God wants us to be forgiving when others wrong us.

Part 1

In our verse, there are three important ideas.  “Judge not,” “condemn not,” and “forgive.”  Over the next three days, we will look at each of these essential thoughts from Jesus.

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged:”
Do not Judge – Being judgmental is prohibited for believers.  This phrase is almost an exact quote from Matthew 7:1.  Jesus is teaching His followers to be careful with being judgmental toward people.  This kind of judgment is harsh, unfair, it is a judgment that is unjust and severe.  The Bible teaches us that when we are involved in this kind of judgment of others, it comes back on us.

“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things,” (Romans 2:1).

What “judge not, and ye shall not be judged” is NOT teaching!
1.  It is not saying that we don’t need judicial judges ruling in the justice system of a country.  We desperately need wise, godly judges in the courts of our lands.  These judges are “lawful and necessary.”

2.  Jesus is not teaching us not to have any opinions.  That is not possible for us human beings.  It isn’t saying that we shouldn’t form opinions about people, because Jesus, in Matthew 7 tells us not to “cast our pearls before swine,” and not to “give that which is holy to dogs,” and we must be “fruit inspectors.”  How can we know who the swine, or dogs are, or if the fruit of a person’s life is good or bad without forming opinions or being “discerning” believers?  In fact, to please the Lord, we need to be discerning.  1 Corinthians 2:15 says, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.”

Jesus was teaching this.

“But what he refers to is a habit of forming a judgment hastily, harshly, and without an allowance for every palliating circumstance, and a habit of ‘expressing’ such an opinion harshly and unnecessarily when formed.” Barnes

Don’t be Judgmental!

Come back tomorrow to learn what Jesus meant when He taught, “Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.”

1.  Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.