Now these are the words which Jesus taught his disciples that they should say unto the people: Judge not unrighteously, that you be not judged, but judge righteous judgment; for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And again, you shall say unto them, Why is it that you behold the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the speck, out of your eye, and cannot behold a beam in your own eye? And Jesus said unto his disciples, Do you behold the scribes, and the Pharisees, and the priests, and the Levites? They teach in their synagogues, but do not observe the law nor the commandments, and all have gone out of the way and are under sin. Go and say unto them, Why do you teach men the law and the commandments when you yourselves are the children of corruption? Say unto them, You hypocrites, first cast out the beam out of your own eye, and then shall you see clearly to cast out the speck, out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)
I believe that incorrect application of this commandment is one of the means by which most of mankind fails.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the day of judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for she came from the furthest parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and you behold a greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:41-42)
Realize it is possible to judge others in a manner that opens ourselves to being judged by others in return. By those who are not God. What a sobering thought.
Our desire instead should be to have Christ alone as our judge by striving to judge others only by the standard Christ has given.
Sin is defined as missing the mark, failing, making a mistake, violating a commandment, disobeying or doing one thing when one should be doing other and better things. Violating a commandment in ignorance is still considered a sin.
Despite that, Christ's atonement provides forgiveness for ignorantly sinning without any accountability. But once taught a person is then accountable at which point it requires forgiveness through repentance.
Therefore, when attempting to judge (condemn) someone I first want to forgive them and cleanse my heart of emotional resentments. Then I want to consider whether or not they have been taught such that they should have obeyed but are instead intentionally disobeying (iniquity) or whether or not they haven't been taught that they should have obeyed in that they are unintentionally disobeying (transgression).
Does it make sense that God has a different standard towards the rebellious versus those who desire to obey but haven't yet correctly figured out how to do so?
Believing the above doesn't make me perfect in it's application. I still need to rely on mercy for where I fail to live up to the standard I believe in.
But by having charity towards others and their errors in understanding we allow the Lord to measure charity and mercy towards our unintentional disobedience due to our errors too. This charity allows the Lord in time to lead such an individual to overcome the world and return to His presence.
Living free of all sin is challenging. It requires a great deal of familiarity and understanding regarding what Christ is doing and commanded in our day.
He spoke this parable unto certain men who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank you that I am not as other men — extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:13)
Therefore be careful in how you judge or condemn others lest you do so contrary to Christ's standard and open yourself up to being judged and condemned by others in turn.
