Judge Not

Matthew 7:1-5

If you have been around very many Gospel presentations, then you have heard someone spout, “You're not supposed to judge” or “Judge not”. This is expected to shut the presenter down immediately and admittedly, it often does.  They do not know what to do with that and they know the Bible says it.  If their application of this text is true, then the Bible contradicts itself and we are in a lot of trouble.  However, their application is incorrect.

Matthew 7:1-5

“Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  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?  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?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

There are a couple of things we must recognize from this passage.  First, Jesus was speaking to a mixed gathering.  The principles he lays out our general standards of righteousness.  Also, if you look at all of this honestly, we none meet His standard.  That is the point.  He was judging the people.  He was letting them know that they all fell short of God’s standard of righteousness.  The Sermon on the Mount was never about being a checklist we were to stove to meet, but rather about realizing that we cannot meet it and running to Jesus. On the flip side, just because we cannot meet the standard, this does not mean we shouldn't try.

Second, the Sermon on the Mount was never meant to stop the preaching of righteousness.  From the very beginning of time, God has had preachers of righteousness. In Genesis 2, God set forth the standard of righteousness (don’t eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil).  In Genesis 3, He proclaimed the process of becoming righteous again (through the seed of the woman and the shedding of blood).  In Genesis 4, Abel was an example of righteousness.  In Genesis 5, Enoch was a prophet (see also Jude 1:14).  In Genesis 6, Noah was a preacher of righteousness (II Peter 2:5).  You get the point.

The church is expected to continue preaching righteousness and repentance from sin.  In order for people to turn away from sin, they have to know what sin is.  This means calling out IN LOVE what God calls sin.  There is a lot of it.  

Also, was Jesus saying that we have to be perfect before we can preach against sin?  Absolutely not.  The verse tells us to get the “Beam” out of our eye.  There should not be a glaring sin in our lives that we have not repented of.  If we have to wait until we are perfect, then no one would ever be able to preach; that includes the Apostles. 

Finally, the misuse of Matthew 7:1-2 is no different than Satan misusing scripture when tempting Jesus in the desert.  Anyone, including “Christians”, who use this verse in this way is doing the work of Satan to stop the preaching of God’s Word.  Be careful that you are not guilty of this.  It is through the foolishness of preaching that men are saved (I Corinthians 1:21).