Judging By God’s Standard
(Matthew 7:1-5)
By
Note: The text below was prepared for oral delivery
rather than for publication in print. As
such, be aware that sentence fragments are intentionally used and that this
document has not been edited to correct the errors in grammar, sentence
structure, etc.
I.
Introduction
Be turning in your Bibles to
Matthew Chapter 7 as today we will continue our study of Christ’s Sermon on the
Mount. As we begin, let’s keep in mind
once more the overall theme of the Sermon on the Mount (the Gospel of the
Kingdom) and all that Christ has said up until now concerning the Gospel of the
kingdom. Remember that He is not referring
to a kingdom with physical borders but rather a dominion, a reign of grace –
grace reigning through righteousness. As
we’ve covered over and over, righteousness refers to that which Christ came to
do and did accomplish as a Substitute in perfect satisfaction to the law and
justice of God, rendering perfect, sinless obedience to all of God’s revealed
will. And in the culmination of His
obedience, His death on the cross, He paid the debt for all the sins that were
laid upon Him, that were imputed to Him (or charged to His account), so that He
bore the demerit otherwise due unto those sinners He represented – the just
dying for the unjust. And based on this
accomplishment of our Lord, God imputed (or reckoned to the account of every
sinner for whom Christ died) the merit of all that He accomplished in His life
and death – righteousness – thereby declaring a multitude of otherwise unjust
sinners to be just – or justified before God the Father.
Now consistent with that
central message, Christ continues here in chapter 7. And He begins with 2 words that are perhaps
quoted out of context as often as any other words in the Bible. Chapter 7 begins, “Judge not,…” But
let me say up front that today I’ll actually be asking you to make some
judgments. And I hope you’ll see that in
doing so, I will not be in any way contradicting our Lord’s instructions here,
but rather, when considered in the context, I believe you’ll see how these
words are actually consistent with His commands throughout the scriptures for us
to deliberately make judgments. We will
see He actually commands us to judge, but not according to the wrong
standard. We’ll see that’s what this
passage is all about.
The issue here is the standard
of judgment and the message communicated here in verse 1 of Matthew 7, when
considered in context, is “judge not” by the wrong standard. Accordingly, I’ve titled today’s message,
“Judging By God’s Standard.” So let’s
look at the first 5 verses of Matthew 7 where our Lord continues saying:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own
eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote
out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is
in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, 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.”
As I’ve alluded to already,
this passage begins with one of the most misquoted and misunderstood verses in
the Bible. It is all too common when
people hear preaching, teaching, or even engage in a discussion that challenges
their religious doctrine, their body of faith, that instead of objectively considering
the message and assessing the validity of their own beliefs, they instead shoot
the messenger so to speak. And they
often do so by citing back to them these two words, “Judge Not,” dismissing out of hand any consideration of what they
are hearing under the premise that, “you must be wrong because you are willing
to make judgments and draw conclusions based upon one’s doctrinal views.” Often
even the proclamation of the Gospel – this very message of Christ’s Sermon on
the Mount that sets forth His own Person and work, His righteousness, as the
one standard by which all shall be judged – it (the declaration of the Gospel)
is erroneously perceived by some to be sinfully in violation of God’s command
to “Judge not.”
Think of that. If there was any validity to that mindset, then
we would be compelled to ignore God’s command to spread His Gospel so that we
could avoid committing this imagined sin and to insure our compliance with
these words, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Typically when this rebuke is issued, it often
carries with it the suggestion that your doctrinal distinctions are “mean
spirited” or they are too narrow minded in sharp contrast to the implied broadmindedness
boasted of by the one delivering the rebuke.
But listen, such an exchange
is not merely some trivial difference of opinion pertaining to one’s degree of
tolerance or open mindedness, but rather it pertains to the eternally vital
issue of the standard by which all of us shall ultimately be judged. So today, I ask all who hear this message to
strive to objectively consider what they hear by assessing its validity based
upon the only infallible standard of truth – God’s Word itself. While as natural born sinners we all
initially are apt to consider the Gospel message as too narrow minded, it
serves us well to keep in mind that just a few verses further down in chapter 7,
Christ will declare that we’d best be considering a “narrow” way for He says
that it, not the broad one, but the narrow lead leads unto eternal life.
Now as I begin to discuss
these verses, as a point of interest I think you’ll also find that the same understanding
of this passage can also be applied to the first few verses of Romans 2. I bring this up because this is another
passage which is often taken out of context in much the way our text for today
has been abused. So, in light of the
confusion that abounds over these passages, we’ll take a few minutes to refute 2
popular misinterpretations, specifically as it relates to Matthew 7:1, “judge
not”:
1) The obvious error of interpreting this to mean that
all judgments are absolutely forbidden
2) The error of interpreting this verse as a conditional scenario
so as to imply that by complying with the premise – i.e. – by not judging
others, you thereby will insure that others do not judge you. They read it, “Judge not, that (or “in
order that”) you be not judged” – so that you’ll avoid the harsh judgments of
others.
First,
it takes little consideration of the context to quickly dismiss the idea that
Christ is forbidding any and all judgments with His discourse that begins, “Judge
not.” To begin with these 2 words don’t
stand alone. It is important that we
consider verses 1 and 2 (and for that matter verses 1 – 5) together as
collectively communicating one principle.
Note that the opening phrase of verse 2 itself begins, “For
with what judgment you judge,...” presupposes that judgments
will be made. Then a few verses later
down in verse 6, He instructs them to “Give not that which is holy unto dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine, …” Now that too presupposes
that a judgment must be made as to who Christ is referring to as “dogs” and
“swine.”
Then
just a few verses further down in verse 15 He says, “Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep’s clothing,…” To
heed this warning, judgments must be made to identify these false prophets –
wolves in sheep’s clothing. In verse 16,
He says, “Ye shall know them by their fruits” carrying the suggestion as
to how we should be judging. The Bible is full of similar warnings and
commands to be on the alert, identify, and reject the many false prophets,
counterfeit christs, and counterfeit gospels so pervasive in this religious world.
So,
it should be obvious that Christ is not forbidding any and all judgments. That is not the issue, and most who defensively
cry “Judge not” are not thinking but
rather reacting to the offensiveness of the Gospel message itself (what the
Bible calls the “offense of the cross) – a message that is naturally offensive
to all by nature. We naturally want to think that salvation is in our hands and
the Gospel of grace declares otherwise.
And that’s offensive to natural man, as John 3 tells us, “…men
loved darkness rather than light.”
But
in reality we all judge all things. Consider
this: If we exercise faith of any kind,
it must have some object—we must believe “something.” Whatever this “something” is, we have judged
it to be true and its antithesis to be false.
If from the world’s smorgasbord of religion, we conclude any one
religion to be doctrinally accurate or, conversely, any to be doctrinally
false, then we have made a judgment. Do
you claim to be a Christian? If so, then
you have made a judgment. Don’t you accurately
conclude that a Muslim is not a Christian?
If so, again you have made a judgment.
Right now, you will judge today whether what I’m telling you is true or
false, and so it should be.
Sadly,
we’ve all encountered some who stop short in their examination of the vital
doctrinal issues at hand because of their reluctance to align themselves with
that which is so offensive to the natural mind.
They cry, “judge not,” as if their refusing to make any judgment is a
badge of honor, reflecting the presumption that their love and humility towards
others is in sharp contrast to the one daring to proclaim something contrary to
that which they currently believe.
Listen, in Luke 13, Christ said “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish.” His word teaches us
that such a radical change of mind must and does take place in all those who
enter His kingdom – that unless they repent they will perish. So all who are given spiritual life at some
point must come to grips with something diametrically opposed to what they once
thought. Otherwise, there is no
repentance.
So
I hope that you see how irrational such a twisting of God’s word is since, in
reality, we all judge. I’ve often
suspected that, in many cases, the more honest expression of this objection
would sound more like, “Don’t judge me” or “Don’t judge those I
know and care about.” But regardless of
how you may have understood this passage previously, today I ask all who hear
this message to set those thoughts aside and to objectively seek God’s truth
and to know His standard of judgment, undeterred by the natural aversion that
is found in all of us prior to God-given spiritual life.
Secondly, as I mentioned
earlier, some erroneously interpret verses 1 and 2 as if Christ is suggesting a
conditional scenario that would allow one to avoid the harsh judgments of
others. They think that by complying
with the misconstrued premise – i.e. – by not judging others, you thereby will
insure that others will not judge you.
“Judge not, that (in order that) you be not judged” – as if this
is a promise that will allow you to avoid the harsh judgments of others.
Now before you’re tempted to
concur with this presumed cause and effect relationship, it would do you well
to consider Job, Paul, and even our impeccable, Lord who knew no sin. Therefore He could not sinfully have violated
His own instruction here. Yet consider
the false and cruel charges that came His way.
Fickled men cried “Hosanna” one day as he rode triumphantly in
The idea that we can avoid
the harsh judgments of others by withholding making any judgments of our own
would be contrary to the whole tenor of the Sermon on the Mount. Christ is not all of a sudden shifting gears here
in chapter 7 so as to promote a secular motive, prompting us to act based upon
how we will be judged or esteemed by others.
The Bible teaches us the exact opposite.
Remember what He said in Luke 16:15:
“…for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the
sight of God.” No, in our text
today He is still speaking of judgments made in the realm of His kingdom – the
kingdom which reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Christ
Himself.
So, just what is meant here? I can tell you this; it was a far nobler
motive in our Lord’s mind and a far weightier issue than just some helpful tip
on how we might be considered in a better light by our fellow man. Christ is not suggesting that we link our
judgments with the judgments of other men, but rather in accordance with the
judgments of God. He is talking about
the standard for making judgments of eternal significance. Consider that the Gospel message itself
demands a judgment. Believe the Gospel
– the Gospel of His kingdom – and be saved; believe not and be damned (Mark
Hold your place there in
Matthew 7 and turn with me to John 7:24.
This is a verse that many of you are familiar with but I think it’s good
that we see with our own eyes what Christ says there. Here in John 7:24, our Lord is speaking and
He says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” So based on Christ’s own words as
recorded here in John 7, (unless you believe the Bible to be contradictory), it
should be obvious that simply judging (or not judging) is not the issue of
Matthew 7. As I’ve said, He is
addressing the standard by which we judge. We are to judge “righteous judgment.”
Now back in Matthew 7, note
in vs. 2 that Christ said, “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Literally that reads, “With what for
judgment ye judge…” In other words, by
whatever standard you use for judgment – ye shall be judged accordingly. When He says “with what measure ye mete” –
that word “mete” simply means measure.
So, again, He is saying by whatever standard you make this measurement,
it shall likewise be applied to you.
Now if you think back to all
Christ has said up until this point in His sermon, you will recall that He has
set forth the standard of judgment for entrance into His kingdom and it is
unambiguous. He has made clear in Matt. 5:20
that except your righteousness exceeds the best of the best, the scribes and
Pharisees put together, you’ll not enter the kingdom of heaven. He then proceeded to point out the extent of
the law, telling them how even their ill will (anger) toward their worst enemy
would place them as liable before a Holy God as if they had committed the outward
act of murder, showing them that our sinfulness and unfitness went way beyond our
outward actions.
He had shown that it was
absolutely necessary for any to be judged righteous before God that it must be
based upon a righteousness outside of themselves – one provided for them
and freely made theirs by God’s merciful application of it to them – by
imputation – the charging of it to their account. Remember what Christ Himself said He came to
do back in Matt. 5:17-18 – to fulfill the law perfectly, every jot and
tittle. And then He summarized in Matt
5:48 just how righteous they would have to be if they were to meet the
conditions for their own salvation when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Now here in the first
verses of chapter 7 Christ is staying right on subject and this is the
measurement stick to which He is referring.
In essence, I believe He is saying that if you insist on judging the
life and death issues that He has been speaking of throughout His sermon (and
specifically the entrance requirements into the kingdom of heaven itself) based
upon a measurement of something proceeding from you, then you will be judged by
that which you are able to produce.
Recall Paul’s sermon on
Mars Hill recorded in Acts 17 where the standard of our eternal judgment is
unmistakably set forth as Paul declares how God calls on men everywhere to
repent and in verse 31, he explains why, saying, “…Because he hath appointed a day,
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he hath raised
him from the dead.” That’s the
standard of judgment. If you insist on
your meeting some condition in order to be saved, to enter heaven’s glory – of
measuring something done by you, in you, or through you, then the performance
of that something must equal that of the one whose performance insured His
victory over death – the God-man, the Son of God incarnate, the Lord of
glory. You must be as righteous as Jesus
Christ Himself.
You see, His
righteousness is the standard. At issue,
is how will you judge? How will you
measure? If you insist on resting in
salvation based upon something you’ve done or presume to have been enabled to
do (your faith, your willingness to receive Jesus, your decision to accept Him,
your willingness to pray the sinner’s prayer, your willingness to receive Him
into your heart, your willingness to accept that which you presume He has
merited for you if you’d just do your part and believe).
Listen – I don’t care what
it is – if you insist on judging yourself or others to be saved because of
anything other than or in addition to the righteousness of God established by
Christ and that freely imputed (or charged) to your account – then know that it
will be your performance that will be measured against the perfect
sinless righteousness of Christ. Is your
faith so strong and unwavering that you choose to be judged for all eternity based
upon that? Sadly, if you persist in
judging to possess any merit before God based upon something proceeding from
you, then you’ll be judged accordingly.
Now that should be
distressing if you’re still among those who so judge (as we all initially
do). But listen, there’s also some
wonderful news found in these very same words of our Lord. If you judge righteous judgment – that is, if
your standard of judgment results in you rightly concluding that there is no
hope outside of Christ, outside of the one righteousness He produced in
complete and full satisfaction to the law and justice of God – then the
measurement which shall be applied to you is likewise none other than this very
one which has graciously been revealed to you.
Only those such as Christ
described in the first part of His sermon as eternally blessed are given a new
mind and heart that would cause them to adopt God’s standard of judgment as
their own.
If your entire hope is
wrapped up in Christ, based upon the one righteousness He established at the
cross, then that itself is an evidence of your having been justified by His
blood, of having His righteousness charged to your account. How do we know that? The scriptures tell us that none will come to
Him but those whom the Father gave to Christ the Son, those for whom He lived
and died – to whom God imputed (or charged to the account of) the merit of all that
Christ accomplished in His life and death.
You see, when one is
convinced by God the Holy Spirit of the impossibility of measuring up to God’s
standard of judgment based upon anything proceeding from them, the sinner, and
that nothing other than His righteousness imputed will justify them before the
Father, then and only then are they judging righteous judgment. And the spiritual life that provides that
discernment is the purchased result and effect provided only to those who have
already been justified – made righteous in Him – because of what He
merited for them.
As simple as that may seem,
it is a vital distinction. As sinners,
we are determined to cling to some remaining remnant of the natural religion of
works – and it takes such subtle forms that it’s only perceived when God gives
us the eyes to see differently. For
example: As many of you know, not so
long ago, until we were taught differently, most of us here held the view that
justification of the sinner took place in close proximity to the time of
faith. Now for years we were clearly
taught that faith, our believing, had no causal role in our salvation and that
faith was merely the fruit and effect of that which Christ merited for us in
His life and death. But in spite of that
clear teaching, in hindsight we now see that the error as to “when”
righteousness was imputed apparently contributed towards some concluding that the
righteousness established by Christ at the cross didn’t quite complete the job
– perhaps imagining that their exercise of faith actually procured His blessing
(the righteousness established at the cross) rather than the other way
around. And of course, that would be
equivalent to trusting in another righteousness to finish the job – something
in addition to the one righteousness that procures all of our salvation.
Now like most of you, I’m
thankful for the teaching we’ve since received on this issue and for God’s
continual teaching for that matter. But
if you think about it, doctrinal accuracy over the timing of justification,
learning and believing the truth that we were justified by His blood at the
cross will not in and of itself correct the problem for anyone if their real
problem was in having assigned to their faith (their believing) some sort of
efficacy. You can be doctrinally correct
on some things, including having a correct understanding that sinners are
justified at the cross, but if you believe that you’re given spiritual life because
you believe in justification at the cross (or any other important truth that
pertains to the Gospel), then that too would be equivalent to placing your hope
in another righteousness – i.e. trusting in something in addition to the one
righteousness that not only justifies us but thereby, procures for us all grace
here and all glory hereafter – all of our salvation, even our faith.
In studying various scriptures,
time after time it’s impressed upon me that the issues of judgment always seem
to reduce down to whether (a) one perceives their salvation to be all of grace,
based solely upon His righteousness, or (b) whether they tragically insist on
some remaining, tainting element of works – something done by, in or through
the sinner that they imagine contributes toward their acceptance before God or
the procurement of His blessing.
So for the sake of emphasis, remember
this: To judge by God’s standard – to judge righteous
judgment – is to see that He didn’t save you because you believed or
because you submitted to His truth or standard of judgment (that would make
faith a work) but rather it is to see that you believed and submitted to His
truth and standard of judgment because He saved you from your sins, because He
justified you – because God charged to your account the finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Getting this order
wrong may seem trivial but it is not. Putting
the cart before the horse so to speak, in this case is deadly. As Jonah said, salvation is of the Lord – the
whole kit and caboodle!
Now let’s briefly look again
at verses 3 – 5 where Christ uses a metaphor of a “mote” or a “beam” in the
eye. A “mote” is a dry twig, a straw, or
a something small like a splinter, whereas the “beam” refers to a large timber
like a cross beam. And the eye speaks of
our understanding or faculty of spiritual discernment. And these foreign objects in our eye would
refer to that which would hinder our understanding. So a “mote” would certainly be a
hindrance. But a “beam” suggests
something that would completely obstruct our vision (our spiritual discernment).
Now both of these objects would
refer to sins prevalent in a person’s life, but one, the “mote” (being smaller)
would refer to that which would merely hinder our discernment. As such, I think the mote refers to the sins
of character and conduct common to all without exception when judged by the
strict standard of God’s law – summarized as love God perfectly and our
neighbor as ourselves. We all have
“motes” so to speak because we all are sinners and we will be so until we
depart from these bodies of sin.
But notice when He speaks of
the “beam,” He says in verse 3, “considerest not the beam that is in thine
own eye.” That word
“considerest” means to weigh carefully, the suggestion being that this one
hasn’t yet seriously considered the beam that would totally block their vision
– their spiritual discernment or understanding.
He calls any who would attempt to address others faults of character and
conduct (the “motes” in their eyes) while unperceptive of the “beam” in their
own eye a “hypocrite” who cannot see clearly.
I believe the “beam” here
would refer to the self-righteousness common to all prior to God-given faith
and repentance (that is – to all unbelievers) who would judge the vital issues
of saved and lost, fit or unfit for heaven, based upon the sin that deceives
all men by nature. This is what Paul called
the “deceivableness of unrighteousness” in 2 Thess. 2. That is the sin of which we all are initially
guilty. It’s a sin exercised in our natural
religious thoughts. It’s the deadly sin
of expecting and judging salvation based upon anything other than (or in
addition to) the one righteousness of God wrought out by Christ in His perfect
obedience unto death – unrighteousness – something other than the one
standard by which all shall be judged – His righteousness.
As I’ve mentioned, notice
that verse 5 begins with “Thou hypocrite.”
Christ had used this same description, “hypocrite” earlier in the sermon
back in chapter 6 vs. 5 in describing those who pray to be seen of men, adding
they have their reward. See, they too
will receive their reward according to that which they seek. Do you see the parallel? If you think salvation is conditioned on you,
the sinner, then you’ll be judged as to whether you met the condition
and you’ll have your reward (the esteem of likeminded sinners), but it’s not of
His kingdom. And here when Christ
rebukes such a one saying, “Thou hypocrite,” I believe He is describing most of
organized religion today where the focus of the message is on something other
than the cross of Christ. By the “cross’
I mean focusing on what was accomplished there where, by His righteousness,
God’s people were justified – their sins put away then and there by the
shedding of His precious blood.
Instead, the tendency of
man’s religion is to focus on whatever condition they think makes the difference
(as would be logical). If they believe men
can gain acceptance before God and enter heaven if they’ll only believe “something,”
then their focus is understandably on getting them to believe whatever that “something”
is. If they imagine that salvation is acquired
by living an upright, moral lifestyle, attending church, sincere interest in
religion, then their emphasis is on promoting just that.
That’s not to say that
compliance with God’s revealed will in these areas isn’t important, but listen
– when that becomes the focal point so as to comprise their “gospel” message
(how God saves sinners), then it’s akin to focusing on getting those “motes”
taken care of by those who are all the while oblivious to the “beam” that completely
obstructs their own spiritual discernment – the self-righteousness of presuming
any part of salvation to be conditioned on themselves in some way or to some
degree, based upon something other than or in addition to the righteousness of
God in Christ. That’s unrighteoueness. And they consider or perceive it not. As such, you can see why Paul calls it the “deceivableness
of unrighteousness.”
So we come to see that before
hearing and being brought to believe with the heart God’s true Gospel, our
standard of judgment is fatally flawed.
And this is true of all of us unless and until God is pleased to show us
different in the day of His power. In
the Gospel message itself, that standard is revealed. We discover that we must possess a perfect
righteousness that we are unable to produce it.
While John
Do
you see the implications of this as it pertains to the most important judgment
of all—the one regarding your own state and eternal destiny? If we fail to adopt God’s standard of
judgment, Christ’s perfect righteousness, then by whatever standard we judge
others, we too shall be judged. So any
who judge salvation to be conditioned upon something done by them, in them, or
through them, they in turn shall be judged accordingly. If you persist in thinking salvation is
conditioned on you, the sinner, then you’ll ultimately be judged as to whether you
met the condition with a perfection equal to that of the impeccable, spotless
Son of God.
For
the 1st 30 years or so of my life that’s how I judged. But today, I continue to rejoice that God (in
His time) revealed to me His strict, holy requirement of perfection through the
preaching of His Gospel, revealing that my salvation could not be and was not conditioned
upon anything proceeding from me (not even upon my belief of His true Gospel). You see, I would not want to be judged
accordingly, based on that which proceeds from me, a sinner.
God
graciously shows His people that their even their belief of true doctrine won’t
measure up and is deadly if it’s mistakenly placed in rivalry with that
which did get the job done – the work Christ finished in His obedience unto
death. You see, one’s belief in the
truth doesn’t procure the righteousness of God in Christ. His righteousness procures one’s belief in
the truth.
Knowing
that God never changes and must judge in accordance with His strict holiness
and justice, I pray you too can rejoice in finding your fitness in Christ
alone, not having your own righteousness which is of the law, derived from
something produced by you, through you, or in you – but based solely upon the
one perfect righteousness produced by and residing even now in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and that made freely yours by God’s judicial imputation of it to you. Now to judge according to that standard is to
judge by God’s standard. I pray God will
draw all who hear this message to adopt His standard of judgment, that they
might judge righteous judgment!
Footnote from the author: While this sermon was prepared and delivered
by me, I often utilize the commentaries, study helps, and teachings of others
to supplement my own prayerful study of the scriptures. Since this document was not originally
prepared for publication in print, please excuse and recognize that it was
unfeasible to properly identify and credit all of the various original sources
used to develop the content herein.
Ultimately, it is my sincere and foremost objective to accurately
present the gospel of God’s grace found in the only infallible source, God’s
word itself – the Bible.