As humans we are by our nature inclined to make decisions, express opinions and pass judgments, all in a bid to align our thoughts with the reality we face in order to place our selves in a position of advantage.
While this may be a necessary way of life, if it’s done with truth and empathy as guiding principles, nevertheless experience has proved that due to mankind’s imperfection they seldom follow those principles; they’re mostly biased, choosing self above others in the matter of justice, even where the scales tilt against them. It is with this inherent weakness in view that God counsels us to relinquish our rights to judge others to Him so that we do not bring our selves under condemnation.
Matthew 7:1-2 gives a solemn charge to this effect when it says: “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”.
There is, however, a limited exception to the charge above as we shall consider in the following sub -topics below.
Judging Others As An Appointed Duty
Exodus 18:13-26; Deuteronomy 16:12-20; Judges 2:8-18; 2 Chronicles 19:4-7; Ezra 7:25-26; 1 Corinthians 6:1-5; Luke 22:28-30
The word Judge can be defined in two ways, namely;
- In its noun form, it means a public officer appointed to decide disputes in a law Court. In ancient Israel it means a leader having power and authority to lead.
- In its verb form, it means to form an opinion or conclusion about a person or a thing.
We are, however going to focus on the noun definition of the word, Judge , in the first of three sub-topics in this series.
God’s commandment to “Judge not” does not apply to persons appointed by a lawfully constituted government authority to administer justice to the people governed under that authority, provided their judicial activities are carried out within the scope of that constituted authority by which that people have pledged allegiance to be governed. This is so in this case because that appointed person judges the people not by his personal opinion, but by using legislation generally accepted by the people and thus he is free of the charge to “Judge not” as commanded in God’s word.
In secular a country this legislation by which citizens are governed is called the constitution, but in the Biblical era the people were governed by the laws of God. Let us consider some instances below:
1. Exodus 18:13-26; Ezra 7:25-26.
“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, Judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.” Exodus 18:21-22.
In the scripture above, Moses was counseled by his father in-law, Jethro, to teach the people of Israel God’s ordinances and laws, and to instruct them how they might walk in those statutes. Further more he was to appoint Judges who would hold the people accountable for any breach of those laws and ordinances.
2. Deuteronomy 16:18-20; 2 Chronicles 19:4-7.
Here in Deuteronomy, the scope of a judge’s duty is spelt out for him to follow; any wilful departure from this, and a resort to personal opinion, would bring him under God’s wrath.
“Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons; neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.” Deuteronomy 16:19.
3. Judges 2:8-18
The Bible book of Judges chronicles the accounts and lives of several Judges who judged Israel before their first King was enthroned.
“Nevertheless the LORD raised up Judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them… and when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the Judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the Judge…” Judges 2:16-18
4. 1 Corinthians 6:1-5, Luke 22:28-30
In this church age, however, we are taught that in the future Kingdom of God, through Jesus Christ, we shall be Judges, too. Whereas God remains the eternal Judge over His everlasting Kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:28), here on earth during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ the resurrected and glorified Christians will rule and reign with Jesus for a thousand years. See Revelation 20:1-6. At that time the Lord Jesus Christ will bestow on those who would be found worthy the authority to bear rule upon the peoples of the earth who survived the great tribulation and witnessed His second coming.
This authority to rule over the nations is what is termed as “Judging the world” in scripture.
“Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? … Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more the things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 6:2-3.
We would also “judge” angels in the sense that as heirs of salvation and as joint heirs with Jesus Christ over the riches and inheritance of God’s Kingdom, the angels of God shall wait on (Minister to) us Hebrews 1:13,14
“Are they not all ministering Spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”
Hebrews 1:14
In conclusion, therefore, we must hold that a person under an appointment to act as a Judge, whether by religious or secular powers, provided the enabling laws are right before God, and that the duty is carried out strictly under the scope of that law, shall not be guilty of having expressed a prejudicial opinion in judging others, which is what God’s word prohibited when the Lord commanded to “Judge not”.
Judgmental Personal Opinion And Its Dangers.
Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6:37; James 2:12-13; 4:11-12; Romans 14:1-13.
There is a good reason why God forbids us to sit in judgment or to condemn any other person, and that reason is simply because mortal man is imperfect and therefore, unfit to condemn or judge any form of imperfection in others, except where (as we saw in the last sub-topic) he is authorized to do so either by God’s Word or the civil authority sanctioned by God. See Romans 13:1-7.
Romans 13:1-2: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation”.
We can see an example of this in the account of the woman accused of Committing adultery (John 8:1-11) The mob had sought the maximum penalty of death by stoning against her, but Jesus had answered them in this way:
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. John 8:7.
The following scriptural reasoning below will help us to know more about why it is dangerous to judge or to condemn anyone based on a personal human opinion.
- Mankind is plague with imperfection and, therefore, cannot judge the imperfect conduct of others without coming under self-condemnation. Romans 2:1-6.
“…for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things”. Romans 2:1. - Even where our lives are blameless before God, we would still be unfit to express a personal opinion in condemning any one because we did not come to be free of sin by our power, but through God’s grace and mercy therefore, we must also desire for others to obtain such mercy from God, instead of condemning them for their misconducts.
“or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Romans 2:4
- Another reason why it is dangerous for us to judge others is because our personal opinions for such judgment would be based on the limited knowledge available to us through physical observation: only God sees the motives in a person’s heart. 1 Samuel 16:7.
Having considered some reasons why God forbids us to sit in judgment over other people’s short-comings, we would now set forth to consider the dangers that we expose ourselves to when we do that.
- We risk bringing ourselves under God’s swift judgment when we judge other people’s faults.
“Judge not and ye shall not be judged: condemn not and ye shall not be condemned” Luke 6:37; Romans 14:10-12. - We risk being denied God’s mercy any further if we become habitually judgmental towards others. James 2:12-13.
“For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shown no mercy and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” James 2:13. - When we wickedly begin to dig into the past lives of people so as to bring accusation against them, we would also risk having our own sinful past searched out and exposed by God.
“They searched out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow: suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away” God As The Ultimate Judge And His Word As The Basis For All Judgments .
Psalms 50:1-6
From the previous sub-topics of this study, we have made out a case of innocence for appointed judges, provided that in sitting in judgment over other men’s faults they do so strictly based on the laws which enables them to so act. We also fault any judgment based on a personal opinion as wrong and offensive to God’s commandment on the grounds that no man is perfect enough to assume that role on personal merits.
In this final sub-topic, we are going to be looking at God as the ultimate Judge and His Word as basis for judgments. We shall further divide this last point into three namely:
- God’s Holiness as Basis for determining what is right. 1 Samuel 2:2-3; Psalms 45:6-7. Our understanding of what is right and what is wrong comes entirely from our knowledge of God’s holy nature; because He is absolutely holy, we know that whatsoever does not conform to His holiness is not right and must therefore be judged if not repented of. See 1 John 1:5-6 Psalms 36:9.
“… God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all…” 1 John 1:5.
Therefore to not conform to God’s nature of holiness is what makes anyone susceptible to judgment.
Mankind, however, do not have God’s kind of inherent holiness and, therefore, cannot judge the failures and sins of others without they themselves coming under the same condemnation.
“for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things”. Romans 2:1
- God’s Sovereignty As Basis for His Power to Judge or Show Mercy. Psalms 62:11-12.
God is sovereign: He is the highest and final authority; all other authorities are delegated by Him. Because of this sovereignty, God has the power to judge or show mercy on any one solely by His own discretion alone.
“God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God” Psalms 62:11.
No man possesses the power to forgive or to punish another’s sin, which they have committed against God or man except where God delegates such power.
At His trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus Christ plainly told the Roman governor:
“Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above…” John 19:11.
- God’s word as Basis for All Judgments Here on the Earth and in Heaven. John 12:46-50; Romans 2:11-16; 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
All rules and regulations for the administration of Justice must conform to the truth of God’s holy word or else they would be condemnable before Him.
When we use God’s word as the basis for judgment, then it is no longer our opinion or judgment, but God’s own, as revealed in His Holy word. This is what a delegated authority is all about. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16.
“But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man” 1 Corinthians 2:15.
As long as we judge or condemn sin and all unrighteousness solely on the basis of God’s revealed word alone (our Personal opinion not playing any active role in this) we are using a delegated authority similar to the one seen in 2 Timothy 4:2-5 and Isaiah 54:17.
“… reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” 2 Timothy 4:2
“… every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the Servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD” Isaiah 54:17.