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Luke 6:37–38
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” (v. 37).
It would be difficult to find a verse more widely misquoted in our day than Luke 6:37. Make a moral evaluation of any kind, and it will not be too long before someone tells us that Jesus instructed us to “judge not.” Our Savior is quoted as if He meant that we should never make any judgments regarding the moral behavior of others and that He is just fine with licentiousness.
Certainly, Jesus cannot mean that we should stop making all moral judgments and that we should never disapprove of the actions of others. After all, our Savior frequently issued judgments during His earthly ministry, rebuking hypocrites who pretended that they were better than they actually were (Matt. 23:1–36) as well as those who sinned more openly (John 4:16–18). Contrary to popular imagination, Jesus did not go about accepting everyone no matter what, fellowshiping with people even when they refused to repent.
Our Savior means to warn us not to make judgments untempered by mercy and to use the same measure when judging others that we use for ourselves. The context here is key. Jesus has just given many beatitude pairs that stress our need to love our enemies and to be generous (Luke 6:27–36). Such love and generosity will form our characters in a merciful direction and produce in us a propensity to look for the best in others. Jesus is warning against harboring a judgmental spirit that is overly interested in the faults of others and is exhorting us to develop the same patience toward others that we show toward ourselves. John Calvin comments, “The design of Christ was to guard us against indulging excessive eagerness, or peevishness, or malignity, or even curiosity, in judging our neighbors.” Calvin also writes, “It is not necessary that believers should become blind, and perceive nothing, but only that they should refrain from an undue eagerness to judge.”
Believers should be slow to condemn and quick to forgive. The same measure that we use in evaluating others will be used in God’s judgment of us. Honest ancient sellers of grain would pack the bushel so tightly that every available space was filled with the crop and some would spill over. In like manner, the standard of judgment will be shown to us. If we are merciful, so much mercy will be shown to us that there will be no room in the “bushel” of the Lord’s judgment for anything else (Luke 6:38).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
In declaring that God will use a similar manner in judging us that we use in judging others, Jesus is not saying that God will abandon His law or that we can avoid condemnation simply by being nice to others. The only way to eternal life is to believe the gospel. Christ’s point is that we have no right to expect God to show mercy to us if we do not imitate Him in showing mercy to others. If we do not show mercy, we do not know the gospel.
for further study
- Psalm 18:25
- Isaiah 42:1–3
- Matthew 7:1–2
- John 7:24
the bible in a year
- Joshua 20–22
- Luke 6:1–26