What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, "judge Not, That You Be Not Judged"?
1) Direct Answer
Jesus forbade a harsh, condemning, hypocritical spirit that sets oneself up as the final judge. He called us to judge ourselves first, then help our brother in meekness by the Word. He did not forbid righteous judgment; He forbade self-righteous condemnation.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Matthew 7:1-5: “Judge not… for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.” Then He says, “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.” Now notice, He didn’t say leave the mote there; He said get yourself right first, then you can see clearly to help.
- Luke 6:37-38: “Judge not… condemn not… forgive… for with the same measure… it shall be measured to you again.” The issue is the measure and the spirit.
- John 7:24: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” You see, Jesus Himself commands judgment—righteous judgment—according to truth, not appearances.
- Matthew 7:15-20: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Recognizing fruit requires discernment.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1-13: Open sin in the church must be judged inside, not ignored. “Do not ye judge them that are within?” The Word is the standard, and the goal is purity and restoration.
- Galatians 6:1: “If a man be overtaken in a fault… restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself.” That’s judgment with mercy and humility.
- Romans 14:4,13: Don’t set yourself as judge over doubtful matters; don’t put stumbling blocks. God is the Master of His servant.
- James 4:11-12: There is one Lawgiver and Judge. We don’t usurp God’s throne.
- 1 Corinthians 11:31: “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” Self-judgment comes first.
- Matthew 18:15-17: Private correction, then witnesses, then the church. That is righteous, ordered judgment for the purpose of winning a brother.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- If “judge not” meant never make any judgment, you could not obey “by their fruits ye shall know them,” nor protect the flock, nor correct error. So Jesus is not banning discernment; He is banning hypocrisy and condemnation.
- The standard we use will be used on us. If we deal in mercy and truth, we will meet mercy and truth. If we deal in hard, fleshly criticism, we invite the same on ourselves.
- We never pronounce the final sentence on a soul—that belongs to God. But we do discern doctrine, conduct, and fruit by the Scripture for restoration and protection.
- Start at the mirror. Clean the beam out first. Then, with meekness, help remove the mote. The Word is the measure; love is the motive; restoration is the aim.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Judge yourself by the Word, walk in mercy and truth, and when judgment is required, let it be righteous—Scripture-based, Spirit-led, humble, and aimed at redemption, not destruction.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Law having a shadow
56-0621 §55
What is the word "sin"? Sin is "unbelief." Jesus said in Saint John the 4th chapter, "He that believeth not is condemned already." You don't have to do anything; you're condemned already. Now, drinking, committing adultery, and that, that's not sin. You do that because you're an unbeliever. You're an unbeliever to begin with. That's the reason you do those things. Now, if you once get right with Christ, those things will just ... they're circumcised at the altar. When you confess it, God just takes it away, and put...
God doesn't call man to judgement without warning
63-0724 §54
Now, when he speaks of his vision, whether it's wrath or whether it's healing, it may linger, but it's got to come to pass if he speaks it in the name of the Lord, see. It might be a blessing that he speaks for you. He might tell you a certain thing, and you can't see it at all. You say, "How can it be? Why, it's a ... He told me, 'thus saith the Lord, this is going to happen, and that was going to happen,'" and it ain't happened. The man's wrong!" Now you'll be judged for disbelieving it, but it's going to happen...
Questions and Answers, part 2
54-0103E §14
Now, the sinner never... The sinner's got to stand judgment. And there won't be but this judgment. It's just like a circle or a rainbow around the world of the blood of Christ. As long as you're in here... If God could look upon the earth in its condition tonight any other way than through the blood of Christ, He would destroy it in a second. He'd have to. Certainly He'd have to. That's where the judgments is coming. Now, as long as a man's under here---no matter if the man is a drunkard, and a gambler, and a horri...
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §108
And to the sheep, they stood the judgment. They had to be judged, and the saints had to judge them. God is not unjust. If a heathen's yonder in the land, and we are building eight and ten-million-dollar gold shrines here in America instead of taking the message to them over there, God's going to hold us responsible, but spare them. Sure. God is not unjust. You here, if you never seen this before, you may not be held responsible. But you're responsible now, see. You're only responsible... And we're responsible for t...
Jehovah-Jireh
56-0224 §32
And there was Lot walking right along with Abraham who was a believer, too. But he didn't have that constant abiding Presence of God. So, when the herdsmen got to arguing, Abraham said, "We're brethren, let's not have any argument." And said, "You take the east, I'll take the west. Or if you take the west, I'll take the east. Which way you go, I'll go vice versa." That's the way to make a decision. "God, You do the leading." Amen. I hope that sinks way down deep. Look. "You do the leading, God." And Lot, of course,...