Based on Matthew 7:1-6 (New King James Version)
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. ‘Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.’”
In this passage, the Lord talks about not judging people, but He also gives us a very peculiar warning involving two animals. However, in other places in Scripture, we are told that it is necessary to judge, and that we must make certain decisions based on that judgment. So, some may wonder, “Are there contradictions in the Bible?” One thing must be very clear, to begin with, and that is, that in the Bible there are no contradictions. Everything works very harmoniously as a whole, from Genesis to Apocalypse. If something seems like a contradiction, then you simply have to delve a little deeper and search within the Word itself, and of course, always with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God cannot be understood humanly, but only through the Holy Spirit.
Now then, let's first look at a passage that calls us to judge. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:14-16. Here we understand that there is a type of person, so to speak, who must judge and who has the capacity to judge, and that is the spiritual one. Who is this person? In this passage, Paul speaks of two people, the natural man and the spiritual man. We understand that the natural man is the person who does not have the Spirit of God, who simply has not come to be born again in Christ, nor have they totally surrendered to the Lord. That is the natural man. And the spiritual is the opposite, it’s the person who has surrendered to the Lordship of the Lord, and therefore, has the Spirit of God. But we see a detail here, like the use of the word “discern.” What does this mean? In its simplest definition, it means being able to understand, comprehend, and to be able to see beyond. And it is conjugated with the word “spiritually.” So, we understand that judgment does not consist of condemnation, but rather, of being able to understand and comprehend things through the Spirit of God, and thus be able to act appropriately, practicing the justice of God. The same applies to the passage we saw at the beginning. The Lord used the word “judge” in the sense of seeing what a person is and condemning them. And that is what He said not to do, that we should not condemn people. But we must understand what we ourselves are doing to begin with, so that we can come to understand through the Spirit where others are.
So, this matter of understanding is clear throughout the Word, which is of utmost importance. We must understand what happens within ourselves, why we do things, and also, we must understand what others do, because it is necessary to make wise decisions, if we want to please God. Because this is what the whole thing is about—doing the will of the Father. That's why things don't just happen on their own as many believe, that the only thing you decide is to believe in Christ, and He takes care of everything else. Nor is it the point that everything depends on us, and that, if I don't do something, nothing will happen. There is a balance, so to speak. But one thing is very certain, and that is that there is such a thing as responsibility, a concept that eludes many of God's people. For example, we read this: “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore ‘put away from yourselves the evil person.’” 1 Corinthians 5:9-13. What do we see here? That people who still do not know the Truth of God, nor have made any decision for the Lord, are still on that side where we must give them the opportunity, and we must not judge them, in the sense of condemnation as we saw before. But, for the person who does know the truth, and knowing that truth, wishes to continue in the things of the world, there is a severe problem. From the moment a person has been exposed to the gospel and has supposedly agreed to follow some type of faith, but wishes to follow the flesh and its desires, the excuses end, and they will be held responsible for their actions, and we as believers must make decisions accordingly. This is what the Word says: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.
To further explain the matter. We are all sinners, even those of us who follow the Lord, but the big difference is that there must be a before and after in the life of a person who has decided to follow Christ, and there must be a continuation in being transformed, and not in maintaining a lifestyle of disorder and sin. And if a person persists in maintaining a lifestyle of sin, knowing the gospel, they is already amassing judgment on themselves, not our judgment and condemnation, but God's, because God is going to hold them responsible for their knowledge. And we are called to know how to discern all this. Why? Because a person that supports sin will also not be held innocent; and because we should fear God, where all divine wisdom begins: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7. The Lord was referring to this when He said: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine…” The dog returns to his vomit and the swine, after being washed, returns to wallowing in filth. This is to what the Lord is referring to when people continue to practice sin, living a lifestyle of sin after having been exposed to the gospel, and we must be very careful with this. You have to know how to discern. We cannot walk through this world ignorantly, because God's will is for us to obey Him, using our free will for good. That's why he says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5. We must know how to discern our own actions and the actions of others in order to do God's will according to the circumstances. So, have you learned to discern, or do you continue to willfully ignore evil? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel.