Sermon on the Mount #39 Is Christianity Judgmental? #3

From our text, Jesus teaches that there are two truths about judging others that are at opposite ends to one another. First, Jesus condemns all of our sinful judging of others when He commands, “Judge not” i.e. “Stop judging sinfully” (Matthew 7:1). Second, Jesus approves our judging others in certain circumstances when He
commands, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). How can this second command be obeyed if we make no judgment as to when people act like dogs and swine? People that are behaving like dogs and swine do not go around with signs on their foreheads. We will only know by judging their behavior by God's Word.

Jesus is in no way contradicting what He had previously prohibited by way of sinful judging, but now He makes clear that all judging of others is not necessarily sinful judging. Christ does not mean for this to be viewed by us as the opportunity we have been waiting for—finally we can judge others by calling them dogs or pigs. We can finally unleash all of our vindictive bitterness toward people who act like dogs and pigs. Dear ones, that
would not be righteous judgment, but sinful judgment proceeding not from the right standard (God's Word), nor from the right motive (love for God and neighbor), nor from the right goal (God's glory).