If We Cannot Judge, Then Convos Are Made Void

A few weeks ago, I received a comment that struggled with one of my posts. Like many who disagree with topics, the immediate scripture of, “you shouldn’t judge,” was introduced.

And the rest of the comment proceeded to do what I was accused of…I was severely judged and told I was wrong because I was judging.

This is why my post last year talked about the hypocrisy of “do not judge.” (See post: Misconceptions Of Judging Righteously ) As soon as we deem someone is judging, we become a hypocrite when we tell them not to judge. Why? Because it took judgment to determine someone is judging. When we judge someone for judging… that’s a judgement.

I’ve heard judgment used in conversations and seen it used as this impenetrable shield. What’s interesting is often as soon as there is a disagreement or uncomfortable conviction that arises regarding sin people will go to their “do not judge” scripture as an immediate defense.

So, let’s talk about whether or not we should judge because both sides seem to agree the topic of judgement is important.

I first started to heavily study the “do not judge” scripture almost a full year ago because frankly, I was confused by it or rather how a lot of people used it. Last year, I began to speak against false teachings, and listed some false teachers to be wary of. Which led me to the question, “Is it wrong to speak against false teachings and false teachers?” By some people’s reactions, it would seem the answer would be, yes, it’s wrong.

But this then leads to other questions like, “What can be spoken of without judgment? Why are people struggling and offended so much with discussions that require judgment?” And my discovery related to it’s not so much about “judgment” but how we feel and if we do not like what someone is saying/doing, we find a problem with it. We do not “judge” properly, rather, improperly. We judge, not on evidence, but feeling. This leads to several fascinating points.

The Ugly Reality If We Couldn’t Judge

The truth is if we really believed we couldn’t judge at all, then the world would probably look something similar to what Melissa Dougherty shows in this satirical short video: If People Actually Lived By, “You Shouldn’t Judge”

If we shouldn’t judge, then we shouldn’t judge murderers, rapists, pedophiles. We shouldn’t judge the teachings of people who teach a false Christ that will lead others to Hell.

Clearly, we do judge those who do criminal acts. Our justice system is in place to bring victims to justice. But if we couldn’t judge, then those victims are wrongfully judging others who have hurt them. “How dare the victims not understand that they, too, aren’t perfect.” – This is what “do not judge” teaches, if we truly upheld it.

Do you see how messed up not judging becomes? Do you see how easy it is for wickedness to thrive on this lie? How easy it is for us not to be accountable for what we are called to do by the word of God?

The justice system is ordained by God for a reason. God is righteous. God loves justice. But the world does not want the God of the Bible. The world wants justice, but not judgment, and the world can’t have both. When we try to take God out of morality, all we have are various “truths” that conflict with the “truths” of others.

What one believes to be wrong, another believes to be right. If we can’t judge either view, then both are “right” because they are not held to a standard. Even if one view was kill whenever you feel like it, and another was steal whenever you feel like it. Both are wrong, but if we cannot judge… then both are right because we are not to judge.

If We Can’t Judge, Then How Are We To Know What Love Is?

The world would agree both murder and theft are wrong (or I hope the majority would agree), and the reasoning would be because we are to “love one other.” But what exactly is love that cannot be judged?

A lie straight from Hell is that we can love, and should love, but we shouldn’t judge. This way of thinking would mean that love has no standard. We can’t test to see if someone is actually loving or not, even if they “claim” they are loving by their words/actions. But anyone familiar with the Bible, especially the love chapter, would know that there is a standard for love.

Love is:

• Patient (Suffers Long)
• Kind
• Not envious
• Does not parade itself
• Is not puffed up (proud)
• Does not behave rudely
• Does not seek its own (instead, love seeks after others)
• Is not provoked
• Thinks no evil
• Does not rejoice in iniquity (repeated sins)
• Rejoices in the truth
• Bears all things
• Believes all things
• Hopes all things
• Endures all things

So, right here, is the standard of how we are to discern whether something is loving and whether a person is being loving. But there’s more because love rejoices in truth.

One Truth, One Standard All Are Measured By

If there were multiple “truths” that made each other void, then there would be no truth (because everyone would be right in their own eyes, sound familiar?) But if there is one consistent truth we can test everything else against that truth. This is how we discern. How we discern what is wrong, right, and how to judge properly.

We need to know our Bibles well because it is in the word of God we realize the truth of God, love, wisdom, righteousness and much more. It is righteousness that helps us discern everything else the way we need to. And no man or woman is righteous on his or her own. (Psalm 14:02-03)

In fact, God alone is righteous. Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Righteous judgment is the only way to discern what is the truth of God. The book of Proverbs constantly shows a parallel between wisdom and righteousness. And no one can go to God, except through faith in the God-Man, Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus is where we receive our standard of righteousness. We look to Christ and His word for examples on guidance, knowledge, wisdom, and yes, righteous judgment. (Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 4:11, John 14:06)

But we cannot do this unless we have a proper relationship with God. Sin separates us from God and the truth. Sin is why we struggle a lot with judgment to begin with. We want to reject what God has ordained. We want things to go our way and feel pleasant. We don’t like being questioned for what we do and want in our life. But whether or not we like it, God has a standard we are all held to, which is known as the Law.

The Law condemns everyone. We all have not honored our parents 24/7. We all have struggled with lust. That’s the thing, the Law requires perfection, no mistakes. But we all have sinned and fallen short, therefore the standard we are measured by shows us we are condemned. The Law is all about justice. We want justice, so does God, and God will judge us justly. Our judgment from God is what we deserve.

We Cannot Judge Righteously Without Christ

How can the Law and Christ be the same standard everything is measured by?

See, the wages of sin is death. This is where the importance of the Gospel is needed. If we do not understand, nor care, why Christ came to the earth then we are still condemned. Some of us may say, “He died for our sins,” and this would be absolutely true, but do we really know what that means when we say it? Do we care about why and have we really put our faith in Christ?

I’m going to suggest to go over these questions I’ve left regarding the Gospel if you would like to see if you are able to defend your faith. If you know the truth, you should be able to defend the truth. Please see: The Gospel Challenge (30 Question Quiz) – Are You Ready To Defend Your Faith? And if you do not know why Christ is important, please check out this post, Why Did A Loving God Kill His Son? (Does God Hate?).

Christ reconciled us to God, through His death, His atonement sacrifice on the cross. While on the cross, Jesus became sin on our behalf, He became a curse on the tree. In doing so, as the atonement sacrifice, He bore the wrath of God, our punishment, for all who put their faith in Christ. As the Perfect Man, Christ lived by the Law, and He fulfilled it. The Law is still in existence today. The Law is not bad. (Again, for a much more in-depth post, please see the links above because this is just a summary. )

The Law is broken down into two parts. Love God and love others. This is the standard we are to test everything against, and scripture is the only place to know precisely what that means. We are to be Christ-like because Jesus lived in submission to God. Christ loved God, and He loved people. Though the God-Man, Jesus never lived for Himself. He was in complete humility and obedience to the Lord. (Matthew 22:40, Philippians 2:06)

Jesus resurrected and He defeated death. He broke the bondage to sin. So that all who put their faith in Christ, they will be saved because of what He did. Jesus imputes His righteousness to all who put their faith in Him. His righteousness alone fulfills the Law, and by His righteousness we are not condemned by the Law. The consequence of our sin, Christ paid on the cross. We are His through His atonement sacrifice and faith. (Hebrews 2:14, Romans 3:25)

Those who put their faith in Christ will do so because they see themselves as filthy sinners and they will be convicted and ashamed of their sins. They know they cannot be pure except through the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. They will repent and turn away from their old way of life seeking the forgiveness of God. (This happens with help of the Holy Spirit Who continues to convict us of sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come. This means that the Holy Spirit will direct believers to the truth of Jesus Christ in the scriptures. We will continually be convicted of sin in our lives because God loves those He rebukes.) All because the Savior shows us the truth of sin, and He makes us understand the danger and deception of sin. Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith. (John 16:08, Hebrews 12:02)

How To Judge Righteously?

It is through Christ that He helps us judge righteously. Which leads us back to the scripture many use when they say, “do not judge.”

(ESV) Matthew 7:01-05, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Christ is saying we cannot be a hypocrite when we judge someone for something we ourselves are doing. So, if we judge someone for judging, we are doing exactly what Christ warns against.

There are times to judge righteously and in order to do so we must make sure we are not guilty of the thing we are trying to correct someone of. (Make sure we do not have a log before we take out the speck of another.) Notice, Jesus TELLS US to take the speck out of the eye of another IF we do not have a log.

To Judge Righteously:

• We must have wisdom & righteousness.
• This only is obtained through the fear of the Lord, a relationship with God.
• But, as sinners, we cannot approach God on our own because we are already condemned by the Judge.
• We need Someone to pay off our debt the Judge has decreed for our payment of sin.
• Christ died in our place so that we could be reconciled to God.
• Christ broke the bondage of sin so that we are no longer under its hold.
• We have conviction of our sin and we love our Savior, so we put our faith in Him because our eyes are now opened to the reality of sin.
• Through the death and ransom Christ paid for us, His righteousness is imputed to us fulfilling the Law. We are now under the yoke of Christ, not the Law.
• With new eyes we can understand the Bible through guidance of the Holy Spirit sent to us by Christ.
• The Law is about loving God and loving others. It never goes in void because it is righteous.
• Once we have been imputed the righteousness of Christ, day by day we are becoming sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and wisdom is apart of righteousness.
• To judge righteously means to make judgements that love God and love others. These judgments support the word of God and what He has ordained.
• Righteous judgment is not always going to feel good or nice, but righteous judgment is always done in love.
• Without a relationship with Jesus Christ, we cannot judge righteously. If we do not have the Truth that sets us free, then our truth is flawed because we are under condemnation.

Christ is our standard for judgment. Hold everything up to the word of God. Seek after the Savior!

Other Resources I’ve Found Helpful:

• To understand how Christ is God, check out these 2 awesome videos on the Trinity – Mike Winger – The Trinity: Can We Defend It Biblically? & Pastor Chris Rosebrough The Holy Trinity Clearly Explained
• Melissa Dougherty – Doesn’t Jesus Say Not To Judge?
• Michelle Lesley – Sacrificing Truth On Altar of Tone (this is one of my favorite posts, and was so helpful to me! I will continue to share it whenever possible.) “Our sensitivity to tone (of voice, of writing, someone’s demeanor, etc.) is a hindrance rather than a help to us when we refuse to evaluate the content of what someone is saying to us simply because their manner of speaking, writing, or behavior has offended our sensibilities. This is especially harmful when that content is biblical truth.”

To learn more about what Jesus did on the cross and why His atonement sacrifice is so needed please see: Why Did A Loving God Kill His Son? (Does God Hate?) If you do not know the Gospel, do not turn away. If you think you know the Gospel, check out these questions and see how prepared you are for the day someone might ask you why you believe: The Gospel Challenge (30 Question Quiz) – Are You Ready To Defend Your Faith?

Monthly Scripture To Memorize/Meditate On – (ESV) Romans 5:08, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Community Prayer – June ‘21 

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