by Chuck Ness
As a Christian, we still must live in this fallen World until Jesus brings us home, and as such we will fail in our walk many times. Praise be to GOD that HIS Son died for our sins, so that we can go to Him when we find ourselves walking in the flesh instead of in HIS spirit. One of the many ways Christians find themselves walking in the flesh is when we unrighteously judge others. Christians are confronted with many evil things in this World that we know are just wrong on so many levels. It's these moments that will inevitably lead us to judge the actions of others
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To help understand how we as Christians should judge, I will tackle three aspects of judging. One where we should be judging ourselves, one where many misunderstand the quote from Jesus about judging others, and one where it is justified for believers to judge unbelievers. The first two tie into the same subject, while the third is misunderstood by both believers and unbelievers alike.
Keep in mind, I speak for how Christians should judge, not how unbelievers should. Until one becomes a believer, most of what unbelievers do or the way they act should be of little concern to us, because an unbeliever's soul is already in jeopardy of eternal damnation. When it comes to those in the World, we should be more concerned about their salvation, although there is an aspect of judging unbelievers which is justifiable.
As you read this chapter, keep in mind these verses from various books of the Scriptures. They will help you better understand the way we are called to walk circumspectly in a World where we are continually forced to judge righteously, while being mindful that we will be judged by the same standard we judge others.
Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;
Lamentations 3:40
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.
Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus
Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
2 Corinthians 13:5
“Judge not, that you be not judged.
“For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."
Matthew 7:1
"For what have I to do with judging those also who
are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
But those who are outside God judges.
1 Corinthians 5:12-13
Have you ever been sitting in the house reading a book, or watching television, when out of the corner of your eye you spot something moving along the corner of the wall? Or maybe you’re lying in bed and you hear some scraping and scratching, and the pitter patter of teeny-tiny feet in the attic? Well when you have a mouse on the loose around the house, you know it’s time to set a trap or two.
Everyone has their idea of what the perfect bait is to lure that mouse into the trap. Cheese, peanut butter, or maybe a piece of sweet chocolate. The idea is to use something that will make a mouse drop it's guard so that it will be lured into eating the food, and soon the annoying pitter patter will end and you can sleep. Humans are no different, and neither is Satan. The only difference is the bait. However, If you take the bait that Satan sets out for you it could cost you your very soul.
Consider the fact that every choice we make in life can be seen by the Lord, and the Lord will judge us for all our outwardly and inwardly actions. Unless we bring our transgressions to GOD through Christ, even a sinful desire in our heart can make us guilty of the transgression. We are told by Jesus;
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery, But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:28
The point being, the LORD knows everything. Knowing that, we need to keep in mind that every step we take, and every thought we think could be a step into a trap set by Satan to lure us into spiritual destruction. Woe is us, because who does not have wayward thoughts that are bad? Well this is why we are to judge ourselves in every step we take, and with every thought we think.
In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul implores us to always be prepared by having the full armor of God on. Among the items of the armor are the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. The helmet protects the mind of a Christian like a battle helmet protects the head of a warrior. While the sword is the Word of God, which we should be immersed in so that the helmet will have the power needed to protect our mind from becoming a playground of Satan’s evil desires.
When Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, he used Scripture, but the true knowledge of the Scripture is what Jesus used against Satan to defeat him. We too, should be as Jesus was. By wearing the helmet, and being prepared with the Sword of the Spirit. It is in this manner that you will be judging yourself, because when Satan tries to lure you into sin with a seed of temptation, you will have the knowledge of Scripture to respond to him as did Jesus. This is what will protect you from falling for the trap. You cannot lose, if you know and trust God's Word.
We read in Matthew 4:1-11 about the time Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, by taking him into the holy city and setting Him on the pinnacle of the temple. Satan tells Jesus,
“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, "In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone."
Psalm 91:11-12
Yet Jesus was ready for Satan, because HE used the truth by quoting Scripture from Deuteronomy.
“It is written again, ‘You shall
not tempt the LORD your God.
Matthew 4:7
God is holy. He is the King of the universe. He does not have to prove anything to anybody! So we should never ever tempt God. We learn in the book of Hebrews about the power of the Sword of the Spirit.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of
soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
Ignore this advice at your own peril, because only the unGodly will be standing in judgment before the Father. To avoid that judgment, you must remember to always be judging yourself. So that you will know, that you know you will be in the congregation of the righteous.
Consider if you will, the destination that will be your future, because if you don't judge yourself then be prepared to face God on judgment day. Psalms 1:5-6 tells us that the ungodly shall stand in the judgment, while those who choose wisely will live to stand in the congregation of righteous and thus gain eternal life.
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 1:1-6
Which brings me to the lesson Jesus gave His disciples about judging others. See, everything I wrote above truly does tie into a misunderstanding that many have over what Jesus said;
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
Matthew 7:1-2
It needs to be pointed out that Jesus was speaking specifically about those who publicly proclaimed to be children of the One True Living God and Creator of the Heavens and Earth. Which were the Jewish Religious leaders. Jesus was using them as an example of how His followers should not be. We are not to judge others hypocritically as the Pharisees and Sadducees did. That is why Jesus called them white washed tombs full of dead bones. In many ways, the Religious leaders were more guilty of what they accused others of doing, than those they accused. Thus Jesus tells His followers to judge righteously.
Also, his example of judging the religious leaders, shows us who we can judge, how we must do so, if we feel the need to do so. Just as Jesus was judging Jews who claimed to be children of the true GOD, we are speaking of Christians judging others who claim to be Christians. At the time Jesus walked with the disciples, He did not judge the gentiles. He only judged those who were Jews, because they were chosen specifically by GOD to be His. Thus their time of judgment had come in the man we know as Jesus. So, as another example, we are not to be holding non-believers up to the same standards we hold brothers and sisters in Christ up to.
If we do judge, we should only do so against other professing Christians, not against non believers outside the covenant of Christ. This also means when Christians judge other Christians, it should only be done so in a righteous way. Not like the Jewish Religious leaders did, who judged hypocritically to unrighteously rule over God's people. Since we are children of God through adoption papers signed by the blood of Christ, we do as He tells us, which is to judge other believers righteously.
So how do we as followers of Jesus judge righteously? We start by judging ourselves, lest we find ourselves being judged with the unGodly. We do this by wearing the helmet of salvation and bearing the Sword of the Spirit. We need to keep ourselves immersed in the Word, so that we will continually be reminded of what the Word says when we step into the flesh. When we stumble and fall, we should catch ourselves by remembering that we are emissaries of Christ in a dark World. So by continually judging our own actions we will then be in a position to judge others righteously. If then we see a brother or sister in Christ falling away by sinning, we then have an obligation to judge them.
Paul tells the Corinthians they should judge other Christians, but he also tells them not to judge those of the World. Paul could not be any more clear on the subject than he was to the Corinthians in his second epistle.
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
So not only should Christians judge other believers, they should also discipline them based on those judgments. Jesus tells us in John's Gospel;
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
John 7:24
Clearly, Jesus expects us to judge, but HE tells us to judge correctly, using proper standards. Again I repeat myself, but this is an important lesson, you should first judge yourself to be sure you are not bringing condemnation upon yourself by judging hypocritically. I always tell someone who is tasked with approaching a Christian who has stumbled, to first pray for God to search their heart to find anything they may have done that would make their rebuking of a brother or sister hypocritical.
Finally, the third part of this lesson involves judging non-believers. We live in a World where evil exists, and we, as citizens of the country, oftentimes see the need to be critical of those in the World. Societies do not work without laws, and as such, we are given a green light to judge others who are not believers, but not for their failure to follow God's laws. God gives us the right to legally judge unbelievers, if they are transgressing the laws of man which we all, as a united citizenry, agreed upon via the government we all live under in the World.
Thus, in accordance with laws put in place by the man made government, we have an obligation to live by them as dictated as long as they do not go against GOD’s laws. However, we have the right and the obligation to judge others for breaking moral legal laws. Remember, we asked for a King, now we must live by the King’s laws. In the United States, codified into the laws is a right for every citizen to challenge both the law makers, and the law breakers. So we should not judge those of the World, unless they break a legal law, and before we judge a brother or sister of Christ we should first examine ourselves so we do not judge unrighteously.
Finally there is one other aspect that we need to be aware of when it comes to judging. It comes more as a warning from GOD to Ezekie, and one that Christians need to take seriously. As a believer, we are called to be a watchman for Christ. A job that requires us to protect other Christians from heretical teachings, and to warn the lost about the path they are on. This takes serious judgment on our part, and if we fail, then we ourselves could be responsible for someone spending eternity in hell.
I pray that those who have ears to hear, will hear what the Spirit of the Lord says, and call upon His name. Amen
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Matthew Henry on Proverb 5:21
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See the eye of God is always upon thee and let his fear rule in thy heart, Pro_5:21. Those that live in this sin promise themselves secresy (the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Job_24:15); but to what purpose, when it cannot be hidden from God? For, He sees it. The ways of man, all his motions, all his actions, are before the eyes of the Lord. All the workings of the heart and all the outgoings of life, that which is done ever so secretly and disguised ever so artfully. God sees it in a true light, and knows it with all its causes, circumstances, and consequences. He does not cast an eye upon men's ways now and then, but they are always actually in his view and under his inspection; and darest thou sin against God in his sight, and do that wickedness under his eye which thou durst not do in the presence of a man like thyself? He will call the sinner to an account for it; for he not only sees, but ponders all his goings, judges concerning them, as one that will shortly judge the sinner for them. Every action is weighed, and shall be brought into judgment (Ecc_12:14), which is a good reason why we should ponder the path of our feet (Pro_4:26), and so judge ourselves that we may not be judged.
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