Do Not Judge?

Wormwood · Jan 17, 2015

I'd like to take a minute to reflect on perhaps the most quoted and misunderstood verses in Scripture. What did Jesus mean when he said that we should not judge or we will be judged? Does this mean, as often interpreted, that we should make no judgments about the behaviors of others? Are Christians supposed to remain silent while others promote sexual immorality, greed, and violence for fear that they might come off as judgmental? Let's take a look at Luke's account of Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" and see what the context teaches us.

““Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”” (Luke 6:37–38, ESV)

Time does not permit me to go into detail about Luke's Gospel and how this particular sermon fits within the overall emphasis of the Gospel. Suffice it to say that Jesus is bringing judgment and is sifting the "wheat from the chaff." There are those who think they are amongst the favored of God and the healings and teachings of Christ are challenging these assumptions. Jesus begins the sermon declaring that the poor, hungry and persecuted are the blessed ones while declaring woes to the rich, full and well thought of people. It is important to understand that this sermon is not a series of unrelated proverbs. Everything in this sermons expounds upon distinguishing the lives of the woeful and the blessed.

Now, what does Jesus mean about those who "judge?" What exactly does this term mean in this context?

Allow me to break this down in a table format to help clarify what this verse is teaching:

[SIZE=medium]JUDGE NOT[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]FORGIVE[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]CONDEMN NOT[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]GIVE[/SIZE]

This statement about judgment is qualified by a synonym as well as two contrasting terms. Thus, judging here refers to those who are condemning, not forgiving and not giving. Essentially, Jesus is saying, rather than being quick to judge and condemn someone, be quick to forgive and give to them. Therefore, this command has nothing to do with denouncing sin or calling evil, evil. This command has to do with the character of those who are blessed by God. They are the type of people, when wronged, are not eager to bring judgment and condemnation on the person, but rather, is eager to forgive the person and bless them. This passage is about forgiving those who have wronged you rather than looking for a reason to denounce and punish them.

lforrest · Jan 17, 2015

I was preparing to start this topic as well. There is much confusion over what Judging means, and when it is required. A late friend and former Moderator BiggAnddy recommended a book to me dedicated to the subject: Judging When? Why? How? By Derek Prince. It addresses the paradox of some scripture advocating judgement and others condemning it.

It is still sometimes confusing to me, but this is my abridged take on the subject. Judging goes hand in hand with ruling. If someone has authority to rule they must also be able to judge.

We have no authority to condemn people to hell or ascend them into heaven, that authority belongs to God. The church however was given authority to judge within the church. The church as a unified body should judge moral standards, resolve personal disputes, address personal misconduct, and to also test doctrine and ministries. It is actually an obligation for us to judge in the church and we should be compelled by love to apply judgement that is keeping with the standards shown in the scriptures.

Wormwood · Jan 18, 2015

Yes, and I think specifically its important to recognize that the context of this "judging" has to do with how one responds when they are wronged. So its not at all about making assements concerning right or wrong behavior. Its about how you respond when someone mistreats you. Are you the type of person who is quick to call for judgment and condemnation? Or are you the type of person who is eager to forgive and respond with an attitude of grace and giving?

I don't think rejecting a lifestyle or behavior as evil or inappropriate was even on Jesus' radar when he spoke about judgment in this context. In fact, I don't even think this context has to do with assessing someone's eternity. While I don't think Christians should be about declaring is someone is going to heaven or hell, I don't think this is what Jesus is talking about in this sermon.

clark thompson · Jan 19, 2015

We are not the judge but are to share with them the rules the Judge Jesus expects them to follow and let them know the results of their sins.

Phoneman777 · Jan 19, 2015

"Judging" is the declaration of the contents of another's heart, which none but God can do.
"Rebuke, Reproof, and Exhortation" is declaration of another's unChristlike behavior, which all who love their neighbor will do for him (Leviticus 19:17 KJV; 2 Timothy 4:2)

Wormwood · Jan 19, 2015

"Judging" is the declaration of the contents of another's heart, which none but God can do.

Phoneman,

I actually don't even think that is what Jesus is talking about in this context. He seems to be dealing with how we treat those who have wronged us. "Forgive" is a key command here that cues us to the concept of judging/condemning in this context.

KingJ · Jan 23, 2015

Scripture that I have been chewing on for a while and still can't fully grasp is:

1 Cor 2:15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. I guess the underlined has to do with something like 1 Cor 11:31 and John 5:24?

1 Cor 6:2 Or do you not know that the Lord's people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Is this referring to those living in the millenium?

1 Cor 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! What angels will we judge? Is it angels in heaven / along the lines of Gal 1:8? Or (my opinion) since we are created beneatht he angels, we will never judge those with us, but rather the fallen angels...?

Levi · Jan 23, 2015

I was relieved to read this thread and find that it is not what everyone always says about it, that we are not to judge at all. We judge all the time, how does a person get through life without it?

This is the verse that comes up for me, it says to make sure you have examined yourself, to ensure you are in line with God BEFORE you judge your brother. In that way, you are clearly seeing what it is your brother needs correction in.

Matthew 7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way 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?4How 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? 5You 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.
I also think that it is dangerous for the Church to take the stance that "only God can judge another", this is just simply not Biblical at all. There is a matter or Church discipline that because we're so afraid of being called judgmental and of offending another, we forget that God has called the Church to discipline.

Matthew 18:15-18 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Wormwood · Jan 23, 2015

KingJ,

I think its important to consider the context of 1 Cor. 2. Paul is defending himself as an apostle and talking about those who had been given the revelation of the Gospel to preach to others. I do not think these verses apply to all Christians, but are specifically focused on the Apostles and the legitimacy of their work.

As far as 1 Cor. 6, the first verse is talking about decision-making in the church. Christians were having lawsuits against one another and Paul is telling the wise or leaders to step in and make judgments about these issues rather than Christians going to nonChristians in order to get a decision made about their situation.

The last verse in 1 Cor 6 is a little puzzling. It has been largely debated over the years. It may mean that Christians play a role in the judgment of fallen angels or it could refer to judgment on false messengers in the world. Regardless, I think the point is that Christians should be competent to judge important issues in the church and not defer such decisions to outsiders since we are the ones who will reign with Christ in the age to come.

KingJ · Jan 24, 2015

Wormwood said:
KingJ,

I think its important to consider the context of 1 Cor. 2. Paul is defending himself as an apostle and talking about those who had been given the revelation of the Gospel to preach to others. I do not think these verses apply to all Christians, but are specifically focused on the Apostles and the legitimacy of their work.

As far as 1 Cor. 6, the first verse is talking about decision-making in the church. Christians were having lawsuits against one another and Paul is telling the wise or leaders to step in and make judgments about these issues rather than Christians going to nonChristians in order to get a decision made about their situation.

The last verse in 1 Cor 6 is a little puzzling. It has been largely debated over the years. It may mean that Christians play a role in the judgment of fallen angels or it could refer to judgment on false messengers in the world. Regardless, I think the point is that Christians should be competent to judge important issues in the church and not defer such decisions to outsiders since we are the ones who will reign with Christ in the age to come.

The prophets defending themselves as ones worthy of judging does make sense. Its like Moses and the elders overseeing things among the Jews. Thanks.

7angels · Jan 24, 2015

i like this issue. the bible states there is only one judge and that is God(james 4:11-12). as we are about to see, God EXPECTS His people to judge. in fact, you are sinning against God if you refuse to judge! how can you hate the evil and love the good if you refuse to judge? you can't. you are SINNING when you refuse to judge. here are a few verses that shows that we are to judge.

prov 31:9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
john 7:24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
1 cor 2:15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
pro 31:3 Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
1 cor 6:1-6 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ...
lev 19:15 You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

so as you can see we are told to judge by God. the problem we have is that people get into the wrong by saying we have to judge everything or say that it is wrong to judge so we should judge none but ourselves. we need to learn to stay out of the ditches and just drive down the road. even paul judged the corinthians for not judging(1 cor 6:1-5). our standard is God's word, not our feelings, our traditions, or our opinions. right and wrong should always be determined by God's word. the following are a few verses that show up how we are to judge others.

gal 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
is 11:3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
2 tim 2:24-26 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

KingJ said:
Scripture that I have been chewing on for a while and still can't fully grasp is:

1 Cor 2:15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. I guess the underlined has to do with something like 1 Cor 11:31 and John 5:24?

1 Cor 6:2 Or do you not know that the Lord's people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Is this referring to those living in the millenium?

1 Cor 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! What angels will we judge? Is it angels in heaven / along the lines of Gal 1:8? Or (my opinion) since we are created beneatht he angels, we will never judge those with us, but rather the fallen angels...?

1 cor 2:15
as i stated above to put it in a nutshell we are to judge everything with the exception of judging people. the reason for this is God gave us his Word for a standard to guide us but since we cannot know a person's heart it is impossible for us to judge a person. we can judge a person's beliefs, actions, circumstances, and ect to help them and build the person up. but anything else will lead to sin.

1cor 6:2&3
first i would like to clear up the meaning of ps 8:5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. the word angels is defined incorrectly. the true meaning for the word used is elohim which means God. so the verse should read You have made them a little lower than tGod and crowned them with glory and honor. the reason paul stated verses 2&3 is to show the corinthians that they are supposed to judge the things of this world.

God bless

Wormwood · Jan 24, 2015

7angels,

I don't think Psalm 8:5 is mistranslated. Both the Septuagint and the quotations in the NT of Psalm 8:5 use αγγελους. Also, elohim is not always translated at God/god in the OT. That is the predominant usage, but clearly, from the Jewish standpoint, this would not be the right translation of the word since it is in the plural form (gods). Angels is the most likely rendering given all the evidence.

7angels · Jan 24, 2015

Wormwood said:
7angels,

I don't think Psalm 8:5 is mistranslated. Both the Septuagint and the quotations in the NT of Psalm 8:5 use αγγελους. Also, elohim is not always translated at God/god in the OT. That is the predominant usage, but clearly, from the Jewish standpoint, this would not be the right translation of the word since it is in the plural form (gods). Angels is the most likely rendering given all the evidence.

i knew the plural form would be brought up. you are exactly right which is why it is translated angels instead of God. but what you forget is that the trinity is 3. the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. if you look at it like this then God is the correct translation.

also according to the wikipedia Elohim is identical to the usual plural of el meaning gods or magistrates, and is cognate to the 'l-h-m found in Ugaritic, where it is used for the pantheon ofCanaanite gods, the children of El and conventionally vocalized as "Elohim". Most use of the term Elohim in the later Hebrew text imply a view that is at leastmonolatrist at the time of writing, and such usage (in the singular), as a proper title for the supreme deity, is generally not considered to be synonymous with the termelohim, "gods" (plural, simple noun). Hebrew grammar allows for this nominally-plural form to mean "He is the Power (singular) over powers (plural)", or roughly, "God of gods". Rabbinic scholar Maimonides wrote that the various other usages are commonly understood to be homonyms.[5]

In a few cases in the Greek Septuagint (LXX), Hebrew elohim with a plural verb, or with implied plural context, was rendered either angeloi ("angels") or pros to kriterion tou Theou ("before the judgement of God").[14] These passages then entered first the Latin Vulgate, then the English King James Version (KJV) as "angels" and "judges", respectively. From this came the result that James Strong, for example, listed "angels" and "judges" as possible meanings for elohim with a plural verb in his Strong's Concordance, and the same is true of many other 17th-20th century reference works. Both Gesenius' Hebrew Lexicon and the Brown-Driver-BriggsLexicon list both angels and judges as possible alternative meanings of elohim with plural verbs and adjectives.
The reliability of the Septuagint translation in this matter has been questioned by Gesenius and Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg. In the case of Gesenius, he lists the meaning without agreeing with it.[15] Hengstenberg stated that the Hebrew Bible text never uses elohim to refer to "angels", but that the Septuagint translators refused the references to "gods" in the verses they amended to "angels."[16]
The Greek New Testament (NT) quotes Psalm 8:4-6 in Hebrews 2:6b-8a, where the Greek NT has "ἀγγέλους" (angelos) in vs. 7,[17] quoting Ps. 8:5 (8:6 in the LXX), which also has "ἀγγέλους" in a version of the Greek Septuagint.[18] In the KJV, elohim (Strong's number H430) is translated as "angels" only[19] in Psalm 8:5.

The KJV has elohim translated as "judges" in Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8; and twice in Exodus 22:9.[20]

God bless

Wormwood · Jan 24, 2015

I appreciate your research into the word 7angels. However, I still have to disagree with you. Clearly, the context of Elohim in various passages in the OT would not really make sense if translated "God/gods." I also think its a little sketchy to try to draw an argument for Trinitarian theology from the plural form of elohim. Though I agree with the Trinitarian view, I just think its a fairly weak argument. We have plenty of sufficient evidence in the NT for the case. Anyway, what is important is that the NT authors often quote from the Septuagint. In fact, the author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8:5 and uses the Greek αγγελους. Thus, I think it is safe to say that if we agree that the NT author of Hebrews was inspired, then the proper translation is "angels."

“Οὐ γὰρ ἀγγέλοις ὑπέταξεν τὴν οἰκουμένην τὴν μέλλουσαν, περὶ ἧς λαλοῦμεν. διεμαρτύρατο δέ πού τις λέγων· τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὅτι μιμνῄσκῃ αὐτοῦ, ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν; ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρʼ ἀγγέλους, δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτόν, πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ. ἐν τῷ γὰρ ὑποτάξαι [αὐτῷ] τὰ πάντα οὐδὲν ἀφῆκεν αὐτῷ ἀνυπότακτον. Νῦν δὲ οὔπω ὁρῶμεν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ὑποτεταγμένα·” (Hebrews 2:5–8, NA27)

michaelvpardo · Jan 25, 2015

The verses as mentioned in the OP are indeed among the most abused verses in scripture, but they are generally abused by individuals attempting to justify or dismiss their own sin. The rule for Christian fellowship is to forgive sinning brothers or sisters, but not to simply dismiss the sin.
Jesus gave specific instruction to His disciples which are as much for us as for anyone else and also in regard to judgment of sin and discipline:
15. "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
16. "But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that `by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.'
17. "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
18. "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.'' Matthew 18:15-20
This passage also contains two more verses which are commonly misused and misapplied, verses 19 and 20, which are specifically related to the judgment of sin, and not some formula for obtaining your own will (or more accurately a shared will with someone else.)
You'll also notice that the passage above refers to "sins against you" which makes it rather personal, but in the context of the church (or body of Christ), sin against one part are sins against the whole and the consequence of bitterness on the part of one (unforgiven sin festering in the soul) defiles more than just the one involved, but spreads like a cancer, hence the need for church discipline (which is intended to protect the body as well as encourage the offender toward repentance and reconciliation.)

LightMessenger · Apr 15, 2015

Indeed Scripture is succinct and to the point when it says that we should not judge lest WE be judged. That does not include any covert meanings or special provisions such as that there are any exceptions to judge another, etc. It is our place, as Christians, to love everyone as God loves us. If there is any judging to be done it should be done exclusively by God and not by us. But mankind, especially in the Christian community, most unfortunately, has erroneously taken upon itself the task of being judgmental under the premise that we can teach others by judging them. That is far from being correct. We can very nicely inform others about the word but ultimately since God has given each and every person free will choice it is up to them whether they will change to conform to Scriptural teachings. Remember that "We can lead a horse to water but we can't make him drink."

Many in the community seem to think that coming down hard on those who are different from them or those who commit sin is the way to go. It is not. For the accusers too are sinners they must not ever forget. And to target one specific group of people they think are worse sinners is very wrong. Those who would readily condemn others need to look in their own backyard first.

"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." -- MATTHEW 7:5 KJV

One either loves Unconditionally one another, that is, love without any conditions or excuses whatsoever, as Jesus Christ has set forth that we should do or what they are doing is not exhibiting or giving love.

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Do Not Judge?

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