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.
Letting off the pressure
62-0513E §50
Now, one day the human race was in a trap, and there come someone to the earth by the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus means "Jehovah-saviour." And He went down to the Jordan of death, went over the Jordan in death, and rose up on Easter morning with the evidence that a man can live after he dies. Hallelujah! Death is not the end. Jesus proved it, that a man can live after he dies. He stood before them, and He said... Before He left He said, "In My Father's house is many mansions. If it wasn't so, I would've told you. A...
The approach to God
55-0123A §52
"That's My approach," He said, "that's the way I'm asking You to approach Me. I am your satisfier! Do you believe it?," He said. Amen. "I am the One that'll satisfy you as you draw from Me, life. Abraham, you're a hundred years old, but you're just a baby to Me." See? Well, he said, "Look at my flesh, how it's wrinkled up, and my hair is gray, and my shoulders are stooped." "But I am the life-giver!" Amen. That's it, Abraham. Do you see it? Abraham believed God then. 'Cause he had approach through a symbol, through...
Redemption by judgment
54-1114 §8
Now, the first person I ever turned from my house in my life was the woman. I said, "Don't come up here if you can't come and talk of something different from that, because that's... I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God." And, I said, "My faith is built on that." But now, the word---so that you'll understand when you pick it up, lay it away. "Joshua": really, the correct word is "Joshuae," see. Now, I want to say something here. "Ogauvah." I doubt whether anybody, except Billy Paul back there, knows what tha...
Spirit of Truth
63-0118 §74
This man sitting right here, Brother Borders... After the service was over, I went out to see my mother. I met Brother Borders. He said, "Brother Branham, you're not quite six foot, but I seen a ten-foot man standing in the pulpit this morning." I said, "Brother Borders, God will take care of all of that for Mama." And a few days after that, they called me out to the room, and she really was going. Gathered in the children, stood around the bed. I said, "Mama, are you really going?" She said, "Yes." Then she couldn...
Questions and Answers, Part 2
64-0823E §73
QUESTION: Brother Branham, what did Jesus mean in Matthew 12, verse 32, where Jesus said, "Whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come"? Please explain these verses of Scripture for me. Thank you. And it's got the man's name; he's a minister. All right. Brother, I'm---you're a theologian, I'm not. But I'd like to say this, that Jesus said, "Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him." In other words t...