Friday, 31 October 2025

To not J U D G E (!) to S E E and to A C T

This post is untypical of me. It does not present a topic or a passage. It consists of the New Testament references which are relevant and instructive but are in their original order. Careful reading may avoid confusion. Most of the quotes are not directly connected. (Explanation below.)

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6 NIV)


“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. 3 Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7 CSB)


15 Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. 16  You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 19  Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. 20  You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds. (Matthew 7 CEV)


15
“If your brother or sister sins against you,[a] go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If you are listened to, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
21
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven[b] times.
23
“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, (Matthew 18 NRSVUE)


25
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”[a] (Mark 11 ESV)


35
“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
37
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.[a]
39
Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? 40 Students[b] are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.
41
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye[c] when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend,[d] let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
43
“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. (Luke 6 NLT)


Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.
2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister
[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” (Luke 17 NIV)


Therefore, every one of you[a] who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. 3 Do you think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing[b] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2 CSB)


Welcome all the Lord's followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don't criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours.
2 Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. 3 But you should not criticize others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone. 4 What right do you have to criticize someone else's servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right.
5
Some of the Lord's followers think one day is more important than another. Others think all days are the same. But each of you should make up your own mind. 6 Any followers who count one day more important than another day do it to honor their Lord. And any followers who eat meat give thanks to God, just like the ones who don't eat meat.
7
Whether we live or die, it must be for God, rather than for ourselves. 8 Whether we live or die, it must be for the Lord. Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord. 9 This is because Christ died and rose to life, so that he would be the Lord of the dead and of the living. 10  Why do you criticize other followers of the Lord? Why do you look down on them? The day is coming when God will judge all of us. 11  In the Scriptures God says,
“I swear by my very life
that everyone will kneel down
    and praise my name!”
12
And so, each of us must give an account to God for what we do. 13 We must stop judging others. We must also make up our minds not to upset anyone's faith.  (Romans 14 CEV)


9
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[a] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”[b] (1 Corinthians 5 NIV)


16
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. (Colossians 2 NLT)


11
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another speaks evil against the law and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. (James 4 NRSVUE)


16
If anyone sees a fellow believer[a] committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, he should ask, and God will give life to him—to those who commit sin that doesn’t lead to death. There is sin[b] that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.
18
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him,[c] and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.  (1 John 5 CSB)


Quoting from previous post: Jesus said to pray: Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation’” (Luke 11:4 NIV). This is the humble and repentant sinner's prayer.
  
May you be blessed by God
Allen Hampton


Explanation: I was in a discussion in a community Bible group. Arising from one of the above quotes, the topics of identifying and calling out sinful behaviour came up, as did the question of forgiving. I think these are big issues. Sadly, passages may be used to cause people to feel like doormats. I think that is a serious error and should not be. If the truth is reduced to "forgive everyone, all the time, for everything, regardless", then that is wrong. If the wrong understanding is accepted it will put victims "on the back foot".
The challenge is to consider just how exactly the truth is genuinely lived, and not warped.
All of the quotes from the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) are spoken by Jesus.
The above probably needs some examples from the pages of the NT.....
The numbers (chapter and verse) are part of the translations and make location in your Bible easy. They are not in the original. I hope they are not distracting.
(I also hope the format I have used is not a problem.) 

Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture quotations marked (CSB) are from the Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSVUE) are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021

Bible passages by copy and paste from
Bible Gateway

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