannot say with any certainty just what God is doing in a particular case. 

Likewise we cannot declare here just how God will distribute His honor and rewards. We tend to think that high-profile Church leaders will be honored in heaven as they are honored here. We may assume that the people we overlook here will also be relegated to an obscure place in heaven. But that’s not likely, is it? There will likely be many surprises because, as Jesus said: “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15) 

That’s why Paul warned against making hasty judgments about the future: 

I Cor. 4:4-5: “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” 

Indeed, since in the Kingdom of God up is down, last is first, and least is greatest, I think it is more likely than not that those among the most honored in heaven will be some who counted for little in the eyes of men. 

So we are required all the time to judge, to make judgments, choices, and wise decisions. One of the spiritual gifts is “discerning of spirits”: and discerning means judging. We are not allowed to judge motives, to judge without mercy, to judge according to the flesh, or to judge before the proper time.  

But the whole business of the wise person is to make judgments. 

Prov. 1:1-3, 9: The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; 3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair... Then you will understand what is right and just and fair —every good path.” 

How many of you have gotten a favorable or unfavorable first impression and that impression has later proven to be quite wrong? 

James 2 verses 1-4 "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, 'you sit here in a good place,' and say to the poor man, 'You stand there,' or, 'Sit here at my footstool,' have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?" 

Oftentimes people who are doing what they ought not do like to quote Matt. 7:1, “Judge not...” They don’t want anyone pointing out their sin. This is the sinner’s favorite scripture. 

Matt. 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” Wouldn’t you have to make judgments to obey this command? You would have to judge what is holy, and who is like the pig or the dog in this passage, wouldn’t you?

“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 thorn bushes 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" (Matthew 7:15-20).   

What does the rest of Scripture have to say to those who regard all judging as being wrong?

• In his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul commanded those “who are spiritual” to restore those who have been 'overtaken in any trespass…in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted'” (6:1). Certainly, determining who is spiritual and who has sinned involves making judgments.
• While addressing an issue in the church at Corinth where a man had “his father’s wife” (1 Corinthians 5:1), Paul wrote through inspiration:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus…. I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person…. Therefore, put away from yourselves the evil person (1 Corinthians 5:4-5,11,13b).

Paul commanded the church at Corinth to purge a fornicator from its midst. This man’s sin was even to be addressed in a public manner. To follow Paul’s command, the church had to make a judgment. Paul also commanded the congregation to “put away” others who were living in a state of sin. When we make such judgments today, they are to be righteous judgments that are based on facts and carried out in love. Such judging should be performed in a merciful spirit (Luke 6:36-37), and for the purpose of saving souls (“that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”—1 Corinthians 5:5). Judgments are to be made from good (righteous) intentions. But judgments nevertheless must be made.

• Paul instructed the church at Ephesus to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (5:11). And to the Christians in Rome he wrote: “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (16:17). Were churches going to have to make important judgments to comply with Paul’s commands? Yes.
• Similarly, the apostle John indicated that “whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds” (2 John 9-11, emphasis added). To determine whether or not we are going to allow someone into our homes, necessitates a judgment on our part.
• Finally, if all judgments concerning spiritual matters are wrong, then why would Jesus have commanded His disciples to go and teach the lost (Matthew 28:19-20; cf. Acts 8:4)? Before one ever teaches the Gospel to someone who is not a Christian, a judgment must be made. Is this person lost in sin, or saved “in Christ”?  If we are to teach the lost today, then it is necessary to determine who is lost and who is not.

If we never can “judge people” in any sense, as many today suggest (through the misuse of Matthew 7:1), then the above commands never could be obeyed. But, they must be obeyed! Thus, we must make righteous judgments. In sum, we do not judge motives; we judge gently and in mercy; we try to get all the facts; in love we try to restore the wandering brother or convince the sinner. We make wise judgments because we judge according to the revealed will of God. We judge ourselves first of all and most severely of all (I Cor. 11:31).  In short, we are “as wise as serpents and harmless as doves."    Amen.