Matt. 7:1

1 Judge not, that you may not be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why do you look on the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull the splinter out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to cast the splinter out of your brother's eye. 6 Do not give that which is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and tear you. (MKJV)

Matthew 7:1 is, possibly, the most misused scripture in all sixty-six books of the Bible and sadly, this is not a case limited to new converts that can be stamped out with a little teaching. I have run, face first, into this scripture ever since my first year of salvation, back in 1990. I have grown past my second decade as a Christian and as a Christian Teacher and I'm closing in on my seventh decade and Grumpy old man status. I have had this scripture used to shut my mouth by both lost and by men claiming the name of Christ.

I am forever reminded, as I study of what is perhaps the most important rule of Hermeneutics, “No scripture can ever be understood without the light of all other scripture shinning on it.” I am sometimes considered ignorant because I teach the heart felt understanding that the Bible is of one context from. “In the beginning...” all the way through the very last “Amen” of The Revelation, the twenty-second chapter. It is from this position that I seek to understand the scriptures.

There is a large and for me, hard to ignore clue to what Jesus is teaching us in the first verse here and it is found in the context of the entire first paragraph of this seventh chapter of Matthew. In verse two is a very strong hint, Jesus explains to the crowd here that we “are,” indeed to judge but to do so in the same manor that we wish measured out to us at the Judgment seat of the Christ. When we read the book of Proverbs we learn that wisdom is found there and a good example is Pro. 3:21-26. And then there is the American proverb, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.” And then my words, “If you fail to judge the end of the road, you will wreck.”

The long and the short of the matter is this, without judgment, you life is and wilkl be a wreck looking t happen.”
 
1 Judge not, that you may not be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why do you look on the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull the splinter out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to cast the splinter out of your brother's eye. 6 Do not give that which is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and tear you. (MKJV)

Matthew 7:1 is, possibly, the most misused scripture in all sixty-six books of the Bible and sadly, this is not a case limited to new converts that can be stamped out with a little teaching. I have run, face first, into this scripture ever since my first year of salvation, back in 1990. I have grown past my second decade as a Christian and as a Christian Teacher and I'm closing in on my seventh decade and Grumpy old man status. I have had this scripture used to shut my mouth by both lost and by men claiming the name of Christ.

I am forever reminded, as I study of what is perhaps the most important rule of Hermeneutics, “No scripture can ever be understood without the light of all other scripture shinning on it.” I am sometimes considered ignorant because I teach the heart felt understanding that the Bible is of one context from. “In the beginning...” all the way through the very last “Amen” of The Revelation, the twenty-second chapter. It is from this position that I seek to understand the scriptures.

There is a large and for me, hard to ignore clue to what Jesus is teaching us in the first verse here and it is found in the context of the entire first paragraph of this seventh chapter of Matthew. In verse two is a very strong hint, Jesus explains to the crowd here that we “are,” indeed to judge but to do so in the same manor that we wish measured out to us at the Judgment seat of the Christ. When we read the book of Proverbs we learn that wisdom is found there and a good example is Pro. 3:21-26. And then there is the American proverb, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.” And then my words, “If you fail to judge the end of the road, you will wreck.”

The long and the short of the matter is this, without judgment, you life is and wilkl be a wreck looking t happen.”

Bill........I agree with you completely!

To JUDGE means to "decide, to distinguish, to condemn to avenge" and it can mean "to damn".

This verse DOES NOT mean that a child of God is forbidden to judge others. It does mean however that we are not to judge the inward motives of others in the sense of condemning them. We do not know or can we understand why a brother in Christ does a certain thing. We only see the OUTWARD actions of that person.

God does not forbid our judging wrong and evil actons. The point is that if you are "harsh" in your judgment of others, you will be known as the type of person who is critical and severe in his considerations of others.
 
Thank you Major, great point also. I teach and preach against the misapplication of this verse but the reason for this article is rooted in Church yesterday morning. I often deal with a gentleman, old enough to have been my father, and he lakes discernment ability. Yesterday, he asked me if I was familiar with Baxter End Time Ministries and having not investigated them I told him no but I would do the investigation.

He then mentioned that he had purchased 12 DVDs from him and that they are much lie the ones I had forbid him to show in my Bible Study Class by a gent named Stone. When I checked this, Stone, gentleman out I found him to be selling meals that heal, prayer clothes and the he, in general, was all about the almighty dollar. As of last night I looked up this gentleman and his ministry and as soon as I read his statement of faith I was uneasy because of the open ended statements and on further reading found where he stated what I suspected, he said that the Speaking In Tongues was 'the' evidence of salvation.

Well, disregarding the prohibition in scripture of a woman taking the position of Master over a man, his wife, until yesterday, a guarded friend, wanted to know who made me God, and slapped me in the face with Matt. 7:1. To have done this, in this manor, required her to assume the position of intentional ignorance, of course, and the position of Teacher over me... all unscriptural. It always troubles me when people choose to claim the name of the savior and then turn their backs on His direction.

May God pour out His limitless blessing on you and yours.
 
Thank you Major, great point also. I teach and preach against the misapplication of this verse but the reason for this article is rooted in Church yesterday morning. I often deal with a gentleman, old enough to have been my father, and he lakes discernment ability. Yesterday, he asked me if I was familiar with Baxter End Time Ministries and having not investigated them I told him no but I would do the investigation.

He then mentioned that he had purchased 12 DVDs from him and that they are much lie the ones I had forbid him to show in my Bible Study Class by a gent named Stone. When I checked this, Stone, gentleman out I found him to be selling meals that heal, prayer clothes and the he, in general, was all about the almighty dollar. As of last night I looked up this gentleman and his ministry and as soon as I read his statement of faith I was uneasy because of the open ended statements and on further reading found where he stated what I suspected, he said that the Speaking In Tongues was 'the' evidence of salvation.

Well, disregarding the prohibition in scripture of a woman taking the position of Master over a man, his wife, until yesterday, a guarded friend, wanted to know who made me God, and slapped me in the face with Matt. 7:1. To have done this, in this manor, required her to assume the position of intentional ignorance, of course, and the position of Teacher over me... all unscriptural. It always troubles me when people choose to claim the name of the savior and then turn their backs on His direction.

May God pour out His limitless blessing on you and yours.

Perry Stone is very deep in the "Prosperity Gospel" and Pentacostal faith.

I have read some of his work and while he comes across as an authority, I found that some of his explinations of prophesy streach the correct explination and lead to the purchase of another DVD or book or prayer cloth etc.

As with most all the TV religionist, it is all about money.

Baxter is another relionionist who claims that he gets his prophectic information from a ficticious god named
Je-Jesus Christ. That alone is enough to run him out of town, but he has also stated that the USA would be destroyed in a nuclear war in 2007. Time then has proved him to be a false prophet.

You are correct to not allow his teachings to be used in your class as your pastor would go through the roof!!!
 
1 Judge not, that you may not be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why do you look on the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull the splinter out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to cast the splinter out of your brother's eye. 6 Do not give that which is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and tear you. (MKJV)

Matthew 7:1 is, possibly, the most misused scripture in all sixty-six books of the Bible and sadly, this is not a case limited to new converts that can be stamped out with a little teaching. I have run, face first, into this scripture ever since my first year of salvation, back in 1990. I have grown past my second decade as a Christian and as a Christian Teacher and I'm closing in on my seventh decade and Grumpy old man status. I have had this scripture used to shut my mouth by both lost and by men claiming the name of Christ.

I am forever reminded, as I study of what is perhaps the most important rule of Hermeneutics, “No scripture can ever be understood without the light of all other scripture shinning on it.” I am sometimes considered ignorant because I teach the heart felt understanding that the Bible is of one context from. “In the beginning...” all the way through the very last “Amen” of The Revelation, the twenty-second chapter. It is from this position that I seek to understand the scriptures.

There is a large and for me, hard to ignore clue to what Jesus is teaching us in the first verse here and it is found in the context of the entire first paragraph of this seventh chapter of Matthew. In verse two is a very strong hint, Jesus explains to the crowd here that we “are,” indeed to judge but to do so in the same manor that we wish measured out to us at the Judgment seat of the Christ. When we read the book of Proverbs we learn that wisdom is found there and a good example is Pro. 3:21-26. And then there is the American proverb, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.” And then my words, “If you fail to judge the end of the road, you will wreck.”

The long and the short of the matter is this, without judgment, you life is and wilkl be a wreck looking t happen.”

If I may, I would like to add the necessary discernment to judge is given by the Holy Spirit.

Godly Discernment = God's wisdom + God's understanding.

The wisdom and understanding to judge are given by His Spirit and for the express purposes of brotherly edification and redemption of wayward souls. Keeping in mind that all of the Christian's actions should be motivated by love, even when "judging" or "discerning" another, a Christian should first examine their hearts to discover their motive to judge.
 
If I may, I would like to add the necessary discernment to judge is given by the Holy Spirit.

Godly Discernment = God's wisdom + God's understanding.

The wisdom and understanding to judge are given by His Spirit and for the express purposes of brotherly edification and redemption of wayward souls. Keeping in mind that all of the Christian's actions should be motivated by love, even when "judging" or "discerning" another, a Christian should first examine their hearts to discover their motive to judge.
Indeed! I try not to be backed into a corner and not be allowed to pray before attempting to answer, But there is a step beyond this that is required, we must listen for the answer and that, not always, but sometimes, takes days to come from the Holy Spirit as He prepares us to receive the answer.
 
This subject is such a frustrating one for us Christians :).

Christians ARE!!!! to judge everything (1 Cor 2:15). Major you hit the nail on the head when you said not to condemn. As Paul says 'there go I but by the grace of God'. That phrase is Paul judging the other guy by acknowledging that that was him, a sinner, of whom he was the chiefest, but by the grace of God it is him no longer.
 
This subject is such a frustrating one for us Christians :).

Christians ARE!!!! to judge everything (1 Cor 2:15). Major you hit the nail on the head when you said not to condemn. As Paul says 'there go I but by the grace of God'. That phrase is Paul judging the other guy by acknowledging that that was him, a sinner, of whom he was the chiefest, but by the grace of God it is him no longer.

I agree and it's a balancing act, IMHO.

Judging is necessary, but the motive to judge rightly should be rooted in love, because of His grace and mercy received by each of us. Everything God does and allows is rooted in His amazing love for us. ...not wanting anyone to perish...He is holy. He is patient. He is the righteous judge and we should learn from Him of His methods and motives.
2 Peter 3:9
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Let's not lose sight of His desire - that all should come to repentance - even the person we think needs to be chastised and judged. And may we each be granted the privilege to see His creation as He sees them!

 
I agree and it's a balancing act, IMHO.
Judging is necessary, but the motive to judge rightly should be rooted in love, because of His grace and mercy received by each of us. Everything God does and allows is rooted in His amazing love for us. ...not wanting anyone to perish...He is holy. He is patient. He is the righteous judge and we should learn from Him of His methods and motives.

Yes definitely. I always think about how Jesus spoke to the devil when he came to tempt Him. The devil, the most evil of evil. Jesus did not hit Him. Jesus did not ignore him. Jesus gave him a chance to speak. Jesus did not get ugly with him. Jesus was not influenced by what he said. Jesus did not budge on His convictions of the word. Jesus told the devil the truth whether he accepted it or not was irrelevant. Jesus did this all whilst knowing the devil's fate in death for eternity was sealed. I am flabbergasted by the fact that Jesus would show the devil the respect He did.
 
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