Luke 6:37 Commentary and Bible Study

Judge not so that you are not judged. The judging of others invites God’s judgment on us if we are doing the same thing. We deserve to be judged twice over: firstly because we do evil ourselves, and secondly because we judge the other for doing what we do. It is hypocrisy that is in view here. Why is this such a terrible sin? Because we take away from ourselves any excuse of ignorance. You cannot judge another without knowing that what they do is wrong. Of course, you may be judging the innocent, but that is not what is in mind here. In this case you are right to see what the other does as transgression of God’s law. But when you judge them, when you pass judgment on them and bring about their punishment somehow, you judge yourself also, because the law is always applied indiscriminately. The law is no respecter of person, but you are acting as a respecter of person, and God will not allow you to do that. His response will be to come down even more severely on you, because of what you have proved that you know. You want one standard for yourself and another standard for the other. But the law is greater than you are and it will not let you behave in that way. The law does not tolerate false judges, but brings them too under judgment. As James warns, ‘Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of [with] evil thoughts?’ (James 2:4). Every judge must be beyond corruption, incapable of being bribed, wedded to the law, and having honour for the law as his highest commitment; that is the standard set by the law (Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:16-17). This applies to his whole sphere of influence, and what is more obviously under his sphere of influence than his own conduct?‘Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.’ This cannot mean that we can sin without consequences, as long as we do not condemn anyone else for doing the same thing: every sin has its due punishment. But certainly it means that we will avoid being punished more severely, and it is hypocrisy that is mind here and the additional judgment we face for acting the hypocrite. Condemnation follows from judgment, and is the implementation of judgment. If we condemn others for doing what we too do, we hurry on God’s judgment of us. Are we ready for that? Do we think about it when we urge the punishment of those we see offending? We are thinking about believers here. The believer has had all his sins forgiven already, but he is still a sinner with a fallen nature, and God forgives many things on a daily basis, and does not deal with us as we deserve, but is lenient towards us. But that leniency will be removed if we start condemning other for sins that we know we too are guilty of.‘Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.’ This suggests that the thing we are in danger of condemning in another is something that a brother or sister has done to us. We condemn them as an act of revenge for the harm, or the slight, or the perceived insult delivered to us. No, says Christ, we are to forgive them freely. We are to remember our own sins, and hate the hypocrisy of applying a different standard to another, than the one we apply to ourselves. Our own sins should be our first concern. They are the sins we can most easily correct. How closely God observes our hearts. The lack of forgiveness is something secret in our hearts. It may not be expressed outwardly, but God sees it and as a result he will not forgive us. He will send judgment into our lives which we might otherwise have escaped.