Is It Right to
Judge?by Franklin G. Huling, M. A. THIS QUESTION, "Is it right to judge?", is one
that puzzles many sincere Christians. A
careful and open-minded study of the
Bible makes it clear that concerning cer-
tain vital matters, it is not only right but
a positive duty to judge. Many do not
know that the Scripture commands us to
judge.
The Lord Jesus Christ commanded,
"judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).
He told a man, "Thou hast rightly judged"
(Luke 7:43). To others, our Lord asked,
"why even of yourselves judge ye not
what is right?" (Luke 12:57).
The Apostle Paul wrote, "I speak as to
wise men; judge ye what I say" (1
Corinthians 10:15). Again, Paul declared,
"He that is spiritual judgeth all things" (1
Corinthians 2:15). It is our positive duty
to judge.False Teachers
and False Teaching"Beware of false prophets[!]" (Matthew
7:15) is the warning and command of our
Lord. But how could we "beware" and how
could we know they are "false prophets" if
we did not judge? And what is the God-
given standard by which we are to judge?
"To the law and to the testimony: if they
speak not according to this word, it is
because there is no light in them." (Isaiah
8:20). "Ye shall know them by their fruits"
(Matthew 7:16), Christ said. And in judg-
ing the "fruits," we must judge by God's
Word, not by what appeals to human
reasoning. Many things seem good to
human judgment which are false to the
Word of God.
The Apostle Paul admonished be-
lievers, "Now I beseech you, brethren,
mark them which cause divisions and
offences contrary to the doctrine which
ye have learned; and avoid them. For they
that are such serve not our Lord Jesus
Christ, but their own belly; and by good
words and fair speeches deceive the hearts
of the simple" (Romans 16:17-18). This
apostolic command could not be obeyed
were it not right to judge. God wants us to
know His Word and then test all teachers
and teaching by it. Notice also that it is the
false teachers who make the "divisions,"
and not those who protest against their
false teaching. And these deceivers are
not serving Christ, as they profess, "but
their own belly," or their own "bread and
butter," as we would put it. We are to
"mark them" and "avoid them."
"Come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord" (2
Corinthians 6:17, read verses 14-18).
"From such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:5).
"Withdraw yourselves" (2 Thessalonians
3:6). "And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11). "Abhor
that which is evil; cleave to that which is
good" (Romans 12:9). "Prove all things;
hold fast that which is good" (1
Thessalonians 5:21). It would be impos-
sible to obey these injunctions of God's
Word unless it were right to judge! And
remember, nothing is "good" in God's
sight that is not true to His Word.
The Apostle John wrote, "Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try [test, judge]
the spirits whether they are of God: be-
cause many false prophets are gone out
into the world" (1 John 4:1). Again he
wrote, "For many deceivers are entered
into the world, who confess not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh.... If there
come any unto you, and bring not this
doctrine, receive him not into your house,
neither bid him God speed: For he that
biddeth him God speed is partaker of his
evil deeds" (2 John 7, 10-11). This Scrip-
ture commands us to judge between those
who do, and those who do not bring the
true doctrine of Christ.
Whenever a child of God contributes
to a denominational budget that supports
Modernist (liberal, compromising) mis-
sionaries or teachers, he is guilty before
God, according to this Scripture, of bid-
ding them, "God speed" in the most ef-
fective way possible. And he thereby be-
comes a "partaker" with them of their
"evil deeds" of spreading soul damning
poison. How terrible, but how true! Arouse
yourself, child of God. If you are guilty,
ask God to forgive you and help you never
again to be guilty of the blood of souls for
whom Christ died. When we are willing to
suffer for Christ, we can readily see the
truth of God's Word on this tremendously
important matter. "If we suffer, we shall
also reign with Him" (2 Timothy 2:12).Misunderstood
and Misused ScriptureOne of the best known and most
misunderstood and misapplied Scriptures
is "Judge not" (Matthew 7:1). Let us ex-
amine the entire passage:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye
shall be judged: and with what measure
ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again. And why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or
how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me
pull out the mote out of thine eye; and,
behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of
thine own eye; and then shalt thou see
clearly to cast out the mote out of thy
brother's eye" (Matthew 7:1-5).
Read this again carefully. Notice that
it is addressed to a hypocrite!--not to
those who sincerely want to discern
whether a teacher or teaching is true or
false to God's Word. And instead of being
a prohibition against honest judgment, it
is a solemn warning against hypocritical
judgment. In fact, the last statement of
this Scripture commands sincere judg-
ment--"Then shalt thou see clearly to
cast out the mote out of thy brother's
eye." If we take a verse or a part of a verse
out of its setting, we can make the Word of
God appear to teach the very opposite of
what it really does teach. And those who
do this cannot escape the judgment of
God for twisting His Word (2 Peter 3:16).
Let this be a warning to us never again to
take a text of Scripture out of its context.
Many who piously quote, "Judge not,"
out of its context, in order to defend that
which is false to God's Word, do not see
their own inconsistency in thus judging
those who would obey God's Word about
judging that which is untrue to the Bible.
It is tragic that so much that is anti-
Scriptural has found undeserved shelter
behind a misuse of the Scripture just
quoted. The reason the professed church
of Christ is today honeycombed and para-
lyzed by satanic Modernism is because
Christians have not obeyed the commands
of God's Word to judge and put away and
separate from false teachers and false
teaching when they first appeared in their
midst. Physical health is maintained by
separation from disease germs. Spiritual
health is maintained by separation from
germs of false doctrine. The greatest peril
of our day is not too much judging, but
too little judging of spiritual falsehood.
God wants His children to be like the
noble Bereans who "searched the Scrip-
tures daily, whether those things were
so" (Acts 17:11).
Romans 2:1-3 is also addressed to the
religious hypocrite who condemned him-
self because he was guilty of the same
things for which he condemned others.
James 4:11-12 refers to an evil spirit of
backbiting and fault finding, not to judg-
ing whether teachers or teachings agree
or disagree with God's Word. The Bible
never contradicts itself. To understand
one portion of Scripture we must view it
in the light of all Scripture. "No prophecy
of the Scripture is of any private [isolated]
interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20). "Compar-
ing spiritual things [words] with spiri-
tual" (1 Corinthians 2:13).
The "Wheat and Tares" parable of
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, is much mis-
understood. First of all, our Lord is talk-
ing about the world, not His Church--
"The field is the world[.]" He goes on to say
that "the good seed are the children of the
Kingdom; but the tares are the children
of the wicked one" (Matthew 13:38). They
are the two groups in the world; children
of God--those who have received Christ
(John 1:12), and the children of the devil--
those who reject Christ (John 8:44). When
any of the "children of the wicked one" get
into the professed church of Christ, as
they have always done, a definite proce-
dure for God's children is set forth in His
Word. First, it is their duty to tell them
that they have "neither part nor lot" in
Christ (see Acts 8:21-23 and context). If
the children of the devil do not leave
voluntarily, as is generally the case, God's
children are commanded to "Purge out"
(1 Corinthians 5:7) these unbelievers. But
God's people have disobeyed His Word
about this, and so unbelievers [and dis-
obedient brethren--2 Thessalonians
3:6,14-15] have gotten into control, as is
now the case in most denominations.
Therefore, those who purpose to be true
to Christ and His Word are commanded to
"come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord" (2 Corinthians
6:17), regardless of property or any other
considerations. When we obey God's Word,
we can trust Him to take care of all the
consequences of our obedience.Other Matters to be Judged
The immoral conduct of professed
believers in Christ is to be judged. 1
Corinthians, Chapter 5, tells a sad story
and closes with the Apostolic injunction,
"Therefore put away from among your-
selves that wicked person" (1 Corinthians
5:13).
Disputes between Christians con-
cerning "things that pertain to this life,"
(1 Corinthians 6:3) should be judged by a
tribunal of fellow Christians instead of
going before unbelievers in the civil courts.
The whole sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians
makes clear God's plan for His people in
this regard. And some startling truths are
here revealed: First, "the saints shall judge
the world[.]" Second, "we shall judge an-
gels" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). Beloved, are
we letting God prepare us for this high
place?
We ought to judge ourselves. "Ex-
amine yourselves, whether ye be in the
faith; prove your own selves" (2
Corinthians 13:5). "For if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged. But
when we are judged, we are chastened
[child trained] of the Lord, that we should
not be condemned with the world" (1
Corinthians 11:31-32). What a change
and what a blessing it would be if we
would judge our own faults as uncharitably
as we do the faults of others--and if we
would judge the failings of others as
charitably as we do our own! And Chris-
tians could save themselves much chas-
tening of the Lord if they would judge and
confess and cease their disobedience to
God. And, oh, how much dishonor and
lack of fruit would our blessed Lord be
spared!
Limitations of Human Judgment
Not scruples or conscience concern-
ing matters of which the Bible does not
directly speak. God forbids our judging
our brethren concerning the eating of
certain kinds of food, keeping of days, etc.
Romans, Chapter 14, 1 Corinthians 10:23-
33, and Colossians 2:16-17 cover this sub-
ject.
Not motives. See 1 Corinthians 4:1-
5. Only God can see into the heart and
know the motives that underlie actions.
Not as to whom are saved. "The Lord
knoweth them that are His" (2 Timothy
2:19). We cannot look into anyone's heart
and say whether or not they have accepted
the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal
Saviour, if they profess that they have.
But we had better test ourselves accord-
ing to 2 Corinthians 5:17: "If any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold, all things are
become new." If this change has not taken
place, our profession is vain.Two Elements in Judgment
The New Testament Greek word that
is most often translated "judge" or "judg-
ment" is "krino." On the one hand, it means
to distinguish, to decide, to determine, to
conclude, to try, to think and to call in
question. That is what God wants His
children to do as to whether preachers,
teachers and their teachings are true or
false to His Word. The Apostle Paul writes:
"And this I pray, that your love may
abound yet more and more in knowledge
and in all judgment; that ye may approve
things that are excellent" (Philippians 1:9-
10). A wrong idea of love and lack of
knowledge and judgment causes God's
people often to approve things that are
anything but excellent in God's sight. The
epistle to the Hebrews tells us that ma-
ture believers, that is, those who are of
"full age," are "...those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised to discern
both good and evil" (see Heb. 5:11-14).
On the other hand, the Greek word
"krino"--judge or judgment--means to
condemn, to sentence and to punish. This
is God's prerogative for He has said,
"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the
Lord" (Romans 12:19).Guard Against a Wrong Attitude
Christians should watch against the
tendency of the flesh to assume a critical
and censorious attitude toward those who
do not share our opinions about other
matters than those which have to do with
Bible doctrine and moral conduct. Rather
than "pick to pieces" our brethren in
Christ, it is our privilege and duty to do
everything we can to encourage their
spiritual edification. We ought to love and
pray for one another and consider our-
selves lest we be tempted. Galatians 6:1.A Final Word
If you are saved, my reader, let us not
forget that "We must all appear before the
Judgment Seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians
5:10). It will be well with those who are
studying God's Word, walking in the light
of it, living for Christ and the salvation of
souls. It will go ill with those who have
accepted Christ but who are living for the
things of this world. If you are a mere
professor of Christ, or profess nothing,
my friend, may I lovingly remind you
"That judgment must begin at the House
of God; and if it first begin at us, what
shall the end be of them that obey not the
Gospel?" (1 Peter 4:17).
Delay not another moment. Ask God
for Christ's sake to forgive your sins. Sur-
render your heart and will to the loving
Saviour who died for you and rose again.
Make Him the Lord of your life. Happy and
blessed will you be, now and forever.
[Reprints of "Is It Right to Judge?"
in leaflet form are available from:
F.E.A., Box 6278, Los Osos, CA]
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