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.
Questions and Answers
61-0112 §47
Now, if there had been an interpretation to that tongues, and told the judge, "Thus saith the Lord" (certain-certain thing that would have been true, "Thus saith the Lord!")... " Judge, what are you standing here judging me for when last night you lived with a prostitute? Her name was Sally Jones. She lived down at 44... certain-certain place, like that. Why do you judge me? That's thus saith the Lord! Now deny that and you'll drop dead." Now, oh, brother! There's something different there. But when you just stand...
Presuming
62-0610M §79
Israel presumed that He was just so good. They'd seen so many things that they could just do anything they wanted to, like that teenage boy. That's the way the church is today. They feel, "Well, God gave me the Holy Ghost. If I want to do this I can do it. Hallelujah! No condemnation in me. I'm in Christ." That right there shows that you're not there. If that was ... if you was in Christ, you'd hold to his Word regardless of what anybody said, if you had to stand by yourself to stand by it, because it's the Spirit...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 2:E-67
No human being could stand the full effect of that vision. His strength utterly gone, John fell at His feet as though dead. But the hand of the Lord in love touched him, and the voice of blessing said, "Fear not. Don't be afraid. I am the First and Last. I am He That liveth, and was dead; and, behold I am alive for evermore." What is there to fear? The judgment that fell upon Him at the cross, at the grave, and when He descended, was for us. He absorbed the full brunt of the wound of sin and there is therefore now...
Go wake Jesus
63-1103 §13
Therefore, I believe that when Jesus judges the earth--which God will judge the earth by Jesus Christ--I believe that we will be judged by this Bible. Now God cannot be just, as we believe, and sovereign as He is, and not have some standard we're judged by. Well, if they say, "Well, He's going to judge the world by the church," now which is the church? see. The Catholic says, "We are." Well, which Catholic? Well, the Roman says, "We are." The Greeks say, "No, no. We are," see. And the Methodists say, "We are"; the...
God's provided place of worship
65-0425 §34
"In my name they shall cast out devils"---that's the name of the Father. He put his name in Jesus Christ, and in Him He meets to worship. In Him He meets to cast out devils. In Him He meets to heal the sick. In Him He meets to save. In Him He meets to fill with the Holy Ghost. That's God's only place to meet people for worship. Now, we find out that Jesus said also, that the word, name, Jesus means Jehovah-saviour---Jehovah, the Saviour.