Reference: Judging
Hastings
The subject of ethical judging meets us frequently in the NT. 1. It is the right and duty of a moral being to judge of the goodness or badness of actions and qualities; and Christianity, by exalting the moral standard and quickening the conscience, makes ethical judgments more obligatory than before. In cases where our judgments are impersonal there is no difficulty as to the exercise of this right. As possessed of a conscience, a man is called upon to view the world in the discriminating light of the moral law (Ro 2:14 ff., 2Co 4:2). As possessed of a Christian conscience, a Christian man must test everything by the law of Christ (Php 1:10 Revised Version margin, 1Th 5:21). 'He that is spiritual judgeth all things' (1Co 2:15).
2. So far all is clear. But when we pass to the sphere of judgments regarding persons, the case is not so simple. It might seem at first almost as if in the NT all judgment of persons were forbidden. There is our Lord's emphatic 'Judge not' (Mt 7:1). There is St. Paul's demand, 'Why dost thou judge thy brother?' (Ro 14:10), his injunction, 'Let us not therefore judge one another' (Ro 14:13), his bold claim that he that is spiritual is judged of no man (1Co 2:15). There is the assertion of St. James that the man who judges his brother is making himself a judge of the law (Jas 4:11), i.e. the royal law of love (cf. Jas 2:8). But it is impossible to judge of actions and qualities without passing on to judge the persons who perform them or in whom they inhere. If an action is sinful, the person who commits it is sinful; indeed, the moral quality of an action springs from its association with a moral personality. In condemning anything as wrong, we necessarily condemn the person who has been guilty of it. And when we look more closely at the teaching of the NT, we find that it is not judgment of others that is forbidden, but unfair judgment
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Judge not, that you be not judged.
And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who would enter to go in.
Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.'
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"
Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."
You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge another; for in whatever point you pass judgment on him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.
When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
Why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another anymore, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in our brother's way.
But the spiritual man judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
But the spiritual man judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts. Then every man will receive his praise from God.
the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience?
But we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ;
But test everything; hold fast to what is good.
If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well.
Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.