“‘Do not judge so that you will not be judged’” ( Matthew 7:1 Chapter 7 1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. ).

Believers are not to make unrighteous and unmerciful judgment on others because it manifests a wrong view of God. With the phrase “so that you will not be judged,” Jesus reminds the scribes and Pharisees that they are not the final court. To judge another person’s motives or to stand in the place of condemnation is to play God. “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son” ( John 5:22 22 For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son; ). During the millennial kingdom Christ will share some of that judgment with us (Matt. 19:28), but until that time we blaspheme God whenever we take the role of judge on ourselves.

“Who are you to judge the servant of another?” asks Paul. “To his own master he stands or falls” (Rom. 14:4). Paul was little concerned about how other people judged him, nor was he concerned about how he judged himself. “I am conscious of nothing against myself,” he says, “yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:4).

Except as they may be continually teaching false doctrine or following standards that are clearly unscriptural, we are never to judge a person’s ministry, teaching, or life—and certainly not his motives—by some self-styled standard.

Whenever we assign people to condemnation without mercy, we pass judgment that only God is qualified to make. Our Lord does not call for men to cease to be examining and discerning, but to renounce the presumptuous temptation to try to be God.

Ask Yourself

Why is the desire to judge and size up such an alluring appetite of ours? What does our tendency to enjoy it tell us about ourselves? What would need to occur inside before we saw an increased resistance to practice it?

From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.

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