What does Jesus mean when He says, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matt 7:1)?
For modern westerners, this single verse is one of the most misunderstood and, therefore, misapplied verses in all of Scripture. I grew up hearing this defense mechanism, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” when someone pointed out sin in another’s life. Sometimes the confrontation was done with vain motives (as Jesus is describing here), but sometimes not. Nevertheless, either kind of attempt to expose and correct sin in another was blocked by misquoting Matthew 7:1 as a shield for sin.
But is that what the verse means, that no one can “judge” anyone else or, for that matter, even inform others about their sin, so that the one whom informs will not be judged themselves? Well, let’s reason it out with the Scriptures.
1) God will judge every sin, and He will judge every sin no matter who you are (2 Tim 4:1; Rom 2). He can do this because He not only sees all we do (Prov 15:3); He sees the true intentions of our heart (1 Sam 16:7). Thus, no amount of overlooking someone else’s sin will cause God to overlook your sin.
2) Jesus teaches us to — in love — tell fellow believers about their sins. In John 7, Jesus states that we should “judge with right judgment” and not “by appearances” (John 7:14). The meaning of this is that we should judge biblically, not worldly. Such biblical judgement should be redemption-oriented, with the motive of helping a fellow brother or sister back into a right relationship with Christ. Furthermore, in the passage we most relate with church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20), Jesus directly teaches the disciples, “If a brother sins against you, go tell him his fault…” (Matt 18:15). Thus, we are commanded to “judge” and “go tell” that our brothers and sisters in Christ may be redeemed.
This is not to shame or humiliate or to gain a superior spiritual standing over someone else. No, Jesus says the sin should be first confronted privately “between you and him alone” (v.15). We are to go and tell them so that we may love them, truly. The uncomfortable conversation must be had so that we may keep our brothers and sisters in Christ from the awful effects of sin (Rom 1; Gal 5:19ff) and sin’s ultimate end: death and eternal condemnation (James 1:15; Heb 9:27; 1 Cor 6:9f; cf. Rev 21:8,27).
Matthew 7:6 points to the wisdom that we should exercise discretion to whom we confront, but for Christians, the principle stands. Meaning, the most unloving and least Christian thing one can do is withhold the saving knowledge of holiness (Heb 12:14) and not approach a fellow brother or sister in Christ about their sin. We are to “see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God” (Heb 12:15).
And where is the only place this life-giving grace is to be found? In Jesus and His perfect forgiveness for sins, which alone reconciles us to God, forever. So, with the above in mind, what do we make of the meaning of Matthew 7:1? Context tells.
There are five verses that follow Matthew 7:1 and a parallel passage in the gospel of Luke (Luke 6:37-42) that together offer invaluable contextual clues to the meaning of 7:1.
Verses 3-5 reveals it is a matter of hypocrisy, and the hypocrisy will be judged by the level of the hypocrisy (v. 2).
Meaning, if you are not living a life that is yielded to God, you are not in a place spiritually to lead someone else to holiness. You will be like the blind leading the blind (Luke 6:39), preaching Jesus but knowing nothing about Him nor His power, yourself.
This does not mean that one needs to be “perfect” or sinless to help another by pointing out sin and discipling them to a right standing with God. But it does mean that if you are living purposely in unrepentant sin, your intentions to confront another over their sin are, at least, suspect.
Furthermore, verse 3 points to another important spiritual reality: If sin remains undealt with in your life, you will not be “able” to be a help for another with their sins. Jesus says that until you remove the sin from your own life, you will not be able to see “clearly” enough to help someone else (v.5).
Sin has a debilitating effect. It rots us from the inside out, destroying our ability to perceive even its presence and, more so its effects, thereby darkening our conscience from retaliating against its cancerous progression into our whole being. To put it simply: sin produces death. And this death includes our ability to see spiritual matters clearly. So, what is Jesus’ remedy for this hopeless human condition? Himself.
Jesus states, “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (v.5). We should always, by principle, consider the sin in our own life like a log compared to a speck. Sin should be seen as it truly is: evil and, therefore, dangerous. Our upmost concern needs to be employed to root it out. But how are we to do this impossible task? By appealing to the one who makes all things possible (John 19:26).
This is what Jesus speaks on in the following verses of the chapter (Matt 7:7-11). His grace is the only way that we remove sin from our lives and help other believers do the same, so that we may all share in clearly seeing Him and all the beauty in His commands.
I wish I had more time to discuss this wonderful passage of conviction and hope. But our space here is limited.
If you have any more questions, please email me in the email provided. Until next week, God bless.
(Jeremy Breland is a farmer in Ruffin and a M.Div. student at Southern Seminary. He can be reached at jbreland572@gmail.com.)
