Judge Not . . . ?

  To what extent are we to judge? Are we permitted to judge at all? If so, in what context are we to judge?
Today's post will attempt to answer these questions biblically.
  People often quote Matthew 7:1 (Judge Not, lest Ye be Judged), and from that basis argue that all judging is non-biblical,and that we should leave such things to God alone. Indeed, judging is something people often do purely for selfish reasons. It is cruel, and unloving, and just not the 'Christian' thing to do.
   Or . . . is it?
 Firstly, an honest reading of the first portion of Matthew 7 is in order, so we can see what Jesus is actually talking about here.
   "Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4.  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? 5. 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." (Matthew 7:1-5)
   Whilst we see the famous words "Judge not" in verse 1, if we actually take the time to read the following verses, we see that Jesus is not talking about just any kind of judging, but he is talking about hypocritical judging. Jesus assures us in verse 2, that the standards we hold others to, those same standards shall be held to us.  Paul echoes this thought in Romans 2.
  "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. 2. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 3. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" (Romans 2:1-3)
   Later in the same passage, Paul defines this more clearly:
 "21. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 22. Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? 23. Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?" (Romans 2:21-23)
  My point in quoting the above scripture is this:  We cannot judge others of things that we ourselves are guilty of, for such is hypocrisy.  God hates hypocrisy, and those who fail to live to their own standards whilst adamantly demanding others to live by those standards will be judged. Such is the point of Matthew 7:2, as well as several other passages of Scripture (Such as the whole of Matthew 23).
   Let us now look at verses 3 - 5 of Matthew 7.  Did you notice that we are actually commanded to judge?
Let us read it 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? 4.  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? 5. 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."
  We are (in certain situations) commanded to judge. In this case, the prerequisite is that we are completely innocent of the offence for which we are reproving someone else of.
   The question, really, is not whether we are permitted to judge.  The Bible makes it quite clear that we are (1 Cor. 5:12, John 7:24, 1 Thess. 5:21, Gal. 6:1). But what are we supposed to judge? Does not God judge?  Why then must we judge?
   There are two types of Judging which are commanded to do (More on the second type in just a moment). We are to judge those believers who fall into sin.  We are lovingly restore such a person to fellowship with God and union with the believers.
This is evident from the following scriptures:
  1 Timothy 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
 Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Jude v. 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
 James 5:19-20 "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."
 This kind of judging is obviously supposed to be done in a spirit of love. We judge a sinning believer because we love him and want him to repent.  We are supposed to do it carefully, lest we become caught up in the very same sin from which we are trying to save him.
  Sadly, such judging can get pretty nasty. A very unrepentant and immoral person in the Corinthian Church caused Paul to tell the Church to put away from themselves that wicked person. However, even in such extreme cases, we are to demonstrate love to such a person, and accept them back when they repent. The point of banishing the person in the first place is to bring him to repentance. I recommend that you read 1 Corinthians 5.
  The second type of Judging we are commanded to do is judging doctrine. 1 John 4:1-3 says this. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."
  Here, John is instructing those under his wing to test that which they hear. It is interesting to note that what he wrote here was in direct opposition to the Gnostic heresy, which gained momentum towards the end of the first century, peaking in the second century after the apostles' death. They taught exactly what John was branding as 'antichrist', namely, that Jesus Christ, as the eternal Son of God, did not come in the flesh, but rather was a man, who had the divine 'christ' enter into him upon his baptism, to leave him at his crucifixion. It was a destructive heresy which was worming its way into a lot of churches. John wanted his people to know that such teaching was heretical and of the devil, and they should be exercising discernment in everything they do, that such false teaching would not deceive and beguile them.
  Likewise, we need to be aware today, for false prophets abound, and are everywhere.  Heresies have spread in every way, shape and form. False teaching abounds wherever we look. We, as Christians, must judge what we hear. We cannot, for a moment, afford to be naive.
  How do we know which teaching is of God, and which is of the devil?
 As John said above, every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (And hence is God incarnate) is of God. Every spirit which denies this is literally the spirit of the antichrist (satan).
  Furthermore, is the teaching you are hearing consistent with what you read in the Bible?  Is the teacher even using scripture?  It is imperative that we know that the Bible says. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." (Psa. 119:11) If God's Word is not hid in our heart, we are much more likely to be deceived, and fall into error.
   When hearing sermons, or reading books, we should be prayerful about what we hear.  We have been given the Spirit of Christ, and He helps us discern whether what we hear is error.  Jesus promised that He, the Spirit, would lead us into all truth (John 16:13).
  Having the Word and the Spirit to help us discern error, we have no excuse for being led astray. We have no excuse for being naive. God has given us what we need to judge between truth in error. Let us therefore not attach ourselves to false teachings, even if they seem to be of the smallest sort. Remember, if 95% of what you believe is correct, God still disagrees with you 5%.  (With due apologies to my friend Elijah for plagiarizing his statement. I'm sure he'll understand ;)
   Finally, we are admonished to Put on the full armor of God. In doing so, we are able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  I shall close with Ephesians 6:10 -18.
   "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints"

  God bless you all :)
 
FOOTNOTE: And for those 'zealots' like me who like to go around poking at what they consider 'bad; theology, please do not take this lesson as incentive to attack your straw theology with renewed motivation.  I am talking about the defence of doctrine fundamental to the faith, not peripheral doctrines which everyone seems to have their own interpretation of.

ANOTHER FOOTNOTE:  I really welcome feedback from my readers!  If you have anything to say, (well, anything worth saying) please do go ahead and say it.  If you have any questions, concerns, or corrections, you can either reply in the comments or email me at ezekielthiessen7@gmail.com.  If you really liked this post, or if you really like my blog in general, go ahead and spread it abroad, using any medium you deem fit.