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 ye be not judged; -
Why, moreover, beholdest thou the mote, in the eye of thy brother, - while, the beam in thine own eye, thou dost not consider?
But, he, turning, said to Peter - Withdraw behind me, Satan! A snare, art thou of mine, because thou art not regarding the things of God, but the things of men.
And, Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said unto him - One thing, unto thee, is wanting; - Withdraw! whatsoever thou hast, sell, and give unto thedestitute, - and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come! be following me.
And he said unto them - Go and tell this fox, Lo! I am casting out demons, and, cures, am I finishing, to-day, and to-morrow, -
Jesus saw Nathanael coming unto him, and saith concerning him - See! Truly, an Israelite, in whom is no guile.
Jesus answered them - Did not, I, make choice, of you, the twelve? And yet, from among you, one, is, an adversary.
Be not judging according to appearance, but, just judgment, be judging,
Ye, according to the flesh, do judge: I, am judging no one.
Wherefore, inexcusable, thou art, O man, whoever judgest; for, wherein thou judgest some one else, thyself, thou dost condemn, - for, the very things, thou dost practise, who art judging:
For, whensoever the nations which have not law, by nature, the things of the law, may be doing, the same, not having law, unto themselves, are a law, -
But, thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? Aye! and thou, why dost thou despise thy brother? For, all of us, shall present ourselves unto the judgment seat of God;
But, thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? Aye! and thou, why dost thou despise thy brother? For, all of us, shall present ourselves unto the judgment seat of God;
No longer, then, upon one another, let us be sitting in judgment, but, this, judge ye rather - not to be putting a cause of stumbling before your brother or an occasion to fall.
But, the man of the spirit, on the one hand, examineth all things, but, on the other, he himself, by no one, is examined.
But, the man of the spirit, on the one hand, examineth all things, but, on the other, he himself, by no one, is examined.
So then, not before the fitting time, be judging anything, - until the Lord shall come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and, then, the praise shall come to each one, from God.
But, conscience, I mean, not thine own, but the other's, - for why is my freedom to be judged by another's conscience?
But have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, - but, by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves unto every conscience of men, in the sight of God.
To the end ye may be putting to the test the things that differ, in order that ye may be incorrupt and may give no occasion of stumbling, unto the day of Christ,
But, all things, put to the proof - what is comely, hold ye fast:
If ye are, indeed, fulfilling, a royal law, according to the scripture - Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, nobly, are ye doing;
Be not speaking one against another, brethren! He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against law, and judgeth law; Now, if, upon law, thou art passing judgment, thou art not a doer of law, but a judge!
Be not speaking one against another, brethren! He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against law, and judgeth law; Now, if, upon law, thou art passing judgment, thou art not a doer of law, but a judge!