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[Note:\u00a0 <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1<\/strong>\u00a0 page.<\/span><\/p>\n When Jesus said, \u201cJudge not, that ye be not judged\u201d (Mat. 7:1), he was not merely uttering good advice, but a prohibition\u2014a strong negative command. Unless we understand what kind of \u201cjudging\u201d the Lord prohibits, we will do much abuse to this passage. His prohibition must be understood in harmony with the immediate context and with other words He said on the same subject. In the immediate context He warned, \u201cNeither cast your pearls before the swine,\u201d and \u201cBeware of false prophets\u201d (vv. 6, 15). Both warnings require some judging of one\u2019s fellow man to determine who is a \u201cswine\u201d and who is a \u201cfalse prophet.\u201d Obviously, therefore, the Lord was not forbidding us to form an opinion about someone\u2019s character when he said, \u201cJudge not.\u201d He elsewhere commanded us to \u201cJudge righteous judgment\u201d (John 7:24). The kind of judging Jesus forbade is the unjust judgment of the double standard that can see the tiniest fault in others but cannot see even major flaws in one\u2019s own conduct (note the Lord\u2019s \u201cmote\u201d and \u201cbeam\u201d illustration [Mat. 7:3-5]). Hypercritical faultfinding that makes no allowances for any flaws in others needs to be exposed and recognized for what it is:<\/span><\/p>\n It is erroneous to apply the Lord\u2019s judge not<\/em> directive to identifying and opposing who teach and\/or practice error. Rather, we must \u201cmark\u201d (Rom. 16:17) and \u201creprove [and] rebuke\u201d such ones (2 Tim. 4:2).<\/span><\/p>\n [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for and it was published in The Lighthouse, <\/em>weekly bulletin of Northpoint Church of Christ, Denton, TX, September 26, 2010, of which I was editor.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution:<\/strong> From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner, curator, and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 2[Note:\u00a0 This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1\u00a0 page. When Jesus said, \u201cJudge not, that ye be not judged\u201d (Mat. 7:1), he was not merely uttering good advice, but a prohibition\u2014a strong negative command. Unless we understand what kind…<\/p>\n\n