7:13-14 What does it mean to enter in at the strait gate?

7:1-5 What does Christ’s admonition, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” really mean?

A great many believers interpret this scripture to be a stern warning to Christians that they are not to make any sort of judgement at all. But that is not what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is admonishing us here not to judge others self-righteously or hypocritically. Christians are not to find faults in others while blinded to their own (cp Lk 6:37; Jn 8:1-11; Ro 2:1-3). Both Jesus and Paul teach us here that being blinded to one’s own faults results in an attitude of superiority and causes hardness toward the faults of others. In Jn 8:1-11

Jesus exposes the evil hearts of the Pharisees who were quite prepared to put to death one found sinning publicly, yet they themselves were all sinning privately. In Ro 2:1-3 Paul declares that there is a Pharisee in the heart of every Christian who esteems his or her own morality above others (cp Ga 6:1-3). When Christians judge, they must judge only as fellow sinners. To think that they are anything other than that, or that they are exempt from the faults which they see in others, is to judge self-righteously and hypocritically which is forbidden (cp 1 Cor 4:3-7; Jas 4:11-12).

Paul and James both teach in these passages that Christians are not to criticize or condemn each other. None of us are above criticism, and it is God who will judge us all. This is a rebuke to self appointed judges in the church. Not only must Christians not criticize or condemn others, or judge them in a self-righteous manner, but we must also not judge another’s holiness by our own personal convictions (cp Ro 14:1-13, 22). Paul admonishes Christians here, both strong and weak in the faith, not to judge each other.

Everyone of us is God’s servant and is personally responsible to God for what we do aside from what is specifically forbidden. No one will fall who conscientiously follows God in the light of the knowledge they have received. Christians can fellowship with each other in spite of differences of opinion if we do not despise or criticize each other because of them. The strong are to bear with the weak and be tolerant of their doubtful practices. We must live in unity with one another (cp Ro 15:1-7 with 1Cor 13:1-7 and Ga 5:22-23).

Jesus is the only one who is capable of judging Christians because He is the only one who paid the supreme sacrifice for their salvation, so none of us should presume to criticize or condemn another for whom Christ also died (cp Ro 14:10-12). “Setting at nought” other Christians means despising them, holding them in contempt. That does not mean that we have to agree with what other Christians believe or teach, or that we must like what they do, but we are not to criticize or despise them because of it.

We had better be looking at our own works rather than judge another’s, because every single one of us will have to stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ one day to give an account of our own faithfulness. The Judgement Seat of Christ is not to be confused with the Great White Throne Judgement. The Judgement Seat of Christ is for those who go to heaven, whereas the Great White Throne Judgement is for those being cast down to hell (cp Rev 20:11-15).

None of this is teaching that Christians cannot exercise discernment regarding spiritual things (cp 1Cor 14:29). Christians can also examine, convince, and reprove those in the world of their evil ways (cp 1Cor 2:15). This in no way is judging sinners, but simply witnessing to them the gospel of light. Neither does it mean that we cannot judge false teaching, and who false teachers are in the church. It is obligatory upon Christians to do this (cp Mt 7:15-20; 1Th 5:21; 1Jn 4:1; Rev 2:1-2).

Nor does it mean that we cannot make value judgements with respect to sin in other Christians (cp 1Cor 5:1-5, 9-13). The fornicators, covetous, idolaters, railers (foul tongued abusers), drunkards and extortioners here are professing Christians, and Paul warns other Christians not to fellowship with them. They are to be put out of the church – excommunicated from that assembly – so that God can deal with them outside the church. Christian judgements are only limited to those inside the church. God judges those outside.

Christians must always remember that the same measure of judgement with which we judge others will be measured back to us – doubled (cp Lk 6:36-38). The word again in Mt 7:38 means repetitive – it is repeated, so we get double judgement, just as we get doubly blessed in return for our giving. See also comments on Ro 2:1-4, 14:1-9; 1Cor 3:12-15, 4:2-5,

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