Who’s the Judge?

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Mat 7:1

We often hear people quote this verse. There are a few reasons why someone might want to quote it. Maybe the person feels that he/she is being unfairly criticized for circumstances that exist in their lives. Perhaps the person might have an extreme sense of guilt over actions that he/she knows full well are sinful. Often we hear this verse quoted in a sarcastic way by those who have had it quoted to them. It might not always be quoted for the right reasons but this does not make it any less viable when quoted in the right circumstances; after all it is very much a part of our Lord’s commandments. Our observance of the commands of our Lord is in fact the true test of our love for Him.

John 14:15 ¶ If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him

John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

When we find ourselves in a position where we feel it necessary to quote a verse in our defense we might well quote Matthew 7:2

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

This is a sobering thought in the light of such scriptures as:

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

It is very easy for us to see faults in others but it is much harder to see or admit our own.
James reminds us that Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Which of us has never sinned once since being saved? The scripture is clear we have all missed the mark. Not one of us is qualified to pass judgment on our brothers/sisters in Christ. We are all saved by grace through faith. We are all in Christ. We are all here to build each other up in the Lord: not one of us is in any position to condemn our brothers/sisters in the Lord.

James has expressed this idea very clearly in a verse of Scripture that we often overlook.

James 4:11 ¶ Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

A judge is by his/her office an interpreter and applier of the law. We have one who enables us to understand God’s Word - the Holy Spirit. 1John 2: 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. He enables us to discern false doctrine, shoddy exegesis and bad practice. The Holy Spirit illuminates the scriptures. John 16:13. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin John. 16:8. The Holy Spirit calls men and women to be saved 1 John 5:6. Our lives and our ministries must be fully dependent on the Holy Spirit. If any man/woman chooses to set him/herself up as judge he/she is in fact usurping an office that belongs only to God.

The Jews have a set of extra biblical writings called the Talmud; these are rabbinical interpretations of the law. When Jesus came into the world He set about to discredit the Talmud, and focus the minds and hearts of the people back unto the Scriptures. Christ being the only worthy judge could and did reveal the true interpretation of the law. The rabbis emphasized the letter of the law and thus either carried it too far (when it was applied to others) or not far enough (when it was applied to them). Christ emphasized the spirit of the law and thus applied it not only to overt actions but also to covert thoughts and desires. The Jewish leaders did not like this because it revealed them to be the faithless hypocrites they were.

By placing great weight upon the letter of the law the rabbis lost sight of the underlying principle of the law. They became cold, calculating, unkind condemners of those of their race that were weaker, and less fortunate than them. They had no love for the weak and weary of their people. They set themselves up as judges and hated both the sin and the sinner in equal quantities. Falling prey to the idea that strict adherence to the letter of the law made them righteous in God’s eyes they became more interested in the out ward appearance than they were in the inward condition.

Matt.23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Our Lord taught that by being sure our inward condition is right our outward condition will be put right also. As children of God we are not to ignore the basic precepts of the law. However we must realize that our striving to observe them does not make us righteous. There is only one righteous and that is Christ. We are all clothed in His righteousness. We also must bear in mind that we have been set free from the law and placed under the law of Christ. This law is LOVE. Condemning our fellow Christians does not show forth love. Rejoicing and finding glee when a fellow Christian falls is not in line with the “Law of Christ”.

When our brother/sister falls we must obey Gal 6:1 or risk being overcome and knocked over ourselves.

Gal. 61 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

“Judge not”, does not mean that we are not to be discerning. 1Jn 4:1 God has given us two excellent guides to enable us to “test every spirit”. He has given us His word, and He has given us His Holy Spirit. By taking heed to these we will be able to insure that we are right. We can judge a person’s message by comparing it to the Word of God. We can judge a person’s methods and practice by comparing them to the Word of God. But, we cannot judge another person’s motives because we do not have the ability or right to see into his/her heart. Therefore the only person’s heart any of us has the right to judge is our own. We all must ask ourselves “do my beliefs square with the Word of God? Is my life in line with the scripture? Am I as clean on the inside as I try to appear to be on the outside?” Is my conscience right before God? Am I more involved in building up my fellows than I am with tearing them down?

We often hear people say, “I am not a judge but I am a fruit inspector”, quoting Mt 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. In the context of this scripture the Lord is speaking of false prophets, false christs, antichrists and cult leaders and their followers; not truly born again saints of God. The Scripture teaches us that the Holy Spirit produces fruit in the hearts and lives of all those who abide in Christ. Each of us should be concerned with producing healthy, mature and lasting fruit for our Saviour. Therefore, in the light of the fact that each of us will one day give an account of his/her self to the only truly qualified judge we need not to be worried about others but each of us must be concerned with being personally right with God.

2 Cor. 2:5 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad

As for our fallen brothers/sisters the scripture gives us some clear teaching on how we are to treat them. Galatians 6:1-2 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. As stated, being born again into God’s family sets us free from the law; that is the Law of Moses, (If we were Jews we might be under some obligation to the law) and the law of sin and death. However, we are not without law. We are under the law of Christ which is summed up in one word, ‘love’. The aim of any discipline we might have to impose on our brother/sister must be restoration. In 1 Corinthians 5:4 - 5 the apostle told the Corinthian church to put a man guilty of gross misconduct out of the church. In 2 Corinthians 2:5 – 11 He instructs the church to forgive him thus restoring him to fellowship. Obviously the man had sufficiently repented confessing and forsaking his gross sin. Paul ends this discourse with a warning 2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

We have no such responsibility towards those who fail or refuse to repent of their sin. There is a certainty, that being, God forgives sin, but forgiveness comes after confession and forsaking. We confess our sins to God but we forsake our sin in plain view of the world. If the same circumstances exist in a life after they are confessed as sin, there has been no repentance, therefore, there has been no forgiveness. That person has no fellowship with God and as a result he/she has no fellowship with the church.

There is much more that can be said on this matter. It is a very good line of study. However this paper is not intended to exhaust the subject; but merely whet the appetite and set hearts and minds in the right direction. Therefore, it concludes with the words of our great apostle: 1Co 11: 28a But let a man examine himself…….1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Your’ Old Uncle Bill
Blackpool Aug. 2012