The Bible teaches us that it is impossible to give a final judgement on a person (Rom 14:4; 1 Sam 16:7) and wrong to judge someone’s actions according to our standards (Matt 7:1–5). Yet the Bible also commends the good and tells us to avoid evil. And surely we can tell someone that they have sinned or done evil, or else how would justice be possible?
The Bible wisely tells us neither to give a final judgment on a person nor to judge their actions according to our standards.
Yet the Bible does tell us to judge.
It tells us to judge according to the word of God. In so doing, we “may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2). And we can “by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:14).
This discernment, this act of distinguishing requires us to judge between good and evil so that we can know “what is good and acceptable and perfect,” that is, “the will of God.” It also means we can tell someone that worshipping a false god is wrong; worshipping the true God is right.
We then can say, repent and believe in the Gospel since we have rightly judged that they need to turn from idols to the living God.
What about Church Discipline?
Matthew 18 provides a good illustration. In that passage, Jesus speaks about a brother sinning against another brother. Let’s say Joe stole from Bob. Joe can tell Bob, you sinned against me. Return the money. If that does not work, two or three witnesses who saw the sin can confirm Joe’s accusation.
Eventually, the whole church can say, Bob, you are sinning, won’t stop sinning, and refuse to make things right. You must repent.
If Bob doesn’t repent, then Bob shows by his actions that he is unwilling to live a Christian life, a life of willingness to repent of sin. He keeps the money, refuses to repent, and so by implication lives as a non-Christian.
While nobody can know Bob’s heart (1 Sam 16:7), they can know that Bob objectively defrauded someone with two or three witnesses present to confirm it. And if Bob does not repent, then he is by his actions unwilling to be part of the Christianity community. Unrepented sin against a brother eventually splits one from the congregated body of Christ on earth.
Maybe Bob repents later, or maybe he does so on his death bed, or perhaps he repents like the thief on the cross. We don’t know. A church does not judge the whole course of a person’s life. As a pastor said to me recently, church discipline means that a church cannot affirm someone’s profession of faith.
No Final Judgments
We should not give final judgment about a person. The Lord alone does that. We should not judge someone’s actions according to our standards. We should judge actions according to the Word of God.
And sometimes that means we have to say, your actions mean that I cannot affirm your profession of faith. There is nothing in your actions that makes your confession obvious. Bob greedily kept the money, even when two witnesses confirmed his theft. He loved the money. He would not repent. Christians cannot live a life of unrepentance.
Unrepentant sin does not mean we say, Bob is done forever. It means, here and now, he needs to repent. Until he does, we can see no evidence of his profession. Jesus, after all, commands, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt 4:17).
Conclusion
In summary, it’s impossible to judge a person (Rom 14:4), wrong to judge actions according to your own standards (Matt 7:1–5), but right and necessary to judge actions according to the Word of God. Sometimes that means you cannot affirm someone’s profession of faith, while admitting that we can not know anyone’s heart as God does (1 Sam 16:7; John 2:25).
