Does the Bible Command To Judge or To Not Judge By Jack Barr
The sinner throws two verses at you when you tell them they are sinning.
Matthew 7:1 ¶ Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Luke 6:37 ¶ Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
The sinner says "don't tell me that I am sinning, you are judging me!! You are forbidden to judge me." "Don't judge how I worship God." "Don't judge this and don’t judge that" Oh, they know these two verses, but ignore all of the rest in the bible, the parts which tell a Christian that we are to judge the words and actions of all those around us. They are free to worship God any way that is pleasing to God. But when they are worshiping Satan, when they are worshiping themselves, when they are worshiping the church, when they worship God the way that They want to, instead of the way that God tells them, etc., then it is our duty before God to point out to them that they are not worshiping God. God Himself has shown us that there is a way to worship Him that is acceptable to Him, and ways to worship Him which is NOT acceptable to Him. (See Genesis chapter 4 Cain and Able) Now this is only about the worshiping of God, and not the worshiping of anything else. (which is forbidden).
So what are these saying? What is this judgment these two verses are speaking of? We are not to judge if they will go to hell or not. For they have already been judged by God and found guilty. We are not to condemn them to hell, for only God can do that. We will never know if a person who is the most vile, sinful person, will repent before they stand before the judgment seat of God. And we are commanded to forgive everyone who has ever hurt us, for so God has commanded us to do. And if we refuse to forgive, then God will not forgive us.
But are we never to speak to them of what they are doing wrong? What does the Bible say about judging? (No attempt is made to include here every possible scripture verse about judging.)
We ARE to judge right from wrong, good from evil.
1 Corinthians 10:15 "I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say." (you have to judge, or decide if I am telling the truth or not.)
Luke 12:57 "Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? (Why can't you judge the things of God? Don't you right now judge what is right or wrong)
Romans 2:27 "And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?" (You are to judge, or decide if someone breaks the law.)
MUST TEST the words of those who speak for God (Judge if they speak true or false.)
1 Corinthians 14:29 "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. (We are commanded to judge, or decide if one who claims to speak for God, is really speaking for God, of speaking for themselves.)
1 Corinthians 6:2-4 "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3. Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? 4. If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
(We will judge all of the people of world, so why would anyone think that they are not allowed to judge anything now? We are to set some in the church whose job it is to judge the things happening in this life.)
WE ARE TO LOOK AT THE FRUIT you are producing, AND JUDGE if your fruit is good (of God) or bad (of Satan).
John 7:24 "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (We must use a true judgment, not an arbitrary one. The judgment must be based on God's Law, not on our whim.)
Matthew 12:33 "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by [his] fruit." (By watching and examining what a person does in this life we will see if what they produce is good or bad, thus good fruit, or bad fruit. By judging their fruit, that is, if what they say and do is of the Lord God, and good, or of Satan and bad.)
Luke 6:44 "For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, no of a bramble bush gather they grapes."
Matthew 7:17-18 "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
(You do not need to listen to someone talk very long before you have a picture of them. They can speak great flowing words of praise for God, but if you listen, they will slip and you will hear evil come out of their mouth, and that shows the true fruit they produce. You must listen, watch, and judge what kind of fruit they produce.)
We are commanded by God to tell both the sinner, and the saints, when we see them doing wrong before God.
The following requires us to judge if a person is wicked or righteous, and to judge if a righteous person has sinned against God.
Ezekiel 3:18-21 (18) and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way ----- his blood will I require at thine hand. (19) if thou warn the wicked ---- thou hast delivered thy soul. (20) when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commits iniquity, ---- he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning --- his blood will I require at thine hand (21) if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not ---- thou hast delivered thy soul.
(Each of the above verses requires us to make a judgement. First to judge if the person is a wicked person, or is a righteous person. That is, does not follow God, or does follow God. If they do not follow God, we must warn them that they must follow God. Next to judge if that righteous person has committed a sin that we are aware of, and if so, we must go to that person and warn them that what they are doing, or did, is a sin against God, and that they must repent and stop doing whatever it is that is against God.)
We must warn the wicked that their ways are against God. And we must warn the righteous person if we see them sin against God. Or else we will be held accountable for their souls. Each of the above verses requires us to make a judgment about that person and the way that they live.
Yet the sinner does not want us to tell them that they sin against God. They want us to close our eyes, and condone absolutely anything that they want to do. Do not tell me that it is a sin to worship Satan. Do not tell me that it is a sin to murder someone. Do not tell me that it is a sin to steal. Do not tell me that it is a sin to do any kind of sex acts with anyone or any animal. Do not tell me that God says to do it His Way, Or Else. Do not tell me that I have to obey God. After all, who does He think that He is, that He can demand anything of ME? How dare you speak to me of what God wants. Leave me alone to pretend that I am god.
Yes, we must choose between good and evil, between true and false, between right and wrong. Each day man is called upon to judge these things. We are commanded by God to not only judge between these things, but to also, after having made the judgement, to then warn people, to announce to people what our judgment is.
But to be sure, Our judgment had better be with the leading and help of the Almighty God, else we stand in danger of not judging in righteousness. When we trust in the Lord God, we will have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us to make true and righteous judgments, to guide us to give the proper warnings, which will lead to the saving of souls. Our judgments must never be to put someone down, to trample on them, but to only lift them up toward God. Our judgments must be made with Love.
Most times, these judgments will hurt, for the sword of God's Word cuts deep. It gives me no pleasure when I must tell someone that they must change and repent, for I know the hurt I cause them, but at the same time, I see the real hurt in store for them if I do not warn them. Better a little hurt now, when they can repent and come to God, than for them to have a moment of pleasure now and have eternal pain and suffering later.
To refuse to make these judgments, and to give warnings, is to condemn them to hell, and that is hate against them, and a sin on our part against God.