"Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?" (James 4:11-2).

Hupo-Krites - Pharisees

Christians are forbidden to judge others when such judgment entails intolerance of another's sin coupled with blindness of one's own sin (Matthew 7:1-6; Luke 6:37; John 8:7; Romans 2:1-4)

If we are going to stand up and confront other people in the church about something being wrong, we had better make sure we are not guilty of the same thing.

Here the prefix hupo is added to krites, giving us the English word hypocrites. This is what Jesus meant when He said:

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (Matthew 7:1-6).

"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things" (Romans 2:1).

Does Jesus want us to close our eyes to evil and error? Absolutely not! Those would all be misapplications of Jesus' teaching. In the first place, He was not commanding blind acceptance but rather grace toward others. Since all of us deal with flesh patterns from time to time, we need to stop bothering with the failing of others and start attending to serious issues of our own. We are sometimes appointed to krites, but we should never, ever hupo-krites.

Christians in Court?

Although God is the Judge of all, He has appointed people under Him to judge. The Bible encourages Christians to judge [krites] what is right for themselves and thus avoid pagan lawcourts.

"Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? Luke 12:58 When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. Luke 12:59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite" (Luke 12:57-59).

"Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" (I Corinthians 6:1,4-7).

Scripture is explicit: taking another Christian to court is an "utter failure." What, then, should we as believers do when we have disputes that normally call for litigation? Paul recommends that we take the matter before wise believers who can make a judgment (I Corinthians 5:3-5; I Corinthians 6:4-5). But suppose we can't arrange that? Then Paul says it would be better to "accept wrong" than to go before unbelievers for judgment. Why? Well, because the court system doesn't base their decisions on what the Bible says but rather opinion. Remember, the Bible tells us that "judgment must begin at the house of God" (I Peter 4:17).

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican" (Matthew 18:15-17).

Judging Fruit

The Bible tells us that we are called to judge reputed prophets by their fruits:

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16-20).

Remember, Jesus said you would know people and be able to judge them by their fruit; He never said you would know a "phenomenon" such as a revival by its fruit.

Judging Prophecy

We are commanded in the Bible to judge prophecy. Look what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth:

"And let two or three prophets speak, and let the others [diakrino] pass judgment" (I Corinthians 14:29).

"But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).

Jesus warned that there would be many false prophets in the last days. Besides judging their fruit, how can we discern whether or not a prophet is false? Well, according to the passage above, if a prophecy does not come to pass, then the prophet is a false prophet. Although false prophets are not stoned today, their "ministries" definitely should be.

I Corinthians 14:29 does not say that we are entitled to diakrino prophets or prophecies, but rather we are commanded to judge prophecies and prophets. Now, remember, we cannot krino (judge) anyone. The thing that God has said will krino [judge]. We have to anakrino (discern); are things of God, man, or of the devil? We must diakrino (render a decision) based on whether something is morally right or wrong by biblical standards.

Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." If you fail to diakrino, you are failing to keep His commandments. If you fail to diakrino, you will allow these false prophets to keep on giving people "words" from their own flesh or from Satan. People like that should be brought to account and exposed.

Judging Righteously

"Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, 'Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his fellow countrymen, or the alien who is with him" (Deuteronomy 1:16).

Beloved, this was not advice but rather a command. We are to "Judge with right judgment" (John 7:24).

Conclusion

In today's society, nobody seems to take responsibility for their own actions anymore. How can we expect society to live up to God's standards, when the Church will not even live up to God's standards?

The Church must set the example. We must be salt and light to a society that has turned its back on God. Unsaved people are watching the Church, when they see the church as lukewarm, it gives them a license to sin. We as individuals must take responsibility for our own lives and our own choices. It is up to the Church to righteously judge according to the Word to ensure that Jesus will have a pure Bride (a Church without blemish or spot) when He returns.