Topical Series - With what judgment you judge, you will be judged back to you, says Jesus in Matthew 7:2. This is a classic illustration of what happens when we take a verse out of context, and separate it from its intended meaning. Anyone who believes that believers can never judge another person's sin is seeking permission to sin. Matthew 7:1
When Jesus said, "Do not judge," he clearly did not mean to ban all forms of accountability. He was not pleading with us to turn a blind eye to sin in Christ's body. His sermon was about true righteousness, which cannot be achieved by adhering to man-made standards such as the Mishnah of the Pharisees. The Mishnah regulated all facets of Jewish life, ostensibly to ensure that Israel adhered to God's Law. All of these are, by definition, "judgments".
By our faith alone, all believers have been credited with Christ's righteousness. The temptation is to pass judgment on one another's righteousness under the guise of God's judgment. On my best days, my walk may come close to resembling true righteousness. And on my worst days, you may doubt my salvation, not at all. Jesus said, "Do not judge one another in this manner," according to 2 Peter 2:2.
The Lord has already given His Spirit to every believer, as well as all of God's Word, to bring them to righteousness. How much leverage do you have with your scorn or guilt trip to compel obedience from other believers? How much assistance do your judgments and advice provide?
When we pass judgment on others, we obstruct our own path of righteousness. When we do so, we become hypocrites similar to the Pharisees, forgetting that we are all in need of God's grace to be justified. The last thing any struggling Christian needs is to be burdened with additional rules, particularly those that are superfluous. Judging others feeds our arrogance and promotes self-righteousness, as well as hypocrisy. On a good day, none of us will achieve Christ's perfection in our walk, but we will come close.
No believer in this congregation is more acceptable to God than another. Judging others in these ways does not constitute judgment of their righteousness or their worth before God. Do you hold other believers to a standard of perfection? You'd be wise to be prepared to be flawless. That is how God views us when we pass judgment
on another's weakness. We would be governed by unholy, ungodly individuals who would portray themselves as God's gatekeepers. This is a direct contradiction to everything that Christ has taught in this sermon. While we are commanded to hold one another accountable for sin, this does not imply that we're commanded to judge one another's righteousness. However, not by examining another person's
righteousness.
Again, the point is that we all have
flaws, and we all require assistance in order to obey, which is the
role of the Body of Christ. Additionally, there is a
biblical model for assisting one another in surviving a greater number of
obedient, righteous lives.
