Is it Right to Judge Others?
Posted: Monday, April 18, 2005
By M Randall
let the man without sin cast the first stone....get the plank out of your eye before you try and remove the dust from your brothers. those are other good verses on not judging others. i see it as if your of sin you have no right to jude others for their sins. there is only one judge. i think the way people interpret matthew 7:1 is actually the correct way it should be interpreted unless you are saying the bible contradicts itself.Casey
I'm not sure how the people you are referring to interpret Matt. 7:1 since people interpret it in different ways. I believe you have missed reading part of my article. This is the way I see it.
The verse saying, get the plank out of your eye does not say we are not to judge, it says we are not to judge if we have sin in our lives. Read on down to verse 5 and the meaning becomes clearer, "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." This informs us that we can judge after we have cast the beam out of our own eye, otherwise if we judge and we have sin in our lives we are hypocrites. "Judge not," does not mean that we cannot judge but we must first judge ourselves to be sure we have no sin. If we do have sin then God is faithful to forgive if we confess that sin. Then we can judge and judge righteously.
You are correct if you mean there is only one judge who will judge ones salvation.
In many other matters not pertaining to salvation Christians are commanded and/or expected to judge. Rather than quote a lot of verses to prove that let me just give you the references and you can see that in all of these the judging is not done by Christ! I will list a few but there are many others.
John 7:24, 1Corinthians 6:1-2, 1 Corinthians 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 11:31-32
These show that Christians are to judge with righteous judgment, they are to judge other Christians, they shall judge the world, they shall judge the smallest matters, they shall judge the angels, and they shall judge things that pertain to life.
We don't have to agree but hopefully you will take another look at the passage. Hope this helps and may God Bless as you live for Him.
Casey
We have to judge everyday of our lives just as Randall has pointed out.
We have to judge who we leave our children with if they will keep them safe or abuse them. We have to judge who teaches our children if they will teach them or harm them. As employers we have to judge who we hire, will they be good employees or rob us blind. We look at their records and have to come to a conclusion if their records are clean enough to be hired. How they have conducted themselves in the past.
We have to judge who we allow in our home are they there to help us or harm us. We have to judge when we are called to serve on jury duty, this is a law of the land and God has commanded us to obey the laws of the land.
We have to judge who will be our next president. We cannot have a man or woman who doesn't have our best interests at heart. Choosing incorrectly could have dire consequences.
We have to judge everyday of our lives. God expects us to. He does not want to us to judge others if we are unclean ourselves. So make sure you repent everyday and live your life in harmony with God. By doing those things you will not be judged by judging others.
Always judge righteously. If you are unsure of the person in question, always pray and ask for guidance.
This sounds very much like my article, "I'm Going To Judge You" here on searchwarp that I wrote on Dec of 08
Rabbi StanleyRabbi Stanley
I was not aware of your article. Since my article was posted 3 years prior to your article I would agree that your article sounds much like mine. I enjoyed your writing and found it on target. I particularly liked the 1 Corinthians reference and the explanation. When I have time I will read some of your other articles.
You left out this verse which holds best the truth on judging:"So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another." (Romans 14:1-13)No matter from what angle, no matter what is the justification, none of us human should judge. Only God. So for us human to judge, that's the same as to saying we human are God.Clearly the article above is speaking of judging between right and wrong, good and evil, etc, based on Matthew 7:1. The verse you mention, Romans 14:1-13, speaks of judging ones salvation and is not referring to judging right and wrong or good verses evil. God is the only judge of a persons salvation and their walk as a servant of His.
Romans 14:1-13 does not prohibit anyone from judging a person who daily abuses prescription drugs and steals to support his drug problem as one who is wrong and one who is evil. However, God is the only one who can judge a Christian's salvation or his walk as a servant of His and this is what Romans 14:1-13 is speaking of. In the early church there was a conflict of beliefs between the Jews and the Gentiles of the early church regarding salvation and a Christian's walk with God. Romans 14:1-13 is addressing this conflict.Paul said, "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man" (I Cor. 2:15) If you're not spiritual then you shouldn't judge. If you're ignorant, you shouldn't judge either. Leave judgements to people who ARE spiritual and who have discernment. Rabbi Stanley
the verse has more than one meaning
M. Randall, a good argument and article. I find judgment is everywhere in all we do. Now to make a valid decision one must "judge" that is who we vote for, what we buy, how we do something, who e choose to associate with, one can go on and on. In fact the Great White Thrown is a judgment, "and the books were opened and our works are judged." So yes we are not to be vindictive, we are not to judge anyone carelessly, but we are to, if a someone who professes be in sin, approach them, explain to them why they are in error, that what they do is sin , etc. Now rightious anger is acceptable. So in effect when we say don't smoke but we do, we are in error, when we say don't take dope but we do, we are in error, when we say don't steal but we do, we are in error and certainly when we lie, decieve, connieve, take. Yet as I say, you shall know them by their works and that is what is judged. We are even warned to stay clear of them, don't sup with them, don't let them enter our homes, all judgement. So it depends on what, who, how you apply that? Good job interesting. No in my opinion we are definiely not to turn a blind eye and therein I sense the confusion.
Sorry that I have just found this article. It was a great read and I loved the way you explained "judge" and not "judging". Thanks so much for doing such a great job of stating and explaining in depth this oft read Bible verse.Sandra
Thanks for writing this article.
Amazing revelation of a tough issue and thank you for sharing it. That is a very hard word for most who are so steeped in religious bonddage that they cannot see the truth clearly. Be bold, be obedient, ad you will be blessed.
I found your article to be very balanced and helpful. In my opinion, those who are ignorant to the true meaning of the Word quote Matthew 7:1 out of context. We must also take into consideration while reading the Word to whom the message is addressing.Thank you for sharing may this bring light, truth and clarity to those seeking such. Blessings to you.
very very helpful....solid biblical principal...highly appreciated.....period.....thank you...God bless
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