Making a judgment:
Matthew 7:1-5 (AMP) “1 Do not judge and criticize and condemn [others unfairly with an attitude of self-righteous superiority as though assuming the office of a judge], so that you will not be judged [unfairly].
2 For just as you [hypocritically] judge others [when you are sinful and unrepentant], so will you be judged; and in accordance with your standard of measure [used to pass out judgment], judgment will be measured to you.
3 Why do you look at the [insignificant] speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice and acknowledge the [egregious] log that is in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite (play-actor, pretender), first get the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.“
When reading these verses what comes to mind? Before answering this, let me add some words from the book “the Normal Christian Life. chapter 1”
“We shall take now as a starting-point for our study of the normal Christian life that great exposition of it which we find in the first eight chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, and we shall approach our subject from a practical and experimental point of view. It will be helpful first of all to point out a natural division of this section of Romans into two, and to note certain striking differences in the subject-matter of its two parts. The first eight chapters of Romans form a self-contained unit. The four-and-a-half chapters from 1:1 to 5:11 form the first half of this unit and the three-and-a-half chapters from 5:12 to 8:39 the second half. A careful reading will show us that the subject-matter of the two halves is not the same. For example, in the argument of the first section we find the plural word sins’ given prominence. In the second section, however, this changed, for while the word sins’ hardly occurs once, the singular word `sin’ is used again and again and is the subject mainly dealt with. Why is this?
It is because in the first section it is a question of the sins I have committed before God, which are many and can be enumerated, whereas in the second it is a question of sin as a principle working in me.
No matter how many sins I commit, it is always the one sin principle that leads to them. I need forgiveness for my sins, but I need also deliverance from the power of sin. The former touches my conscience, the latter my life. I may receive forgiveness for all my sins, but because of my sin I have, even then, no abiding peace of mind.
When God’s light first shines into my heart my one cry is for forgiveness, for I realize I have committed sins before Him; but when once I have received forgiveness of sins I make a new discovery, namely, the discovery of sin, and I realize not only that I have committed sins before God but that there is something wrong within. I discover that I have the nature of a sinner. There is an inward inclination to sin, a power within that draws to sin. When that power breaks out I commit sins. I may seek and receive forgiveness, but then I sin once more. So life goes on in a vicious circle of sinning and being forgiven and then sinning again. I appreciate the blessed fact of God’s forgiveness, but I want something more than that: I want deliverance. I need forgiveness for what I have done, but I need also deliverance from what I am.”
As the chapter continues we discover God’s Dual Remedy: The Blood and the Cross.
Nee, W. (1977). Chapter 1, page 8,The Normal Christian Life. CLC Publications.
What we do as human beings is base our judgment of others by bias or by self-understanding of scripture or self-interpretation of scripture where at times some of us believe that the truth of the scriptures is understood personally because of some notion of God talking directly to us. In some minds, the belief that God is revealing the mysteries of the universe and the scriptures just to them. Of course the Holy Spirit is our guide into all truth revealing what God’s will is for each one of us, and how we do God’s will because of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yes, I understand that even what I am saying here is a form of judgment or at least opinion. What I am saying is not some revelation from God to share with my readers, it is simply what I understand based on the scriptures at the beginning of this post and understanding what the book “The Normal Christian Life” is postulating. I have heard arguments that we judgment based on the fruit a person bears, i.e., the fruit of the spirit mentioned on Galatians 5:22-23 and what I think is that by using that as a guide a judgment is formed because unless the person making the judgment should themselves be demonstrating those same fruits. If they do not, then Matthew 7:5 applies. After all, writing about judgment ends up being judgment.
Biblical Definition of judgment:
κρίμα (Strong’s #2917 — Noun Neuter — krima — kree’-mah ) denotes the result of the action signified by the verb krino, “to judge;” for its general significance see CONDEMNATION , B, No. 1: it is used (a) of a decision passed on the faults of others, Matthew 7:2; (b) of “judgment” by man upon Christ, Luke 24:20; (c) of God’s “judgment” upon men, e.g., Romans 2:2,3; 3:8; 5:16; 11:33; 13:2; 1 Corinthians 11:29; Galatians 5:10; Hebrews 6:2; James 3:1; through Christ, e.g., John 9:39; (d) of the right of “judgment,” Revelation 20:4; (e) of a lawsuit, 1 Corinthians 6:7.
So, with this information in hand, what comes to mind after reading Matthew 7:1-5 and the passage from the book?
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