Judge Not

Background Scripture: Matthew 7:1-18; Romans 14
Lesson Scripture: Matthew 7:1-5; Romans 14:4-13

Introduction

“Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1) could be a candidate for the world’s most popular Bible verse. It may be the only verse that many people know and will often be brought out in defense of lifestyle or life choices—“Don’t judge me!” This is particularly true when something is categorized as sin, but Jesus has a deeper meaning for us.

The passages below from Matthew’s gospel and the book of Romans speak about our relationships to one another in the church as members of the kingdom of God. The truths that are being taught may apply to our interaction with any human being, but the focus is our dealings with our brethren.

Key Verse

Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me (John 8:15-16).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

These verses from Matthew reveal a truth that the wise will take to heart: “With what measure ye mete [give out], it shall be measured to you again.” This law of God is repeated in many ways throughout the Bible. It is the basis of the Golden Rule: “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31). “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7).

A mote is a very small particle, a speck. The word beam in verse 4 can also be translated as “log” or “plank.” It is implausible that a mote could be depicted as a large enough object to severely hinder or blind one’s vision. Jesus is making a point about spiritual eyes and vision.

In the verses from Romans 14, it is helpful to consider the setting. The congregation at Rome was evidently a mixed congregation consisting of converted Jews and converted gentiles. The Jewish Christian would have grown up under the Law of Moses with the Old Testament teachings, the sacrifices, circumcision, sabbaths, holy days, and the dietary restrictions. All of this would have been foreign to the gentile Christian.

Redemption through Christ was open to all—to the Jew with the law, and to the gentile who was without the law. God’s aim through Christ was to make one body out of two groups (Eph. 2:15). It was not an easy transition. Many sincere, converted Jews thought that gentiles who became Christians needed to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. This issue threatened to divide the church in its first generation.

God had foreseen this situation, allowed it to occur, and provided the solution. This solution came through the first church conference, recorded in Acts 15. Representatives from all over assembled, all opinions were allowed to be heard, and the assembly unitedly called upon God for the solution. God spoke through the brethren: “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us” (Acts 15:28). The conference decision was to require the gentiles to observe only four points from the law of Moses. This conference provided a blessed example for the church to follow when questions would arise.

However, the conference did not forbid other observances of the law. Thus, many converted Jews continued to try keeping some of its precepts; the converted gentiles did not. In Romans 14, Paul is instructing the Christians that there is room for differences among them. The clear teaching of the New Testament, matters of doctrine, and that which the church has considered and proven are not up for debate; in the everyday application, however, there is room for some variation.

For example, in consideration of the law’s ceremonial sacrifices, there was no room for disparity among Christians; offering an animal sacrifice for sin was wrong. It was clear that Christ became the one and only perfect sacrifice, but observing certain feast days and dietary restrictions from the law were not forbidden. Romans 14 gives direction in cultural differences like these and in matters that are not fundamental.

Practical Truths for Today

What comes to mind when thinking of a judge? He is a person who has been given the authority, after hearing the facts of a matter, to pronounce an individual guilty or not guilty, yet who can know all the facts of a matter? Who can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart except the Holy Spirit of God? Who can fairly judge except God alone?

God’s Word gives ample instruction to the believer. First Corinthians 5 speaks of a death sin which the congregation had not dealt with in the scriptural manner. God’s Word judged the sin clearly. Paul instructs the congregation to proceed with excommunication, placing the transgressor outside the church. He then makes this statement: “For what have I to do to judge them also that are without [the church]? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth” (1 Cor. 5:12-13).

Judgment of those outside the church belongs to God; we have no business pronouncing them guilty. Neither is it our business to pronounce them not guilty. We sometimes encounter people, not of our faith, who seem to have a good spirit and to be sincere Christians. Possibly they are, but we do not know their walk of life. They have not entered through the same door that we as church members have, the door of a new birth experience that has been proven by the church. It is not our call to pronounce them saved or unsaved.

Judgment for sin among those within the church also belongs to God, but He expresses this judgment through the church. He does this because He wants his church to be pure, without spot or wrinkle. It is not our business as individuals to judge our brethren. This is the central principle of this lesson. In Matthew 18:17-18, our Savior gave the church a vested authority to judge.

“Do not ye judge them that are within?” (1 Cor. 5:12). The question is asked in the plural sense and is addressing the body of Christ, the congregation. Judgment of sin and wrong is healthful and necessary for the church and a congregation, but as individuals, no one individual has authority from Christ to be a judge. That authority is delegated by Christ to the group of believers, his body.

But what about our baptismal vow to help our brother and reprove him when necessary? The lesson title bids us “judge not,” while the heart of reproof is seeing something wrong. Can these two thoughts be reconciled? Yes indeed; they are not opposed to each other. Matthew Henry has said that to judge another is a great sin; to reprove our fellow believer is a great duty.

When we feel a judgment rising within our thoughts or feelings toward a fellow Christian, we need to first examine our own hearts. Perhaps we see or hear something about our brother that seems questionable. “How could they do that? Surely they know better,” we might say. At other times we have been mistreated, or at least feel so. As the spirit of judgment rises within us, it will affect how we think, speak, and act toward the one we are questioning. The time comes when it seems something must be done, and the facts need to be disclosed. “Truth must be stood for,” we say and believe it to be a Christian duty, but in reality we are judging.

To be of any assistance, we must deal with our own heart first. If the blind try to lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Clear vision is necessary to be able to pick a speck out of someone’s eye. A lack of love, criticalness, envy, or offense greatly inhibit keen spiritual vision. Trying to help someone else while disregarding our own transgression or shortcoming is hypocritical. Because of this dishonesty, a hypocrite is unable to see clearly and cannot reach an impartial determination. In reality, our own sin may be of greater magnitude than the seemingly apparent faults of the offender.

When God works in our heart and we have dealt with our impurities, how our vision changes! That which we thought we saw in a brother’s life may not even be there anymore or may look entirely different. We can be of help to our brother only when we see things as God would have us see them.

Helping one another in our Christian walk is a cherished, solemn Christian duty. It is a privilege to have brethren help us; let us never dismiss our brother’s concern with a “judge not.”

Illustration

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the publican (a Jew who collected taxes for the hated Romans) stayed in the background. With downcast eyes looking into his own heart, he prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The Pharisee thanked God that he was better than that publican. This Pharisee judged the publican and disregarded him.

A woman stood at Jesus’s feet, weeping and washing his feet with her tears. Her story, her past, was known to all: sinner, bad person rightly judged. But Jesus knew her heart in its current state.

My brother allows himself liberties that I have a conscience against. Do I deem him shallow or carnal? Another brother has a closer conscience than I about a certain matter. Do I label him self-righteous?

A gray-haired man stands at the street corner, sad-faced; his cardboard sign speaks for him. A young woman with garish hair and an sloarm sleeved in tattooes saunters by. How do we view them? Can we know their story or see the path they have walked to get where they are today? What do we think of them? Like us, they are sinners, but also candidates to become children of God.

Questions

1. Discuss the last verse of today’s text, Romans 14:13, as a summary of this lesson.
2. What are some stumbling blocks that we might place in our brother’s path?
3. What are some of the “beams” that could be in our eyes?
4. What are some indications that I am judging my brother?
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).