People often say don’t judge me or don’t judge others but they have no idea what they are saying or what the Bible means when it says to judge not. That does not mean that we don’t recognize sin when we see it and it certainly doesn’t mean that we should bury our head in the sand when we see something is wrong. What it actually means is that we should forgive and that we should not condemn and that we should not pass judgement on someone because of the sin that we actually do see.
Luke 6:37 (KJV) Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
In fact, Jesus also, himself tells us to judge, but to do so righteously based solely on the facts and not on first appearances.
John 7:24 (KJV) Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
It is impossible to be holy as he is holy, living a completely biblical life when you don’t see and acknowledge the obvious. We must be able to speak to every ungodly situation and say “it is written”
How would we even witness and share the gospel to someone if we don’t even recognize the need for it in the lives of our fellow man.
The Bible tells us who we should keep company with, who we should not marry, who are false prophets, and how to recognize the spirit of the antichrist. The Bible also tells us to have our senses exercised to discern between good and evil and even when to put someone out of the church. How do we follow these things without first coming to a conclusion about what is wrong?
In fact, we cannot even forgive as we are commanded to do without first recognizing (which is essentially what judging is for the saint) that a wrong has been done. Also, along those lines, how do we judge someone to be repentant after they have sinned or safe to be around or adequate to be yoked with in any business if we don’t judge.
In other words, if we cannot judge, then by default we can acknowledge neither unrighteousness or righteousness.
Do we not call a drunkard a drunkard or an idolater an idolater or a fornicator a fornicator? Do we not reprove and rebuke? Of course, we do.
Only the devil would distort the Bible in this manner and tell us to ignore the obvious. But we should always answer with “It is written”.
Gospel In America 