Do Not Judge

The Danger of Being Judgmental of Other Christians.

Being judgmental of other Christians is one of the biggest problems we face as Christians. We quickly judge others based on the sins they are committing. We seem to reserve our most severe judgment for those whom we disagree with about what they are believing or teaching in regards to the Bible. Unbelievers God has already judged so it is not our duty to be judgmental of them. See 1 Cor. 5: 12. We are to present them with the Gospel and let the Holy Spirit do the work.

Since God accounts righteousness (being recognized as without sin) by faith and faith alone should not we give Christians the same courtesy even when we see their failures?

Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Eph. 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Jesus said the greatest commandments, (God’s goals for human performance, not being judged under law currently…see Rom. 3:28, 4:8, 4:15) are to love Him first and then love others as ourselves. See Matt. 22:37-39.

Paul confirms this with the following verse…
"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM NOTHING." I Cor. 13:2.

There are many verses of warning against being judgmental.
In Mathew 7:1-5 Jesus said to “Judge not, lest you be judged.”
See also Romans 2:1-4.
These verses show us that when we judge harshly we fall into danger of placing judgment upon ourselves. This judgment does not come from God (since there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus) but come from others bouncing it back at us. It can also bring conviction from our own hearts robbing us of our peace with God.

When we adversely judge others we are actually cursing them since we are placing them under our “law”. Read Galatians 3:10-13. If you are judging them harshly then you may be guilty of robbing them from operating under God’s grace. See Gal. 5:4.

Do we then ignore sin and just pat these overt “Christian” sinners on the back and say “Go ahead and sin because your not under law anymore?” Of course not. Teach and correct them humbly and gently on how to be led by the Spirit and not by the lust of the flush. Do not beat them over the head with law! Any law! 2 Tim. 2-24-26. Gal. 5:16.

If this does not work, we are to remove ourselves from them or else we and the people who fellowship with us become deceived into wrong doing. 1 Cor. 5:6-13. Use NLT for the best translation. We must take a stand on “Christians” who are doing much evil for many reasons. I am not judging if they are saved or not, I am judging the consequences of their sin and what should be done about it. Consideration should be made on a case by case basis. Some people are really doing the best they can and it is God who does the process of sanctification and not us. Others are sinning without any concern about trying to do better. They may still need to be “saved”.

Now I would like to briefly address the problem of judging based on the Bible views held by people. We have three categories in which teachings can fall into.

Dogma. Cannot be disputed. The Bible is absolutely clear on these views and to be a “Christian” you must agree.

Doctrine. The Bible seems to be clear on these views and there is usually agreement but disagreements should not and do not disqualify you from being “saved”.

Opinions. These are views in which the Bible is not clear at all on. We should be able to disagree and feel “comfortable” that it is OK to disagree.

My view is as long as we agree on Dogma, (not going into detail here on what I think is dogma but we could start with John 14:6, 1 Cor. 2:2, Eph. 2:8,9) we should be considered brothers, do everything possible to get along and not get upset at each other even if we do disagree on doctrine or opinions. I know that one man’s opinion may be another man’s doctrine but we need to remain civil and be willing to listen to the other person’s point of view, no matter how right YOU think You are. This is where we need to take special care NOT to be judgmental. I’ve been proven wrong many times and I am thankful that God has given me the patience to hear other people out. Study the word together, be patient and God will reveal the truth by his Word. See 1 Cor. 1:10-15.