Biblical Word Studies Class 8:
You Be The Judge

C. Michael Holloway
8 November 1998

1. Opening and prayer.
2. Rather than me doing the review this time, I'll let you do it. What have we talked about in the previous 7 classes? ...
1. The basic goal of the class is to increase our understanding of the meaning of certain words used in the Bible. We're doing this by concentrating on determining the meaning of certain English words as they appear in the New American Standard translation.
2. The word heart has several different meanings in the Bible, but that it most often expresses the totality of a person's nature and character and includes all 3 of the traditional personality functions of man: the affections, the intellect, and the volition.
3. The words knowledge, understanding, and wisdom are intimately related, but not quite synonymous.
4. The Bible speaks of a difference in types of knowledge, but the commonly used phrases 'head knowledge' and 'heart knowledge' are not particularly good ones to describe the distinction that the Bible makes. Better phrases would be 'propositional acquaintance' and 'knowledge'.
5. Gossip and slander are at the root different manifestations of the same sin, namely, saying something about someone that you ought not say.
6. Humility is 'esteeming oneself as altogether contemptible and odious in oneself; attended with a mortification of the disposition to exalt oneself, a free renunciation of one's own glory, and an exaltation of Christ above all'. It is intimately intertwined with all the other attributes of holiness; it cannot be pursued in isolation. You cannot be humble, and not be righteous. You cannot be righteous, and not be humble.
7. In Matthew 7:1, Jesus does not forbid judging, he simply tells us that the Golden Rule applies to judging just like it does to other things.
3. We are continuing this morning with the word judge, in particular as it is used as a verb. For the benefit of any of you who weren't here last week, let me quickly review some basic facts about the word.
1. The word judge and its variants (not including judgment) appear 292 times in 256 verses in the NASB.
1. 189 of those times and 170 of the verses are in the Old Testament.
2. 103 times and 86 verses are in the New Testament.
2. The most common Hebrew word translated as judge is shapat. This word refers primarily to the exercises of government. Although I didn't do a count, I believe that judge is used in the O.T. primarily as a noun.
3. In the New Testament, judge is used as a verb 81 times in 69 verses. The Greek word underlying nearly all of these occurrences is krino. Its basic meaning is to separate, choose, select, or determine. Like the English word judge, it has many different shades of meaning.
4. The following definition from the 1913 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary captures many of these shades of meaning: "To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their relations and attributes, and thus distinguish truth from falsehood; to determine; to discern; to distinguish; to form an opinion about."
4. Your homework for this week was the following: List at least 3 forms of judging that the Scripture forbids, and at least 1 form of judging that the Scripture requires.
5. Let's talk about the second part of the question first. What are some kinds of judging that the Scripture requires? ...
1. Judging yourself. We talked about this at the end of last week's class. 2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?
2. Judging correctness of doctrine.
1. There is ample Scriptural evidence for this form of judging. Here are four passages.
1. Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn [or better, NKJV there is no light in them].
2. Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.
3. Ephesians 4:14-16 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; {15} but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, {16} from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
4. 1 Corinthians 10:15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say.
2. In judging doctrinal correctness, we need to remember the distinction I mentioned last week between those things that are indisputably true and those things that are only possibly or probably true. That is, we need to remember the difference between good and necessary consequence and probable consequence.
1. The conclusion of some line of reasoning is true by good and necessary consequence if
1. It is not possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false, and
2. All of the premises are true.
2. The conclusion of some line of reasoning is only probably or possibly true if one or more of these two conditions do not hold, and no argument by good and necessary consequence exists to show that the conclusion must be false.
3. Very often people treat all plausible (and even many implausible) assertions as if they were reached by good and necessary consequence, when they were not.
4. Here are some examples from theology that illustrate the difference.
1. Consider this statement: Every man and woman who has ever lived, save one, is born and lives a sinner. This is indisputably true. It is not possible to deny this proposition without contradicting the Scripture.
2. Here's another statement: That God is one God in three persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- is also indisputably true. It, too, is indisputably true. Although no one Scripture passage states this proposition, it follows by good and necessary consequence from the Scripture, so it is not possible to deny this propositions without contradicting the Scripture.
3. Here's another one: The book of Revelation was written before the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, and is referring primarily to the events leading up to and including that destruction. I believe this is true. This proposition is supported by some good internal and external evidence. However, this proposition is not stated explicitly in the Scripture, nor does it follow by good and necessary consequence. It is possible to believe something else without contradicting Scripture, as, in fact, have the majority of Christians during the last several hundred years.
4. As a final example, consider the various positions on eschatology: post-millennialism, a-millenialism, classical premillennialism, dispensational premillennialism.
• Not one of these can be shown to follow from the Scripture by good and necessary consequence (or to be precise, no one has yet shown that one of the these views follows from the Scripture by good and necessary consequence).
• The best a proponent of one of these views can do is try to show that his view explains more of the Scriptural evidence than any of the other views. And even this can't be done by good and necessary consequence.
• Plausible arguments can be given for any one of the first three views that I mentioned. Which one you find to be most compelling probably depends more on your personality and background than on anything else.
3. Judging sinful behavior.
1. There is ample Scriptural evidence for this kind of judging, too.
2. Let's look at two passages.
1. 1 Corinthians 5 {1} It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. {2} And you have become arrogant, and have not mourned instead, in order that the one who had done this deed might be removed from your midst. {3} For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. .... {13} But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
2. Deuteronomy 25:1-2 "If there is a dispute between men and they go to court, and the judges decide their case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, {2} then it shall be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of stripes according to his guilt."
4. Others ...
6. Let's now talk about kinds of judging that are forbidden by Scripture. Name some. ...
1. Judging based on insufficient evidence, such as relying on rumors or suspicions.
1. Proverbs 18:13 He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.
2. John 7:24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
3. Deuteronomy 17:6 On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
2. Judging the motives of others.
1. Can someone give me an example from the Bible of when someone judged another's motives? ... Job 1:8-11 NKJV Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" {9} So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? {10} Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. {11} But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"
2. There are several passages which suggest that God alone is able to accurately judge the motives of others.
1. 1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.
2. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
3. Psalms 44:21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
3. Judging hypocritically.
1. The passage from Matthew 7 that we looked at last week discussed this form of judging.
2. Another passage that addresses it is Romans 2:1-3 Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. {2} And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. {3} And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?
3. Charles Spurgeon wrote this concerning our tendency towards hypocrisy in judging others: "Our judgement may be compared to the scales and weights of the merchant. It should be correct, but it seldom is quite accurate. ... False weights and balances are an abomination to the Lord, yet many use them, and they use balances far too favorable to themselves. ... Tradesman who have one set of weights to buy with and others to sell with are evidently rogues. We may convict ourselves of injustice at once if we find ourselves severe to other men and lenient to ourselves. Fraudulent shopkeepers will use a movable piece of metal; by removing it they can lighten the weight of the scale. We too may have a convenient indignation which we may restrain or indulge according as the person whose fault we judge may be the object of our goodwill or our displeasure. ... There is a great weighing time coming, for which it will be well to be prepared, for woe to him whom the infallible balances shall find wanting."
4. When I think of judging hypocritically, the first thing that comes to mind is judgements involving sin. As a parent, I've caught myself more often than I care to admit expecting my children to meet higher standards than I expect myself to meet. This is especially true when it comes to complying with Philippians 2:14 (Do all things without grumbling or disputing).
5. But it is also possible to judge hypocritically in regards to theology. How? ...
1. By expecting others to be doctrinally perfect, when we ourselves are not.
2. Everyone has theological blind spots, areas in which they're way off base. Pick any great theologian throughout the ages, and you can probably point out at least one area in which he appeared to depart from a biblical position in one way or another.
1. Augustine had a truly looney view of creation.
2. Martin Luther's view on the Lord's Supper was only marginally better than the Roman Catholic view.
3. Jonathan Edwards view on the entrance of sin into the world was so out of the mainstream of reformed theology that John Gerstner wrote that his blood froze when he first read it.
3. The problem is that each one of us has those areas, too, and we can't see them. If we could see them, they wouldn't be blind spots, would they?
4. So, we need to be just as careful in judging the doctrinal correctness of others as we do in judging their behavior.
4. Judging based on standards other than those God gives in the Bible. There are at least three types of this.
1. One way to judge using non-Biblical standards is to give preference to one group or person over another, where God has forbidden it.
1. James 2:1-4 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. {2} For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, {3} and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," {4} have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
2. Leviticus 19:15 You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
2. Another way to judge using non-Biblical standards to judge as sin something that God has not called sin.
1. In Romans 14, Paul discusses liberty issues -- that is actions about which the Bible does not give instructions about what to do -- and he writes in verses 10-13: But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. {11} For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD." {12} So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God. {13} Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this-- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.
2. Colossians 2:16-23 Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- {17} things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. {18} Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, {19} and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. {20} If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, {21} "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" {22} (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using)-- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? {23} These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
3. Can you think of some examples of this form of judging? ... In all of these examples, it is certainly possible to sin, but it is also possible to have a fairly wide range of differences, without anything within that range being sinful.
1. drinking alcohol
2. how one dresses
3. preference in music styles
4. how one spends the Lord's day
5. educational choices for children
3. A third way to judge using non-Biblical standards is to administer punishment that is inconsistent with Biblical standards.
1. 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, {7} so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest somehow such a one be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. {8} Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
2. Luke 17:3-4 "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. {4} And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."
3. Ephesians 6:4 "And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." We need to especially careful not to over-punish our children. If we give the same punishment for squirming at the dinner table as we do for lying, there's something wrong. The first isn't a sin, unless we make it into one by forbidding it; the second is high on God's list of things He hates.
5. Judging when you're not the proper judge.
1. God has established civil government to handle the judging and punishing of criminals. The Scripture does not condone vigilantes.
2. Similarly, God has established church government to handle the judging and punishing of gross sin and doctrinal error.
6. Others ...
7. I'll close by suggesting to you three applications of our study of judging these past two weeks. I'm sure you can think of more.
1. Be much more concerned about judging yourself than you are about judging others.
2. When you have to judge another, be sure you judge using Biblical standards.
3. Whenever you find yourself thinking about why someone else did what they did, stop it.
8. Our words for the next two weeks will be all, world, and predestined. Your homework for next week is to read the following passages: John 3:1-21, 2 Peter 3, and Romans 8-9.