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Correcting one another, is it scriptural? Are we called to Judge?
20 YEARS AGO THE MOST KNOWN VERSE BY THE WORLD WAS JOHN 3:16
John 3:16 (New International Version)
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,a]'>[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
However that has not been the case for a long time now. The text unbelievers and believers alike are extremely familiar with today is found in:
Matthew 7
Judging Others
1"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. 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.
What do you think is the biblical stance, are we to judge or not?
Why do we have such a hard time correcting one another, doing the work of reconciliation?
What is Matthew 7 really teaching?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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The church is living in an age that to love a brother by way of correction after all the steps (Matthew 18) have been follow according to scripture is looked at as wrong. Why, and is it wrong?
Why am I bringing this up? Because in the effort to keep the unity in the Spirit in a very large community such as this one we must understand a couple of things:
Despite the believe that we are not called to judge all matters - We are in numerous passages told to examine all things, to examine ourselves and others as well, of course we are not to do that hypocritically but -we are to correct one another as scripture teaches in Matthew 18:15-17. Correction in love calls for judgment of the situation, but we are not to judge for condemnation, but for edification in love.
John 7:24 (New King James Version)
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
The hypocritical way in which we should not judge is described in Matthew 7 and here:
Romans 2
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things
Romans 14:13 (New King James Version)
13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
1Corinthians 2:15 (New King James Version)
15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one
So there is a right way to judge and a wrong way.
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What do you think is the biblical stance, are we to judge or not?
John 7:24 (New King James Version)
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
1Corinthians 2:15 (New King James Version)
15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one
The world we are living on will have us believe that we should not judge matters or situations because tolerance is the way of enlightenment. Relativism is the predominant doctrine in the world we are living in. Well as Christians we are not to swim in such waters. We respect the right of every human being to worship whatever they want, but we do not agree with them and judge it according to scripture as wrong. We should worship God alone and worship to anyone other than God is not acceptable for Christians.
If that makes you feel extremely uncomfortable - you should read your bible.
Love you in Christ family. :)
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Permalink Reply by Stacey Osana Arquines on
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good word i remember this discussion
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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David,
I think a lot of the problem is found in the misunderstanding by many as to what the word judge means. People have been taught that "to judge" is a negative or a condemning thing. When in fact judging is only using all available information to come to a conclusion. In a court of law a judge will hear all the facts pertaining to a civil case and then render a verdict based upon those facts. The verdict will be given finding in favor of one and against the other. To one the judgment is negative, but to the other it is positive.
In life we make multiple judgments every day. Here is one example. You may go to the store and desire to buy a TV. Do you buy the very first TV you see? I hope not. We gather information and make an informed judgment that leads to the purchase of one and the rejection of all of the other TVs.
When we judge the actions ... note "actions" ...which can include lifestyle, teaching, etc by comparing them to what the Bible says we are being honest to and with God's Word. For example, I am correct to judge the activity of an alcoholic when he get's drunk. Why? Because the Word of God proclaims drunkeness is sin. With this knowledge I judge according to the Word of God that this person is living in sin. I love the person and desire for them to come out of their sin, but I cannot help them out of their sin if I do not acknowldge that drunkeness is sin.
Therefore, Biblical judgment is applying the Word of God to situations, activities, etc. Some of the judgments will be appear as positive and some will appear as negative, when in fact they are both based on God's Word.
Furthermore. I have no problem proclaiming what God calls sin sin. If this sin is found in a persons life, especially a brother or sister, I am compelled to love them and at the same time address the sin as sin. If I truly love them I will not ignor their sin to develop some false sense of peace. I call it false, because the Word of God has been ignored in that case.
Lastly, most people would be more comfortable with a different word being used when we "evaluate" the activities of others. God's Word is supposed to make sin uncomfortable. Don't try to take the edge of of God's Word to pacify the individual. Hope is found through repentance, not ignorance.
Before I get judged by the people who hate others judging, I examined the log in my eye before I commented here. You see, I judge myself according to God's Word every day. Most people ignore verse 2 of Matthew 7 which says, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." If I am using the Word of God to judge, then I can be assured that I will be judged by the Word of God. If am am applying love (measure) I will receive love .... Amen.
Lord Bless,
LT
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Amen! Thank you for the much needed clarification of the word "judge" beloved brother.
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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Hi David,
I just saw this forum conversation today.... I would have replied sooner had I seen it! :)
Yes, we are to judge with a righteous judgement.
If a brother or sister sins we are to confront them as instructed in Matthew 18:15-17
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’b 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
The way we judge is not to condemn, but rather, when someone professes to 'believe' in Jesus and they have gone off the straight path, we are to show them scripture to lovingly correct them and bring them back...We are to let God's Word speak, not our own. They need to be reminded of their profession of faith, and we need to allow for Holy Spirit conviction.
We are also to exercise the Spiritual Discernment we have been given. When we see Truth being distorted, we are to confront it and correct it in love. The book of Jude... in this way we can't avoid judging.
We are not to judge when it comes to who is saved or not! We don't know the answer to that...only Jesus knows
Parable of the Wheat and Tares
Matthew 13:24-30
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
There is a problem now-a-days with people not hearing the gospel in the first place.. but rather hearing a 'false gospel' It is prosperity or the 'your best life now gospel'. People are coming to Jesus with the hope of an easy prosperous life...they are not being confronted with their sin..but rather are being told that Jesus will give them their hearts desires. We cannot simply stand by and watch that when it is in our means to correct it.
...The truth of 'sin' is ignored..some have even said there is no 'sin' only 'poor moral choices'.. This is a travesty that needs to be addressed, confronted. For the sake of the gospel it cannot continue. We need to fight for truth.
2 Timothy 4:2 (NIV)
2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
Blessings, Carla
(ps--i hope I didn't go off topic..sometimes i tend to do that)
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I wanted to add one more thing to what I said above... this judging is for those professing to be Christ-followers... not for non-believers. Blessings..
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Well said beloved.
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Permalink Reply by Ruth Moedi Radibe on
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As Christians we are called to EDIFY and NOT judge. Why are we to edify? Because we are the products of LOVE which is gentle n patient. On the other hand judgement is not gentle, not patient, it is accusing. We learn that the Holy Spirit is gentle n if we are to be changed to be like Christ Our Lord, we are not to judge.
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Hi Ruth,
Here's a scenerio..
Your beloved brother or sister in Christ has just told you they are reading tarot cards and consulting with the dead ...they want to know what's in store for them in the future.. What do you do?
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Hello Ruth,
We are to edify that is for sure a core teaching of scripture. We are also call to judge as our brothers and sisters have mentioned above.
Judgment can be done correctly, in gentleness and while exercising patients, but it should be done according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in each individual and specific situation.
Accusing is one thing and judging an action is completely something else, hence the two different words.
The Holy Spirit is gentle as well as the one that convicts the world of sin and at times through us His vessels.
In love your brother.
DV
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“The sins of some men are conspicuous…but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.”
- 1 Timothy 5:24-25
Perhaps the most widely misused biblical passage in our culture today is Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Even people who do not know the content of Scripture very well are apt to quote Jesus whenever they are criticized for their behavior. Such persons are looking to excuse their actions, as if He would have us refrain from making judgments altogether.
Yet this is not our Lord’s meaning, as the context of the verse makes clear. Matthew 7:2–5 reveals that Jesus is exhorting us to keep silent if we have not removed the beam from our own eyes before we presume to rebuke another. In fact, He calls us to make judgments in the very same chapter in which we read the exhortation to be cautious when we evaluate others (vv. 15–20). The fruit of the false teacher will reveal that he is in error, and so we are to judge the character and teaching of a person by what that person produces.
Paul is saying the same thing in a slightly different way in 1 Timothy 5:24–25. Expanding upon his admonition not to ordain elders too quickly (v. 22), the apostle reminds us that the sins of some men are readily apparent while others take time to reveal themselves (v. 24). The fruit that might disqualify a man to be made an elder or deacon might take a while to show itself, and so the church must approach the selection of officers slowly and methodically, ordaining people only after a careful examination of their character has been conducted.
Verse 25 is difficult to translate from the Greek and “those that are not” could mean either “the works that are not good” or “the good works that are not conspicuous.” The latter option is preferable as it creates a parallel with verse 24. Just as the evil works of some are plain to all, so too are the good deeds of others, and just as some person’s evil works are not seen immediately, so too do the good deeds of others take time to come to the surface. If the church selects officers too rapidly, it may miss qualified men whose good works appear later than those of others. The church father Jerome comments, “The good deeds of some are public property, while those of others we come to know only through long intimacy with them” (ACCNT, NT vol. 9, p. 208).
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