Judge Not?
Judge Not?
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment (John 7:24).”
In our age of multiculturalism, social diversity, sensitivity training, moral relativism, and political correctness the mere mention of judgment has become “anathema” in America today. This infantile rebellion against sound discretion has created a “Trojan Horse,” that has infiltrated every facet of our culture. Under the guise of promoting democratic ideals this refusal to make sensible judgments has detracted greatly from our moral, mental, and spiritual health as a nation.
For decades now, our nation seems to be suffering from a collective case of reprobation. It appears we are currently fulfilling the sad commentary of woes prophesied by Isaiah the prophet. He declared, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight (Isaiah 5:20, 21)!”
In following this foolish course, our reason has become suspect and our sense of logic appears to be failing to endure the rigors of modern-day life. In fact, I would dare state that America is found wanting as we exalt man’s reason as of greater value than God’s revelation contained in the Holy Bible. One does not need to be a rocket scientist or a great theologian to recognize that this betrayal against absolute truth has not only damaged our spiritual sense, but even our common sense has become a casualty. The once time-honored truths and Biblical principles that created our fixed standards for law, justice, and equity have been replaced with the evolutionary, situational ethics of relativism.
Foes within our own American household that led the charge in calling good, evil and evil, good have purposely abandoned God’s moral laws as the basis of American law. And with this dangerous transition, all discretion was thrown to the wind. Our country, as a result, is in a moral freefall that is spinning out of control and is becoming destitute of sound judgment at a time when the inmates are running America’s asylum.
THE TEN WORDS
God in His wisdom gave mankind the Ten Commandments. Jesus taught they were summed up in two, which are as follows, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength and thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.” Covenant rebels, on the other hand, have manufactured in their humanistic think tanks two new counterfeit commandments on which they hang all their wicked agenda. They are “Do what thou wilt and thou shalt not get in my face, DON’T JUDGE ME!!!” It is this usurpation that has helped to dramatically turn America’s experiment with liberty into licentiousness.
As America continues in this high treason against God’s moral standards, we are losing our fear of God and a revelation of His holiness. Thus man feels empowered to redefine sin. The results are predictable. Psalm 12:8 reveals, “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” Proverbs 28:4 concurs, “They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.” Thus, sin has gone from the breaking of God’s Law to not tolerating those who do.
Yes, intolerance of evil is the new unpardonable sin. Any standard-bearers of moral judgment that resist evil become the modern day “hate groups” that need to be defeated by the paragons of tolerance. Why? Because the promotion of sin in all its “diverse” forms is the new civil rights struggle that defines much of this crooked generation. They wrap up their perversions in the American flag to help sanitize their evil and it is now considered un-American to confuse them with the truth.
In Matthew 7:1 Jesus declared, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Miraculously in our day, this passage of Scripture has replaced John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” as the most beloved Scripture quoted by Americans today. Our nation adopted this change not to honor God’s Word, but to justify our many transgressions. The reason for this observation stems from the chants that we constantly hear from abortion advocates and those who promote the homosexual agenda.
It is this one Scripture that they have memorized and draw like a gun to shoot down any opposition to their bloody, perverted ways. I have consistently found that leftists “love” Jesus, just as long as He doesn’t interfere with their godless lifestyles. But when one quotes Jesus accurately and applies His truth to expose their evil, immediately the accusations and name calling begins. Phrases like anti-choice, homophobe, and born-again bigot do wonders to silence the church and win the day in the court of public opinion.
Paul Washer stated, “People tell me judge not lest ye be judged. I always tell them, twist not scripture lest ye be like Satan.” The truth is when we hear the forces of darkness take up the Scriptures in their mouth, especially “Judge not, that you be not judged,” most often, it is to twist its meaning to defend that which is contrary to Biblical teaching. After all, who wants to appear judgmental when it might desecrate the idol of tolerance? The answer, of course, is no one. This strategy has been successful as the church for the most part refuses to speak out against the sins that are destroying our nation.
At this point, it is important to note a few critical truths ignored by the tolerance thought police as it relates to Matthew 7:1-6. Like their father the Devil, enemies of the cross love to take the text of Scripture out of context and then present it as pretext. In other words, they read into the Scriptures their own agenda, (isogesis) instead of drawing from the Scriptures God’s truth (exegesis). Their beliefs determine the meaning of God’s Word, instead of God’s Word determining their belief.
In light of this dilemma, let us take a more careful look at the most popular Scripture misquoted in our culture today. Jesus stated:
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. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
First things first, notice that after Jesus spoke of judgment, he put his admonishment in the context of one brother noticing a moral deficiency within another brother. How should this incident of judgment be handled? Jesus taught that the one who noticed the problem must first submit himself to the same standard by which he would judge his brother. After careful self-examination and removal of the plank from his own eye, however, he was then commanded by Jesus to remove (or judge) the speck in his brother’s eye. The key point, however, is a judgment was still made. This time, however, it was not based upon the opinions of man, but by the universal standard of judgment, which is God’s Word.
This confirms one of the most important functions of the varied purposes of God’s Word. Hebrews 4:12 states, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The word discerner means decisive (critical), i.e. discriminative. Put another way, God’s word is to judge the intents and thoughts of men’s hearts. God knows what a man sets his heart upon, he will always seek to justify in his mind. God’s Word was sent to correct that process as men left to their own devices will always be led astray by sinful bondages and subsequent destruction.
In another passage of Scripture, Jesus reiterates God’s Word as the standard for righteous judgment. He stated, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” Notice again that Jesus points to the Word of God as the authority to judge the thoughts, actions, and deeds of men. It is much wiser therefore to be judged now by God’s Word that leads to repentance, acknowledgment of the truth, and the saving of our souls, than to wait to be judged by God when we die.
The kind of judgment Jesus condemns, however, is hypocritical judgment. We must know for a certainty that the same judgment we render to others we shall be judged by. For example, Paul rebuked the Jews in Romans by stating, “You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal (Romans 2:21-23)?” He proceeded to ask the same questions concerning adultery and idolatry. What can we glean from this? The judgment that Jesus condemns is one that is based upon appearances. When we judge others for doing the very things that we are practicing in order to ignore or hide our own sin, do we think we shall escape? This is why Jesus warns us not to judge according to appearances, but to make righteous judgments that are to be based upon God’s Word (John 7:24).
Jesus reserved His most biting criticism and righteous anger against those who sought to appear righteous on the outside, but were unclean on the inside. Jesus roared against this blatant hypocrisy. Matthew 23:27, 28 records:
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. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
THE MINISTRY OF CONDEMNATION
Whether we like it or not, the Bible teaches that there is a ministry of condemnation. The modern-day Church cringes at the mere thought of it. Yet the Apostle Paul unashamedly stated:
But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory (2 Corinthians 3:7-9) .”
It is God’s law that serves the ministry of condemnation that convicts men of sin and it is the glorious Gospel that serves the ministry of the Spirit that leads men to God’s righteousness. Without doctor law diagnosing what ails men and giving us the bad news about our wicked condition, men will never seek God’s solution found in His grace. It is God’s law that is to act like a schoolmaster to lead men to the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24).
As way of example, when Christians go to abortion mills and cry out God’s commandment, “Thou shalt not murder,” they are not passing judgment based upon their own subjective reasoning. They are simply proclaiming God’s objective truth and warning against the sin and crime of abortion. It is not the Christian’s responsibility to make abortion bound people obey that command, but it is our responsibility to lift up God’s moral standards whether or not it appears “judgmental.”
All good evangelists know that their first calling is not to find sinners, but to make sure they know that they are lost. They must wield God’s Word to effectively remove every prop, excuse, and justification that enables men to continue in their disobedience against God. It is only the ministry of condemnation that reveals our lost condition. If the sinner, however, persists on killing his/her own offspring and does not take heed to God’s warning, they will remain in a condemned state. If they take heed and repent, the condemnation will be lifted and God’s amazing grace and love will secure them in his great salvation.
This offends America’s immoral sensibilities today, but there is a just condemnation for those who forsake God’s salvation and ignore His word. John 3:17-20 states:
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
The Apostle Paul taught, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” The key word in this passage is the word now. In other words, the condemnation that Jesus spoke of was there prior to conversion. In fact, God’s condemnation of sin is what convicts the sinner to repent and receive the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist speaking of this predicament warned, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).”
Because of our unwillingness to judge today, based upon the demands of God’s enemies, the church is pressured to withhold God’s Word because it does indeed judge the thoughts and intents of the heart. This is not a disservice to the souls of men, but a necessary one if they are to truly repent and be saved. This is why King David said, “Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil. Let my head not refuse it (Psalms 141:5).” Proverbs 27:6 confirms this truth by stating, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
The second observation that I found quite interesting in Matthew 7:1-6, is Jesus’ outrageous judgment that He makes in verse six, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Is it just me or do you not find it strange that Jesus would seemingly prohibit judgment on the one hand and then in the same breath call people dogs and swine? Is our Lord a hypocrite or contradicting the Word of God? Is he telling us to do one thing and then proceed to do the complete opposite? Is he leading by example or is he like most parents today who demand of their children “do as I say and not as I do?” Inevitably, however, children will end up doing what their parents did, regardless of what they said. The only difference is, what the parents do in moderation, the children usually take to the extreme.
Quite possibly, Jesus’ meaning of judgment differs greatly from our concepts of judgment. I mean our loving, compassionate Savior declared seemingly outlandish judgments against people. He called a Gentile women seeking healing for her daughter a dog. Could you imagine a preacher saying that today? He called the Pharisees, the religious leaders of His day, whited sepulchres and snakes. He even called a political figure, Herod, a fox.
What if Jesus was alive today, making these same kinds of judgments against people? What do you think would happen to Him? We would probably hear of the church rebuking Him saying, “Jesus, you need to stop this at once and become more Christ like!” After that, corporate America would enroll Him into a sensitivity training program. If that failed, our government would step in to subject Him to tolerance training. If that failed to remove His “judgmental spirit,” I guess we would be forced to do exactly what those who went before us did and CRUCIFY HIM!!!
Despite the assault against judgment in our day, it is a part of our responsibility as thinking individuals. The ones who seek to forbid it are not being intellectually honest. They make judgments every day and most of them are not informed by the Scriptures and are in violation of their own consciences, and yet, they cry for tolerance. Little do they realize, however, it is they themselves that have become the most intolerant of all.
When their ideas, premises, and propositions are scrutinized, they deflect the light of truth by shouts of “judge not, lest ye be judged.” Besides this wretched condition, without the ability to exercise sound judgment, how would the church discern against false teaching, false prophets, and false brethren?
Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15, 16a).” If Jesus’ intent was to forbid judgment of any kind, how could we discern between what is true and what is false? The notion is preposterous and yet many in the church have bought into this reasoning hook, line, and sinker.
Finally, one just has to look to the field of medicine to summarize this teaching. What would happen to the human body if the healthy cells didn’t detect, judge, and discriminate against the cancerous cells that were intent on killing the body? What would happen to that body? This is an apt picture of a nation that is dying because it doesn’t want to appear judgmental against that which is destroying it.
Our national body has become afflicted with spiritual and moral cancers, and has infected the church of Jesus Christ in America with spiritual AIDS. God’s people are supposed to be the salt to the earth and the light to the world. We are to provide the moral immune system that resists abominations and overcomes evil to avoid God’s wrath that destroys nations. Yes, intolerance, righteous judgment, and holy discrimination are beautiful when tempered by the love of God. It can help revive a nation that is dying in Jesus’ name!
IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,
Pastor Rusty Thomas, American Reformation Church
