It is a misconception some have that the Bible does not
tell us to judge one another. We are, in
fact, instructed to do exactly that – only very carefully and with a spirit of
love, and not of pride. Some say, “Well,
Christ taught us not to judge, or we will be judged ourselves.” In saying this, they are not allowing the
Messiah to finish His statement. It is
true that Matthew 7:1 reads, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” This is a “proof-text” that has been lifted
(far too often) from its rightful setting.
“Righteous
judgment” brings forth “justice.” That is how we know right and wrong... one of
the definitions of “judgment.”
We see that demonstrated in Christ’s full statement of
Matthew 7. Here is the full passage:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged, for with what judgment
ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou
say to thy brother, ‘Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a
beam is in thine own eye?’ Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out
of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote
out of thy brother’s eye.” (Mat 7:1-5)
I added emphasis to the word “first” and the phrase
beginning with “then.” This is to point
out something often overlooked – that Yahshua is not here stating a “rule,” but
giving a procedure: first this, and then that.
If you only do the first thing, and ignore the second step, have you
obeyed?
First, (and He is speaking here to hypocrites, as
He later says) do not “judge” anyone – and that is an interesting word to look
at, as we will do shortly. If you judge
someone harshly, Yahshua says, you will likewise receive harsh judgment; if you
judge someone fairly, you will receive the same. But then, the procedure He gives instructs us
in how not to be a hypocrite, so that we can “judge” (in the sense of helping)
others effectively.
If we first
make sure we are clean of an evil before seeking to help another overcome it,
we are not being hypocritical.
It is not love, but cowardice, indifference or hatred,
that leaves a sinner unwarned. Yahweh
said, “When I say unto the wicked, ‘Thou shalt surely die,’ and thou givest him
not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his
life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I
require at thine hand.” (Ezek 3:18)
Paul explicitly notes that matters involving Church
members are to be judged by Church members. “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? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
How much more things that pertain to this life?” (1Cor 6:2, 3) And again, he asks the rhetorical question, “do
not ye judge them that are within [the Church]?” (1Cor 5:12)
What the
Bible teaches is that we are to avoid passing “judgment” on people outside the
Body of Christ. Now, this does not mean
we cannot seek to encourage them in doing right – but we are not to rashly
conclude that they are deliberately being evil because of their lack of
light. The word Judgment in the
Scriptures can mean one of two things: either to simply decide between two or
more options, this is what results in justice, as indicated before, or to
pronounce “sentence.”
For example, Paul says, “I speak as to wise men; judge ye
what I say.” (1Cor 10:5) In other words,
“Decide if what I say is right or wrong.”
In the other sense, the “Day of Judgment” is not a day of deciding, but
a day of handing down sentences. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied of these [false teachers], saying, ‘Behold, the Lord cometh with ten
thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that
are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly
committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken
against Him.” (Jude 1:14, 15)
To “execute judgment” is to pronounce or carry out a
sentence. Even in English we speak about
the “judgment of the court” to refer to the thing the court has decided, not
the process of consideration.
The former, we are certainly to do – we are to constantly
be “judging” whether or not things are good or bad, first in ourselves and then
outwardly only afterward. Yahshua gives
us the divine instructions in Matthew 7 regarding how to do this properly. The latter is reserved for the Almighty
Himself, spoken of nations or individuals either directly, through miracles, or
through agents such as prophets and angels.
The judgment of Yahweh, that is to say, the things He has
decided, are not things to be feared by humans.
If we love Yah, we desire to be judged by Him, that He may direct our
paths. This is what we call “standing in
the judgment,” letting Him refine us.
And in so doing, we open ourselves up to others as well, inviting our
brethren to participate in this process.
Our New Moon doctrine is certainly a practical example of the
fulfillment of this process.
Nothing scares a carnal Christian more than being
“judged,” whether it be by God, by saints, or by worldlings, although they
might not be inclined to care as much about the last of these three. Nothing is more sanctifying to the spiritual
Christian than the act of entering into judgment amongst the current and future
residents of Heaven, and letting the light of Yahweh’s wisdom strip away the
dross to leave only precious gold behind.
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