“1 Therefore, any one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. 3 Do you really think — anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same — that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. 6 He will repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and indignation to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth but are obeying unrighteousness; 9 affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 11 There is no favoritism with God.”

Romans 2:1-11

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When you get into conversations about sin with people, whether in real life or online, and they decide that they want to throw a little scripture out there, they are often fond of quoting this passage from Jesus: “Do not judge, so that you wont be judged.” (Matthew 7:1.) It seems to be a favorite for use out of context and for those with little understanding. But they also ignore passages like these that show us where to use judgement:

John 7:24 – ‘Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 – “9 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10 I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. 11 But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Dont you judge those who are inside? 13 But God judges outsiders. ‘Put away the evil person from among yourselves.'”

In these passages we are told to judge, to discern, what is going on in the heart of another person, to evaluate their actions. If you didn’t or couldn’t, how would you know if someone was immoral? You’d have to hold them up to some kind of standard. What if you met someone who was an abusive drunk, but ignored this passage? When you saw them and confronted them, they’d say “Judge not, man.” and you’d be left to say “Oh well, sorry.” and walk away. And how ridiculous would that be? You have to be able to judge if something is right or wrong, good or bad, righteous or unrighteous. To claim that is impossible or “wrong” to do is insane, because then the person is judging your judging and judging that it is wrong (and against what standard?) 

Instead, we need to understand that the judgement referred to is the judgment of the human soul, we are referring to an eternal judgement. When people put themselves in God’s place and make judgment calls about another human being, that is where the problem lies. There is nothing wrong in pointing out a wrong, but we are to leave the eternal type of judgment to God and God alone. But we still are called to see justice done, to see people treated properly and children taken care of, and those actions all require some form of judgement (discernment) between right and wrong. It is in our conversations with people about Jesus and the hope that we have in Him that we must have the conversations about right and wrong, standards and expectations. We must lay out what is good and profitable and right in the life, mind, heart, soul & body of a Christian, according to what we find in the Word from God. 

To act like we cannot speak into behavior or attitudes, again, is crazy. Even the people who misquote “judge not” do this on a daily basis, and when they do it, they justify it. So, we see what the real issue at hand is: people do not want to be convicted of their sin. They don’t want a standard set in front of their heart just to see that they do not measure up. Instead, they want to be left to their own devices, to do as they please. And in that desire, they set up perceived protection around their actions so that they are not confronted with the ugliness that lies in their hearts. And so “judge not” becomes their rally cry. But judgment is coming, and it is coming from God Himself. And those of us who know His standards have been given a responisibility to lay them out for people to see and hear, and even in that way, we are to do it with gentleness and respect. Prophets were sent to speak to God’s people for thousands of years, to point out what is right and wrong and direct their hearts toward God. Today, God uses us, the church, to speak to the world at large and declare His righteous judgements. Those judgments do not come from us, but from His Word, and we must be able to share with people what is good & bad, right & wrong. The Holy Spirit is responsible for conviction of sin, but we are responsible for communicating the message. We don’t hold judgement over men’s souls, but we do weigh their actions, the fruit of their lives. In fact, the more we read the Word, the more familair we bacome with the heart of God, the more we see that this judgement is done out of love.

James 5:19-20 – “My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

There must be a discerning so that we can GoLove people, warning them of the judgment that God will bring for every single one of us. There must be a line drawn between sin and faithfulness. It is irresponsible & illogical to think or live otherwise. If we are going to love people as God does, then we must do so in a way that reveals the truth about men’s actions and the motivations of the heart.