“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Matt. 7:1-5)

We all know that we aren’t supposed to judge, but we aren’t all clear on what that means. Does “not judging” mean that we fail to call wrong, wrong? Does “not judging” mean that we forgo speaking the truth in love?

What is judgment?
What isn’t judgment?

We need some help.

Let’s start with what judgment is not.

First, judgment is NOT failing to exercise discernment.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 we are told: But test everything; hold fast what is good. (New American Standard Bible, 1995, 1 Thess. 5:21)

If someone says “You should not judge” as an equivalent to failing to discern right from wrong, that is an unbiblical definition of “judge.”

Second, the judgment that we are called NOT to do is NOT failing to administer discipline.

You have become arrogant . . . I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. - (New American Standard Bible, 1995, 1 Cor. 5:2-5)

What the Corinthians were calling “acceptance,” God actually called arrogance!

Imagine believers being proud that “we don’t judge” today, and God judging them for it. That is what we’re reading about here!

Why would God call arrogant what we tend to call love today? Because we have accepted (and in some instances created) redefinitions of biblical judgment and love.

Judgment is not failing to administer discipline.

Third, when God says, “Do not judge,” He is not calling us to fail to make a determination of justice.

1 Corinthians 6:1-3: Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? (New American Standard Bible, 1995, 1 Cor. 6:1-3)

In this passage, Paul says, “Seriously, is there no one who can listen to a matter and rule rightly and justly? You are just going to outsource that to another?”

When God says “Do not judge,” He is not calling us to an abdication or abandonment of justice.

Last, when God says, “Do not judge,” He certainly does not mean that we should not declare His Truth.

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
-(New American Standard Bible, 1995, 2 Tim. 4:2-4)

How can you preach, reprove, rebuke, exhort, correct if you don’t speak the truth? You can’t.

How can there be such a thing as sound doctrine versus ear tickling if there is no ability to distinguish the two? There can’t.

Again, Jesus prohibition against judgment is not an endorsement of “anything goes.”

Isaiah 5:20: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil . . . (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Isa. 5:20)

So, in summary, when we are commanded, “Do not judge,” we are not being told to do any of the following:

fail to exercise discernment
fail to administer discipline
fail to make a determination of justice
fail to declare God’s truth

So understanding that, what then is the judgment that we are commanded NOT to do?

Here is what the prohibited judgment actually is: an assessment that goes beyond God’s Word, one that is simultaneously self-elevating and other-degrading.

God is the judge, and God’s Word is His judgment.

If we stay under it and evaluate according to it, we are judging rightly.

If we change His standard or judge according to the standard of “I,” we now are judging wrongly.

A simple way to remember this is to imagine taking the Bible and putting it beneath you or taking a person and putting them beneath you.

In both of those instances, you are becoming the standard and authority; in both of those instances, you are “judging” in the way God commands us not to do in His Word.

Whenever you read in the Bible, “Do not judge,” translate it as “Do not become the judge,” and you’ll get what God is saying.

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. ”

— (New American Standard Bible, 1995, John 7:24)

So, don’t judge based on appearance, based on what your eyes see; but judge with righteous judgment.

And what is righteous judgment?

It’s what God approves.

It’s conformity to God’s standard.

Which is what?

His Word.

His law.

His scriptures.

We’re not the legislative branch of the Kingdom of God.

Only God is the lawgiver and judge. Not we. HE.

So, how do we judge rightly?

Well, what does a good judge do? Do they just go with what they feel? Do they just decide based on their own moral view of the world what is right and wrong?

No, a good judge upholds the law, allows the law to be the judge, and faithfully administers the justice of the law.

That is what we’re supposed to do.

Some will say that by speaking the truth you are judging, because it challenges, corrects and rebukes. But, if you speak the truth of God’s Word in love, even if the other person does not feel loved by hearing that truth, that does not mean you are judging.

It is what a person does with God’s truth that results in judgment; meaning, whether that person believes or disbelieves, repents or not, it is their response is what brings about judgment.

In summary, if you stay under God’s Word, evaluate what you encounter based on God’s standard, and say what God’s Word says, you are not “judging,” and you are not doing wrong, but right.

Don’t Judge…But What Does That Mean?