March 1, 2002, Vol.2, No.5.
Two new articles every two weeks.
Bible Question? E-mail
us.
THIS ISSUE: "Judge
Not, That Ye Be Not Judged" (see below)
and "Can We Understand
the Bible Alike?"
ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS:
Judge Not, That Ye
Be Not Judged
by Tom Rainwater
 QUESTION:
When Jesus says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged,"
is He saying that we should never judge the sins of other people?
ANSWER: No. The context
of Matthew 7:1-5 actually reminds us of our duty to correct
an erring brother of his sin, helping him get the "mote"
(or "speck") out of his "eye." However, we
have no right to judge others hypocritically -- and
that's what Jesus is condemning. If we are guilty of a host
of sins and haven't repented of them (represented by the "beam"
in our eye), what right do we have to reprimand others for their
sins? Also, how foolish is it to rebuke a brother for a sin which
we also are committing? Jesus points out a weakness many people
have: that they are eager to discover and expose the sins of
others while, at the same time, refusing to look closely or objectively
at themselves.
First, Jesus commands us to "cast the beam out of thine
own eye" (verse 5) -- that is, we must repent and take care
of our own sin problem first. Then and only then are we
in a position to "see clearly" to help our brother
with his sin, which is something that we must do.
Many have lifted Matthew 7:1 out of its context to say that
"we have no right to make any moral judgments about anyone."
Not only is that idea contrary to the context, it is also contrary
to the entire theme of the Gospel (preaching the good news about
Jesus to lost people to save them from their sins). How
can you teach a sinner without first determining or judging that
he is a sinner?
Besides, everyone makes moral judgments about other people
and their actions -- it is impossible not to do so. Think about
this example: Everyone in the world made some kind of moral judgment
about Osama bin Laden after September 11, 2001. Even the person
who shouts, "You're judging me! That's wrong!" is making
a judgment about the person who approached them.
If it's wrong to judge people morally, then Jesus sinned because
He pointed out the specific sins of the scribes and Pharisees
(Matthew 23:13-36) as well as others.
Think of all the Bible examples of people who, by the will
of God, preached against the sins of others: John the Baptizer
confronted Herod about his adultery (Matthew 14:3-4); Peter corrected
a newly converted Simon for his lapse into sin (Acts 8:18-24);
Paul rebuked Peter at one point for his hypocrisy (Galatians
2:11-13). We could list many more examples from both testaments.
Let's remember our duty to help rescue others from the sin
that condemns them (James 5:20). But first, have we "cast
the beam out of our own eye"?
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