A Brief Look At
A Most Abused Verse Of The Holy Bible¹

I would guess that Matthew 7:1 is the verse most quoted by not only those Christians who do not have as full of the knowledge of the Holy Bible as they ought to have, but by the majority of those that do not know Christ. And though one can have a good conversation about most topics, rest assured that Matthew 7:1 is often injected into controversial topics that deal with below-the-belt sins such as fornication, adultery (including precisely what it says in Luke 16:18), and especially homosexuality. Most people will agree murder and stealing (two sinful practices that indicate that a person is not redeemed) are wrong, but when it comes to the below-the-belt sins, a true Christian gets pelted with Matthew 7:1 ripped out of context when he points out that these sins also indicate that those who practice such things shall not inherit Eternal Life.

The Greek for judge (krino) in Matthew 7 can mean² a variety of things ranging from selecting to pronouncing an opinion or judgment and to contend together. When this occurs, the meaning of a word like this must be determined by its immediate context, its context within the given book, and its relationship to the entire Holy Bible. By doing this for the word judge in Matthew 7:1, we can soon see that it means to act as judge with powers of condemnation and without having proper knowledge.

We Are To Judge

When below-the-belt sin occurs within the Church it is to be dealt with by the other Christians. After a Church member had relations with his step-mother and the church did nothing about it, Paul wrote by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 5) that the Corinthian Church should have judged the man and administered discipline. And then, when he addresses the fact that some in the church were bringing their brothers before a non-Christian judicial system the Apostle writes by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:2-3), Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Now if one reads at least chapter five they would see (5:12-13), For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. One might readily point out that here it is indicated we should not judge the lost. However, if you look at the balance of the Scripture one can see in passages that refer to non-Christians that many of their sins are mentioned as damnable. Paul by the Holy Spirit listed a number of below-the-belt sins in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and stated by the Holy Spirit in verse 10 that such people would not inherit Eternal Life.

Was he judging? No. All Paul was doing was declaring the judgment already determined by God. Paul did not decide such people would not inherit Eternal Life, but God did.

Love And Responsibility

Knowing the Word of God and using it properly as directed by the Holy Spirit to state what God has already declared a sin is not judging, but a loving act of mercy on the part of the true servant of God who, like God, is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9.

Warning both sinner and saint⁴ (Colossians 3:16) about sinning is not only an act of loving mercy on our part, but it is our solemn responsibility (Galatians 6:1). Sadly however, much of the Body Of Christ today has accepted the false teachings that one can derive from Matthew 7:1 without regard to its context or to the meaning of krino and its usage throughout the rest of the New Testament (NT). So, Matthew 7:1 ripped out of context is not only used as a means to win (or short circuit) an argument, but also as a way to avoid one's Biblical responsibility to both sinner and saint.

Krino's Siblings

James Strong has the following for anakrino: 1) examine or judge 1a) to investigate, examine, inquire into, scrutinize, sift, question 1a1) specifically in a forensic sense of a judge to hold an investigation 1a2) to interrogate, examine the accused or witnesses 1b) to judge of, estimate, determine (the excellence or defects of any person or thing).

A true Christian, led by the Holy Spirit and based upon the Word of God, can anakrino. Note well 1 Corinthians 2:15, But he that is spiritual judges (anakrino) all things, yet he himself is judged (anakrino) of no man.

Now here is diakrino: 1) to separate, make a distinction, discriminate, to prefer 2) to learn by discrimination, to try, decide 2a) to determine, give judgment, decide a dispute 3) to withdraw from one, desert 4) to separate one’s self in a hostile spirit, to oppose, strive with dispute, contend 5) to be at variance with one’s self, hesitate, doubt

Diakrino is used 19 times in the NT and of those 19 times it is translated as judge only three times in the Authorized Version / King James and some others. All three of those instances occur in 1 Corinthians, viz., 6:5, the first part of 11:32, and in 14:29. All three concern making decisions (judgments) in the Body Of Christ.

For the sake of brevity we will just look at 6:5, I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge (diakrino) between his brethren? The context, verses 2 and 3, indicate that the objective of anakrino in this verse would be for the church at Corinth to sit in judgment over issues amongst themselves. As Christians they had a duty to judge.

Most Christians go through a learning process. Some of us can get mighty steeped in sin and even fail our Savior. If that happened to us in the past should we then judge others? Yes, if we have repented and endeavor to love Him more and grow in Him. Sometimes in certain situations these can be the better type of Christian to judge another because oftentimes they can do so more tenderly when the Holy Spirit indicates it should be that way.

Being Responsible

In John 7:14-24 Jesus pointed out that some Jews had problems with Him healing on the Sabbath. Led by the Holy Spirit and referring to the written Word He corrected them and said they ought to judge righteously. He did not say do not judge at all, but He did say to judge (krino) righteously. This, too, is for us and is greatly needed as we near the end of this age.

Notes:

² From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout the article whenever the ancient language is referred to and no other authority is cited. In some cases I have updated the old spelling of certain English words used by Strong.

³ For more insight into who the dogs and swine are please select a link in the post titled Guard Your Pearls located at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M2 .

⁴ Based upon the Word of God a saint is anyone, regardless of whether they are spiritually weak or strong, who has committed their life to God through Christ.

⁵ Greek words are presented in their basic lexicon form. Spelling changes occur in the ancient texts according to tense and other grammatical elements.

A portion of this article was originally listed in my Bible GemLights and given the GemLight reference of tourmaline003 under its original title.