Do Not Judge
We’re studying a passage today that the outside world gets both frustratingly wrong and soberingly right. First, it contains one of the favorite verses to take out of context. On the other hand, the meaning behind it is what keeps many non-Christians from stepping foot in church—and if I can be honest, especially a First Baptist Church—and that’s judgmentalism and hypocrisy. If we want to reach this world for Christ—if we really truly cherish the gospel and know what value we hold—we must take this seriously.
You will be judged, so watch how you judge others. (1–2)
In verses 1 and 2, Jesus says, 1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”
Those words have probably been repeated more than almost any others in the Bible, but almost always out of context. “Don’t judge!” or “I thought Christians weren’t supposed to judge!” Our culture takes these words of Jesus to mean that moral judgment itself is wrong, that the highest virtue is tolerance, and that morality is whatever works for you. Really, they use this one verse as an excuse for their moral relativism. But that is not at all what Jesus is saying. Jesus isn’t removing moral standards. He’s revealing the heart behind them. He’s not forbidding discernment or judging. He’s forbidding a spirit of condemnation that acts as if we are God.
The word Jesus uses for judge can mean things such as to discern, to evaluate, or to condemn.[1] Scripture commands discernment but it forbids condemnation. Listen to D.A. Carson here:
“We will be wise to consider first what this text does not say. It certainly does not command the sons of God, the disciples of Jesus, to be amorphous, undiscerning blobs who never under any circumstance whatsoever hold any opinions about right and wrong. Are we to say nothing about the rights and wrongs of a Hitler, a Stalin, a Nixon? of adultery, economic exploitation, laziness, deceit?” (Carson, 98)
We are to make moral judgments because truth matters, but we are never to set ourselves up as if we have the authority or purity to condemn someone else. That belongs to God alone. Scripture affirms this over and over. As Paul writes in Romans 14:4, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Or in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
In John 7:24 Jesus himself commands, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” And in 1 John 4:1 we are told, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And James 4:11-12 warns, “11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
In the first century Jewish context the Pharisees embodied a condemning, judging spirit. So when you hear someone say a person is being a modern day Pharisee, this is what they are talking about—somebody who points out the faults in others while ignoring the faults within. The Pharisees judged tax collectors and sinners harshly while ignoring their own pride and legalism as Jesus exposes in Matthew 23:13-29 where he calls them hypocrites seven times. Jesus flips that here in Matthew 7. He’s reminding his followers who were tempted to mimic the Pharisees that judgment should start with self-awareness, not fault-finding. Instead of pointing the finger out, we should first point the finger in.
David Guzik says,
We break this command when we think the worst of others.
We break this command when we only speak to others of their faults.
We break this command when we judge an entire life only by its worst moments.
We break this command when we judge the hidden motives of others.
We break this command when we judge others without considering ourselves in their same circumstances.
We break this command when we judge others without being mindful that we ourselves will be judged.[2]
When Jesus says, “Judge not that you be not judged,” He immediately connects it to God’s final judgment. He’s reminding us that we will all stand before Him one day. There is one certainty for all of us in life and it’s this we will all die. And the Bible makes it clear after death comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There are two eternal judgments Scripture describes.
The first is the Great White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15. This is for those who have rejected Christ. Everything will be laid bare before the just judge of all the earth, Jesus Christ. And you are either in Christ redeemed by His blood or you rejected the free offer of His redemption and get the just penalty of your sin. As Revelation 20:15 states, “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
The second is the Judgment Seat of Christ described in 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Romans 14:10-12. This is for believers, not to determine salvation, but to evaluate faithfulness. Paul says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether good or evil.” This is a rewards judgment like after an Olympic race. All will receive a prize. Some will get a participation trophy for being in Christ—praise the Lord for His amazing grace! Some will be rewarded much. But I believe we will all see it as equal, laying our crowns at the feet of the Jesus who saved us and who is worthy of all glory and honor and praise!
But it is God who judges, not us. When you hold someone else to a standard you don’t keep yourself, you are handing God the measure or the scale for your own evaluation. Francis Schaeffer, the greatest theological influence in my life, once illustrated this with a story.
“If every little baby that was ever born anywhere in the world had a tape recorder hung about its neck, and if this tape recorder only recorded the moral judgments with which this child as he grew bound other men, the moral precepts might be much lower than the biblical law, but they would still be moral judgments.
Eventually each person comes to that great moment when he stands before God as judge. Suppose, then, that God simply touched the tape recorder button and each man heard played out in his own words all those statements by which he had bound other men in moral judgment. He could hear it going on for years—thousands and thousands of moral judgments made against other men, not aesthetic judgments, but moral judgments.
Then God would simply say to the man, though he had never head the Bible, now where do you stand in the light of your own moral judgments? The Bible points out . . . that every voice would be stilled. All men would have to acknowledge that they have deliberately done those things which they knew to be wrong. Nobody could deny it.”
Schaeffer then said, “God is completely just. A man is judged and found wanting on the same basis on which he has tried to bind others.” And that is exactly what Jesus is saying.[3] We fail to live up to our own standard, yet we try to hold other people to a standard we don’t even hold ourselves to. You know what that’s called? Hypocrisy.
Don’t be a hypercritical hypocrite. (3–5)
Jesus says in verses 3-5, “3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, 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.”
This is one of the most powerful and humorous word pictures Jesus ever used. Picture a man with a massive 2x4 sticking out of his eye trying to perform delicate eye surgery on someone else. Everyone listening to Jesus would have laughed at the absurdity of it but then they would have gone silent when they realized what He meant. We are that man.
Jesus isn’t condemning correction itself. He’s confronting hypocrisy. He’s saying that it’s hypocritical to have a “clear” opinion about someone else’s sin or shortcomings while being blind to your own. And when that happens, you’re not helping anyone. You’re hurting far more than you’re helping. As Galatians 6:1 instructs, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”
We each need to see our true condition before God and before others.
This is where the work begins. Before you can help anyone else, you must be honest about your own heart. The person who minimizes their sin will always magnify the sins of others. Hear what John Stott says:
“We have a fatal tendency to exaggerate the faults of others and minimize the gravity of our own. We seem to find it impossible, when comparing ourselves with others, to be strictly objective and impartial. On the contrary, we have a rosy view of ourselves and a jaundiced view of others. Indeed, what we are often doing is seeing our own faults in others and judging them vicariously. That way, we experience the pleasure of self-righteousness without the pain of penitence.” (Stott, 151-152)
I’ve seen this over and over. People despise people for the very faults that they themselves have. We must first see our own faults for what they are and repent of them. And then we experience the amazing grace of God! The one who truly sees their sin and repents becomes the one most filled with grace. David prayed “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24). That prayer should be ours. Before we talk about anyone else’s sin we should be asking God to expose our own.
The irony is that many people who believe they see the clearest are often the ones who are the most blind. We look at other people’s errors with a microscope and at our own through the wrong end of a telescope.[4] The first step toward spiritual sight is humility. When you realize how much you need forgiveness you stop walking around with binoculars for everyone else’s faults. We each need to see our true condition before God. Once you see yourself rightly you begin to see others differently. You no longer see them as projects or problems but as people made in the image of God just as broken and just as redeemable as you are. That leads directly to the second subpoint.
We need to truly love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jesus never says, “Ignore the speck.” He says, “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.” Once you’ve repented, you’re not disqualified from helping. That’s when you’re finally qualified. The goal isn’t condemnation. It’s restoration. And it’s only when your heart has been broken by your own sin when you will approach others with gentleness.
You cannot truly love someone if your goal is to expose them. Love wants to heal not humiliate. Love doesn’t gossip about the speck. It helps remove it. As 1 Corinthians 13:6 states, “love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.” That’s what the church needs. Gentle surgeons. People who have been humbled enough to be kind. The church should be known for truth and tenderness. When people know they will be met with grace instead of gossip, they start to open up. Confession becomes normal. Restoration becomes possible.
Don’t be judgmental, but don’t lack discernment. (6)
Jesus finishes this section with a verse that at first seems out of place. In verse 6, He says, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
At first glance this seems harsh after a passage about not judging. But Jesus never contradicts Himself. He’s showing us the balance between mercy and discernment. In verses 1 through 5, He warns against being judgmental. In verse 6, He warns against being undiscerning. Both can be deadly to spiritual life.
Jesus uses two images to make His point: dogs and pigs. In the first century, dogs weren’t household pets. They were wild scavenging animals. Pigs were unclean animals despised by Jews, often associated with filth and corruption. Both words describe those who treat holy things with contempt.
What Jesus is saying is that we must be discerning with the gospel. There are times when people will not only reject truth but trample it. When that happens, you don’t stop loving them, but you must stop casting what is holy before those who despise it. This isn’t about giving up on people. It’s about recognizing hearts that are hardened to truth. Jesus Himself modeled this. He preached grace to sinners but rebuked those who mocked God’s word. He wept over Jerusalem’s unbelief, but He also pronounced woe on those who refused to listen. He told His disciples in Matthew 10:14 that “if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” There comes a time when you have to walk away.
When Jesus speaks of “what is holy” and “pearls,” He’s talking about the gospel itself. The pearl of great price represents the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, as in Matthew 13:45-46: “45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” The gospel isn’t something cheap. It is infinitely valuable.
There are times when continued gospel conversation only hardens hearts further. In those moments the most loving thing you can do is pray, wait, and trust God to work. You can’t coerce belief. You can’t force somebody to believe. You can only plant seeds and tend the soil. To live in the tension between compassion and discernment requires the Spirit of God. Apart from Him we will either become critical or careless. Only the Holy Spirit can help us love truth enough to protect it and love people enough to share it.
Hold tight to the gospel as the precious gift it is.
This is where the passage leads. It’s not only a warning to be discerning but a call to treasure the gospel. If the gospel is the pearl, then our responsibility is to cherish it, to proclaim it, to live by it. The gospel isn’t just a truth to defend. It’s a gift to receive. The Son of God lived the perfect life you cannot live. He took the judgment you deserved. He rose from the grave to give you life that will never end. And now He offers Himself to you. As Romans 5:8 declares, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Run to the gospel! Cling to the gospel. Treasure the gospel. Believe the gospel. Because there will come a day when it is too late to receive the gospel, but there will never come a day when the gospel ceases to be true. When you treasure the gospel, you stop judging others by their worthiness because you know your own unworthiness. Hold tight to the gospel as the precious gift it is. As Philippians 3:8 states, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
[1] https://biblehub.com/greek/2919.htm
[2] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/matthew-7/
[3] Francis Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century, 2d ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 1985), 49-50.
