judging others

[strenght01]

I've always heard so much on this topic and most answers from all that label themselves as Christians have surprisingly different answers. So I ask, what does God mean by the words we are not to judge others? I have always said that we are to judge others actions, just not the heart.

[ayin jade]

John 7:24 and 1 Corinthians 5.

[other one]

John 7:24 and 1 Corinthians 5.

aweee   Jade, you always make me look this stuff up....  

[other one]

It was worth the effort...

[Wildstar]

I've always heard so much on this topic and most answers from all that label themselves as Christians have surprisingly different answers. So I ask, what does God mean by the words we are not to judge others? I have always said that we are to judge others actions, just not the heart.

Jesus states we shouldnt judge others or we will be judged.

 

On the other hand his whole bible speaks of holy men of God going to people, calling them to repent and to believe.

 

So it is good to set things straight and to tell someone when they are doing wrong.

 

It is wrong it judge someone with no motive for love.

 

If you have a motive of love for the person, then you will set them on the walking path, and not leave them to their own crooked devices.  

 

Judge your own heart first before you judge another person.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Wildstar

[OneLight]

Jesus did say in Matthew 7:1-2
 

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

Obviously, we will be held to the same judgment that we judge other with. Yet, He is not saying we should never judge, for Jesus then tells us in John 7:24
 

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

When we do have to judge, and we will be in that situation more than once, we need to judge righteously. The only way I know how to do this is to pray and wait for His guidance.

[FreeinChrist]

To judge others as in being greater sinners than ourselves is to fall into the hands of God's Judgment:

8)   If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, as thyself, ye do well:

9)   But if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

10) For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11) For he that said, Do not commit adultery; said also, Do not kill.  Now if thou committest no adultery, yet if thou killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

12) So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

13) For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath show no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

James 2:9-13

James is telling us hear not to be respecters of person, as earlier in this chapter, James states how is it if a rich man, come into the general assembly of the Believers he is treated with great respect and given great honor, while if a poor person comes little to no respect is given the poor man, is not this evil, James 2:1-4.  So is our thoughts that the sins that God has granted us the ability to overcome make us better become other believer have trouble with that sin, while we have problems with sins the others don't.   Right judgment states i am a sinner saved by the grace of God, thru Christ Jesus, just as my other brothers and sister in Christ;  and in Christ, God see us as being fully righteous.

 

 

This kind of Righteous Judgment also tells me if someone comes into my Church and started to teach a doctrine contrary to the Bible and especially one that cause others in Christ to stumble or even fall in the faith, then we are to judge and rebuke that doctrine.

Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

Romans 14:13

For he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged by no man.

I Corinthians 2:15

Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.

II Timothy 4:2

Paul give an example of applying this kind of judgment to the Galatians,  see Galatians 1:6-9.

[Willa]

We are not to judge one another so as to condemn another to hell.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to restore a Christian that we see is sinning but we must do it in a spirit of compassionate meekness and gentleness. Christians whose lifestyles are in great error, who refuse to repent after many efforts to reason with them, should be reluctantly avoided.

We should also judge ourselves so that we won't need to be chastened by God later. 1 Cor 11:31-32

We are supposed to renew our minds daily in the Word so that we may be able to prove by it what is God's will. Rom.12.:2

Someday we are to judge the angels.

So we are to judge a lot of things. But we are to condemn no one. The world is already condemned.

[LanceA]

Hi everyone, I'm new to forum so I am just checking out some of the posts on here.  I did a little write up on this very subject a few days ago and if you all don't mind I'll just copy and paste it in here.

 

 

 

There are many Christians who say we can't judge. The bible does state you are not to judge in the below verse. This seems to be the verse Christians use to claim we aren't allowed to judge anyone.

Matthew 7:1-5 7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 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? 

In this verse it doesn't necessarily say not to judge, but when you do judge you will also be judged by the same degree you judged someone. And if you are also in sin then get your act straight before you cast blame on someone else.

I will use the following verses to support my claim that Christians can judge.

John 7:24 "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

This verse is talking about righteous judgement. What is right judgment? In the KJV says righteous judgement and NASB does as well. Righteous judgment is Biblical Judgment. Judge a person according to what the Word of God says.

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.

The first part of this passage tells us not to associate with certain people who are in sin. To find out who is in sin we must judge them. It also states we aren't here to judge outsiders (non Christians) but judge members of the Church. God judges the non Christians and we judge fellow Christians. It also states to get rid of the evil people among us. NASB says to get rid of the wicked among us. So here it says we are to get rid of wicked members of the church. To find out if someone in the church is wicked we must judge them.

Romans 12:9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

This passage tells us to Abhor evil. To abhor evil we must judge the person first to find the evil. 

James 5:19-20 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

God wants us to confront brothers and sisters in Christ and let them know of their sinful ways therefore judging them. If we don't let other Christians know that they are walking the wrong path then we are allowing them to possibly face death (hell). This is a good thing to do this.

The following are examples of where Apostles judging others.

2 Timothy 2:16-17 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus

2 Timothy 4:14-15 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.

1 Timothy 1:19-20 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Paul in these verses is judging and telling other Christians about things others have done.

3 John 1:9-10 9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church

John is telling others of something Diotrephes has done. Again we see judgement from a Christian telling other Christians.

1 Timothy 5:20 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.

Here it tells us we are to confront Christians in sin (judge) and do this in front of other Christians and this is to make other Christians think twice about entering into sin.

James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Here it tells us we are to do the right thing and that right thing is to judge other Christians, not out of hate or anger, but to help them see that what they are doing is wrong and also to help other Christians see this before they act on it.

My position is we can judge other Christians but we need to do it out of love and not pride or anger. I don't think Christians wanted to kick others out of the Church but it happened. Can this be abused like anything else? Yes! We need to trust in the Holy Spirit and let Him guide us.

[Hall7]

In addition to the above replies...

Matthew 7:1-2 Also means to not Judge in your present mortal life or you will be judged back the same in your current mortal life, as it says in the following verses of Matthew 7:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

See...when you judge someone and yet you yourself aren't free of personal imperfections (which we all aren't) we are judged back by others in the same way. How can we know? By observation of the consequences of our words and actions...