Romans 2:1-2 (NIV)
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
I know there was another thread about judging a while back. It was too voluminous for me to read. I don't know if this passage was discussed. However I'd like to proffer it now. "Judge not lest ye be judged" is often quoted concerning those who are judgmental.
This passage seems to build further. The problem with judging, this passage reveals, is that those who judge others are guilty of the same things. Of course, if you're judgmental you're probably too proud to believe that you're guilty of one or more of the following:
* Every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
* Being full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
* Being gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful.
* Inventing ways of doing evil.
* Being disobedient to parents.
* Having no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
This is the list of sinful behavior Paul lists in
Romans 1. Of course, he wasn't writing with chapters and verses, he was writing a letter. Therefore he continues with
Romans 2:1. I think Eugene Peterson says it best in his paraphrase:
"Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done."
Romans 2:1-2 (The Message)
The consistent message of Scripture is that God is no respecter of persons. That there is none that does good. There is none righteous, no not one. That ALL are guilty of breaking God's laws. It doesn't matter what law or laws we break, breaking even one law makes us a lawbreaker and we are condemned by the law. The breaking of law is sin and the wages of sin is death.
Therefore, there is no excuse, according to scripture to ever be judgmental. We are all guilty and we all need God's mercy. When we see someone else in sin, falling, failing, bound and torn by sin, we should do all we can to LOVE,
help, and forgive them whether in word, thought, or deed---considering ourselves lest we fall.
Being judgmental condemns not only the sinner but the sinner condemning them.
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