Can We Judge Others According to the Bible – Matthew 7:1

Have you ever been in a conversation, maybe a tough one about right and wrong, and someone drops the ultimate conversation-stopper: “Only God can judge me”? Or perhaps the slightly more scriptural, “Didn’t Jesus say, ‘Judge not’?” It’s a phrase we hear everywhere, from TV shows to arguments between friends. For years, I took that verse, Matthew 7:1, as a blanket command to simply look the other way. It felt like the most loving, Christian thing to do—to offer no opinion, to make no assessment, and to let everyone walk their own path.

But the more I read the whole of scripture, the more that simple interpretation felt… incomplete. It created a paradox in my heart. How can we be called to hold each other accountable, to protect the church from sin, and to speak the truth in love if we are forbidden from making any judgment at all? It’s a question that honestly troubled me. This journey led me to dig deeper, to ask the difficult questions, and to see if the Bible offered a more nuanced answer. So, can we judge others according to the Bible? The answer is far more complex and ultimately more freeing than a simple “no.”

More in Ethics & Morality Category

What the Bible Say About Fools

What Does the Bible Say About Accountability

What the Bible Says About Stealing

Key Takeaways

• “Judge Not” Isn’t a Command for Silence: Matthew 7:1 is not a command to ignore sin or suspend all critical thinking. It is a stern warning against hypocritical, self-righteous, and condemnatory judgment.
• The Type of Judgment Matters: The Bible condemns hypocritical judgment (judging others for sins we commit ourselves) but commands righteous judgment (discerning right from wrong based on God’s Word with a spirit of humility and restoration).
• Self-Examination Comes First: The core message of Matthew 7:1-5 is to deal with the “log” in our own eye before we even think about addressing the “speck” in someone else’s. Our primary focus must be our own holiness.
• The Goal is Always Restoration: Biblical correction or “judgment” is never for the purpose of condemnation or making ourselves feel superior. The goal is always to lovingly guide a fellow believer back to a right relationship with God.
• Discernment is a Christian Duty: We are called to be discerning, to judge the fruit of people’s lives (Matthew 7:16), to identify false teachers, and to protect the spiritual health of the church community.

What Does “Judge Not” in Matthew 7:1 Truly Mean?

When Jesus spoke the words, “Judge not, that you be not judged,” He wasn’t introducing a radical new idea of moral relativism. He was speaking to a culture, particularly the religious leaders, that had turned judgment into a performance. They used it as a tool to elevate themselves and crush others. To truly grasp what Jesus is saying, we have to look past the popular, surface-level interpretation and dig into the context.

Unpacking the Original Greek Word “Krino”

It’s amazing how a little context can change everything. The Greek word used for “judge” in this passage is krino. This word has a very broad range of meanings. Yes, it can mean “to condemn” or “to pass a final sentence on someone,” which is a role reserved for God alone. However, krino can also mean “to evaluate,” “to discern,” or “to make a distinction.”

Think of it like this: a judge in a courtroom pronounces a final verdict—that’s a form of krino we are not meant to do. But a person tasting fruit to see if it’s ripe is also making a judgment, a discernment—that is a form of krino we are commanded to do elsewhere in scripture. Jesus himself tells us just a few verses later to “beware of false prophets” and that we will “recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16). How can we recognize bad fruit without making some form of judgment or evaluation? It’s impossible. So, Jesus isn’t forbidding discernment; He’s forbidding the act of playing God.

So, Was Jesus Forbidding All Forms of Judgment?

Absolutely not. The rest of the Bible makes this crystal clear. If Jesus meant “never evaluate anyone’s actions,” then other parts of the New Testament would make no sense.

• 1 Corinthians 5:12: Paul explicitly asks the church, “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” He was calling them to hold a member accountable for blatant, unrepentant sin that was harming the church’s witness.
• Galatians 6:1: Paul instructs, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” Restoration requires first identifying that a transgression has occurred.
• 1 John 4:1: John commands us, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Testing spirits is an act of careful, critical judgment.

These verses aren’t contradictions. They are clarifications. They show us that there is a world of difference between righteous discernment and hypocritical condemnation.

The Real Context: The Sermon on the Mount

We can’t just pull Matthew 7:1 out of its home and expect it to make sense. It’s part of a larger message—the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon, Jesus is consistently contrasting the external, performative righteousness of the Pharisees with the internal, heart-level righteousness of the Kingdom of God. For a deeper academic look into the themes of this incredible sermon, resources from institutions like Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary can provide valuable historical and theological context.

Jesus had just been talking about prayer, fasting, and giving. He was warning against doing these things for show. The command to “judge not” flows directly from this theme. The Pharisees judged others loudly and publicly to make themselves look holy. Jesus is targeting that self-righteous, hypocritical attitude. He’s speaking to the person who points out everyone else’s flaws while ignoring their own glaring sins.

If We Aren’t Supposed to Condemn, What About Holding Others Accountable?

This is where the rubber meets the road in our daily Christian walk. I’ve been in small groups where sin was obvious, but everyone was too scared to say anything, all hiding behind “judge not.” The result was a brother or sister continuing down a destructive path, and a community that failed to be the body of Christ. The Bible gives us a clear path for accountability that is loving, not condemnatory.

Righteous Judgment vs. Hypocritical Condemnation

The distinction is everything. Jesus follows up His “judge not” command by explaining exactly what He means.

• Hypocritical Condemnation: This is judgment from a position of pride. It’s when we judge someone for a sin that we ourselves are committing, or when our motive is to tear them down and make ourselves look better. This is the “log in your own eye” problem.
• Righteous Judgment: This is a careful, humble evaluation of a situation based on the clear teachings of scripture. Its motive is never condemnation but restoration. It comes from a place of love for the person and a desire to see them reconciled with God. As Jesus said in John 7:24, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Righteous judgment is less about being a judge and more about being a spiritual doctor. A doctor diagnoses an illness not to condemn the patient, but to heal them. That’s the heart we must have.

The Famous Parable of the Speck and the Log

Let’s look closely at what Jesus says in Matthew 7:3-5: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? … You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Notice something crucial here? He doesn’t say, “Ignore the speck in your brother’s eye.” He says once you’ve dealt with your own, bigger issue, then you will be able to see clearly to help your brother with his smaller one. The command isn’t to stop helping; it’s to stop being a hypocrite.

For me, this is a constant, daily challenge. Before I even think about the struggles of someone else, I have to ask myself:

• What is my motivation right now? Is it genuine concern or is it pride?
• Am I dealing with my own sin? Is my own walk with Christ in order?
• Am I approaching this with a heart of gentleness and a desire for their good?

If the answer to any of these is no, then I need to be quiet and get on my knees before God for my own heart.

What is the Goal of Pointing Out a Brother’s Sin?

Jesus gives us the ultimate playbook for accountability in Matthew 18:15-17. It’s a process, and it’s drenched in grace.

1. Go Privately: It starts one-on-one. Not with gossip, not with a public call-out on social media. You go to your brother or sister in private, with humility.
2. Bring Witnesses: If they don’t listen, you bring one or two others along. This is for confirmation and to show the seriousness of the issue, not to gang up on them.
3. Tell the Church: Only after those steps fail does it become a matter for the church leadership.
4. The Goal is to “Win” Them: The entire purpose of this process is stated in verse 15: “If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” It’s about restoration, not excommunication.

This process is the opposite of the harsh, condemnatory judgment the world pictures. It’s a careful, loving, and relational process designed for healing within the body of Christ.

How Can We Practically Apply This Discernment in Our Lives?

Knowing the theology is one thing. Living it out on a Tuesday afternoon when a friend makes a poor decision is another thing entirely. It requires constant prayer, humility, and a deep reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Examining Our Own Hearts Is Always Step One

I cannot overstate this. Before you speak, before you type, before you even form a full thought about someone else’s actions, the first movement must be inward. The mirror must turn to our own souls. I’ve had to learn this the hard way. There have been times I’ve been quick to point out a flaw in someone else, only for the Holy Spirit to gently (and sometimes not so gently) reveal that my criticism was coming from a place of my own insecurity or pride.

The practice of self-examination isn’t about navel-gazing. It’s about ensuring we are a clean vessel that God can use. If we are full of the “logs” of pride, bitterness, or unconfessed sin, we are in no position to help anyone with a “speck.”

A Checklist for Righteous Judgment

So when you feel that nudge from the Spirit that you might need to address something with a fellow believer, it can be helpful to walk through a mental checklist. This isn’t a legalistic formula, but a guide to check our own hearts.

• Is my motive love? Am I doing this for their ultimate spiritual good and for the glory of God? Or is there any part of me that enjoys pointing out a flaw?
• Is my attitude one of humility? Do I recognize that I am also a sinner, saved only by grace, and just as capable of falling? (Galatians 6:1)
• Is the issue clear in Scripture? Am I addressing a clear biblical command or am I trying to enforce my own personal preference or conviction? There’s a big difference between calling out gossip and criticizing someone’s taste in music.
• Have I prayed about it? Have I asked God for wisdom, for the right words, and for a spirit of gentleness before I approach them?
• Am I willing to walk with them? Am I prepared to listen, to help, to pray for them, and to be part of their restoration, or do I just want to drop a truth bomb and walk away?

The Crucial Difference Between Judging an Action and Judging a Soul

This has been one of the most helpful distinctions for me. We can and should evaluate actions and teachings against the standard of God’s Word. When a behavior is destructive or a teaching is unbiblical, we have a responsibility to identify it as such.

However, we can never, ever judge a person’s eternal soul or their ultimate standing before God. We don’t know their heart. We don’t know the entirety of their story. To pronounce a final sentence on someone’s salvation is to sit in God’s chair, and that is a terrifying place to be. We assess the fruit, but the final judgment of the tree belongs to the Gardener alone.

What Happens When We Judge Hypocritically?

The reason Jesus gives such a stern warning in Matthew 7 is because the stakes are incredibly high. Hypocritical judgment doesn’t just hurt the person being judged; it causes a ripple effect of damage through our relationships, our churches, and our own souls.

The Damage to Our Christian Witness

Let’s be honest. One of the biggest criticisms leveled against Christians by the outside world is that we are judgmental hypocrites. And sadly, too often, they’re right. When we condemn others for sins that we are quietly tolerating in our own lives, we make the grace of God look like a lie. We present a version of Christianity that is about moral superiority rather than desperate reliance on a Savior. It repels people from the very Gospel we are called to share. Every act of hypocritical judgment makes it harder for someone to believe that the church is a hospital for sinners and not a museum for saints.

The Spiritual Consequences for Ourselves

Jesus is clear: “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2). This is a sobering thought. When we set a harsh, merciless, and unforgiving standard for others, we are inviting God to apply that same standard to us.

This doesn’t mean we can earn our salvation by being non-judgmental. It means that a heart that is constantly critical and condemnatory toward others is likely a heart that hasn’t fully grasped the depth of God’s mercy toward itself. A truly forgiven person tends to be a forgiving person. A person who understands grace is more likely to extend grace. A harsh spirit toward others may be a symptom of a sick spirit within ourselves. It closes us off from the compassionate heart of the Father and leaves us stewing in our own self-righteousness, which is a lonely and dangerous place to be.

Frequently Asked Questions – Can We Judge Others According to the Bible