Judge Not And Stone Casting!
Judge Not is the single most misquoted scripture in the Bible. This Matt 7 text below doesn’t say not to judge but instructs how to judge. Haters of God leave out most Scriptural context because they do not have the faith or mind to receive it. I have had this text thrown at me ‘street-side’ for years by those wanting to defend their debauchery. On the contrary, the Word of God teaches us to examine our own disobedience to His Word before judging others. Ironically, fake Christians and unbelievers will judge us harshly for obeying the Bible and judging righteously. But the Bible does teach us to judge the behavior of others. Consider-
Matthew 7:1-6 teaches us how to properly judge
“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.
John 8:3-11 teaches that casting the first stone in this text wasn’t rhetorical. But literal.
“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Why was it literal? Because Deut. 19 applies to proper execution of civil justice. For example, many cases of adultery are capital crimes. (“If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.” Deut. 22:22a; “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. Lev. 20:10) It was the duty of the witness(es) to a capital crime to not be committing the same crime that he’s accusing another of. (“One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Deut. 19:15) If the witnesses are innocent of such crimes and the accused is then found guilty, then the witnesses are also required to cast the first stone, literally. (The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you. Deut. 17:7) Clearly, those accusers in John 8 were also guilty of adultery and likely with this very woman. After all, she was ‘caught’ in the act, which is certainly easier to “catch her” if you were there. I suspect this is what Christ was scratching in the dirt. Adultery remains a civil crime in 16 states in the United States as of 2024, though it is rarely prosecuted.
This was the standard of Jewish law, which Christ knew far better than the “experts” in the Law; and now, with adultery swirling around us, it’s the standard modern Christians desperately want to ignore. With Christ maintaining the OT requirements for the punishment of a capital crime, He could not pronounce her conviction/execution (sic. “Neither do I condemn you…”) after the guilty accusers walked away. He made the point by asking, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?” This does not mean Christ didn’t judge her adultery as sin because he concluded vs. 11, saying, “…go and sin no more.”
Further:
Matthew 7:24 Jesus commands us to judge
“Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:”
Luke 12:57 We are commanded to judge rightly
“Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 Judging with the mind of Christ is the character of being spiritual
“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 5:12-13 We are to judge those in the church
“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 6:5 We are to judge matters between brothers
“I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?”
1 Corinthians 14:29 We are to judge preaching
“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.”
2 Corinthians 11:4 We are to judge doctrine and teaching
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
1 John 2:18-20 We are to judge false Christians
“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the[a] Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things
Ephesians 5:11 We are to judge the deeds and workers of darkness
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Matthew 7:15-16 We are to judge false teachers
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Genesis 19:5,9 We may face the risk of being sodomized when rightly judging
“And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.…Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.”
1 Corinthians 6:2 One day, Christians will judge the world
“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”
Finally, let us consider Q&A 91 of the Heidelberg Catechism
Q. What are good works?
A. Only those which are done out of true faith, conform to God’s law, and are done for God’s glory; and not those based on our own opinion or human tradition.