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.
Conferences
63-0608 §98
If God judges the world by the Catholic church, the Protestant is lost. He joins it by--by the Protestants, which one? He judge by the Catholic church, there is many different fears of the spheres of the Catholic church, so which one is it going to be? You see, a person would be confused. You wouldn't know what to do. But here is what God will judge them by, the Word. That's the standard. "Heavens and earth will pass away, but My Word shall never fail." Upon This I take my stand. All other grounds is sinking sand....
From the beginning it wasn't so
59-1125 §46
Now, He never did that before a Gentile. Not one time did, the Scripture quoting, ever do it to a Gentile. Why? It was left for another day. The unbelieving Jew stood there and said, "He's Beelzebub, the fortuneteller." Jesus said, "I will forgive you for that, but when the Holy Ghost is come, speak a word against that, will never be forgiven." Now, that was for the Gentile age because we was going to have two thousand years of preaching before it was confirmed. And if God is infinite, if God made Himself known thr...
Hebrews, Chapters 5 and 6, part 1
57-0908M §53
By the Holy Spirit baptism, we are baptized into that body and are free from sin. God don't see you no more; He only sees Christ. And when you're in that body, God can't judge that body. He's already judged it. He took our judgment and invited us in. And by faith, through grace, we walk and accept our pardoning. And the Holy Spirit brings us into this fellowship with Him. And we walk no more after the things of the world, but we walk in the Spirit. Quickened, the Word came to us. He died in my stead. I'm made alive...
Behold, I stand at the door and knock
58-0521 §59
And so, when he came, and along, no doubt that Philip had told him what Jesus had did to that old fisherman that couldn't even sign a ticket for his fish. And when he got in front of Jesus, the first time Jesus ever seen the man, He said, "Behold an Israelite, in whom there is no guile!" Now, not by his dress, they all dressed alike. How a Israelite, that meant that he was a, we'd say, a "believer." And no guile, a "pure, honest, holy" man. "Behold, an Israelite, in whom there is no guile!" He said, "Rabbi, when di...
God doesn't call man to judgement without warning
63-0724 §47
All right, we find out, the first, He sends His prophets with warning. He doesn't change His way, His method of doing things. He does not always strike when He warns. I want you to watch this quotation. God gives a warning but He don't always strike the same time He warns. Did you notice that? And then when He doesn't strike when He sends a warning, then the prophet is mocked, "You didn't have it. You told a lie. You wasn't right." That same thing might have been said to Isaiah. What do you think that man thought w...