Christians are both forbidden and commanded to judge:

1
The Bible and Judging

• Christians are both forbidden and commanded to
  judge
• 24 Judge not according to the appearance, but
  judge righteous judgment (John 7).

2
The Bible and Judging

• Righteous judgment
• Verse 24. Judge not according to the appearance.
  Not as a thing first offers itself to you,
  without reflection or candor. In appearance, to
  circumcise a child on the Sabbath might be a
  violation of the law yet you do it, and it is
  right. So, to appearance, it might be a violation
  of the Sabbath to heal a man, yet it is right to
  do works of necessity and mercy. Judge righteous
  judgment. Candidly looking at the law (Albert
  Barnes, cp. Luke 1 6, Gal. 2 14, John 12 48,
  cp. Deut. 1 16, 17).

3
The Bible and Judging

• What is judging?
• Judge (Noun and Verb) Verb krino primarily
  denotes "to separate, select, choose" hence, "to
  determine," and so "to judge, pronounce
  judgment." "The uses of this verb in the NT may
  be analyzed as follows
• (a) to assume the office of a judge,, John 3
  17.
• (b) to undergo process of trial, John 3
  18....(c) to give sentence, Acts 15 19 Acts
  16 4 Acts 21 25. (d) to condemn, John 12
  48 Rom. 2 27. (e) to execute judgment upon, 2
  Thes. 2 12

4
The Bible and Judging

• What is judging?
• (f) to be involved in a lawsuit, whether as
  plaintiff, Matt. 5 40 I Cor. 6 1 or as
  defendant, Acts 23 6. (g) to administer
  affairs, to govern, Matt. 19 28 cp. Judg. 3
  10. (h) to form an opinion, Luke 7 43 John 7
  24 Acts 4 19 Rom. 14 5. (i) to make a
  resolve, Acts 3 13 I Cor. 2 2" From Notes on
  Thessalonians by Hogg and Vine, p. 267.

5
The Bible and Judging

• Jesus encouraged judging
• 54 And he said also to the people, When ye see
  a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say,
  There cometh a shower and so it is.
• 55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say,
  There will be heat and it cometh to pass. 56 Ye
  hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky
  and of the earth but how is it that ye do not
  discern this time? 57 Yea, and why even of
  yourselves judge ye not what is right? (Luke
  12.)

6
The Bible and Judging

• Paul was asked to judge Lydia
• 15 And when she was baptized, and her
  household, she besought us, saying, If ye have
  judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into
  my house, and abide there. And she constrained
  us (Acts 16).

7
The Bible and Judging

• Christians were to judge the church
• 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there
  is not a wise man among you? no, not one that
  shall be able to judge between his brethren? 6
  But brother goeth to law with brother, and that
  before the unbelievers. 7 Now therefore there is
  utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law
  one with another (I Cor. 6).

8
The Bible and Judging

• We must avoid sinful judging
• - Must be righteous judgment -
• Subjective judgment (I feel).
• Ascribing motives (You did it because).
• Emotionally judging.
• Censorious judgment (cp. Jas. 4 11, 12).

9
The Bible and Judging
Do Not Judge
Do Judge
If worse than subject
Jesus taught judging
By appearance only
Romans asked to judge
Paul judged
If just as bad
If in area of liberty
Judgment in reasoning
Using the right law
Using wrong law
10
The Bible and Judging

• "God created male and female and intended that a
  man be a man and a woman be a woman and that in
  marriage they would produce a family. From the
  Old Testament we learn that homosexuality is a
  sin....  The apostle Paul clearly taught that
  people can repent and discontinue homosexuality
  as well as other sins, 1 Corinthians 69-11."

11
The Bible and Judging

• The discerning of spirits

10 To another the working of miracles to
another prophecy to another discerning of
spirits to another divers kinds of tongues to
another the interpretation of tongues (I Cor.
12). The above refers to miraculous ability
provided to some in the First Century (v. 11).
We can discern today, using the word and gathered
facts.
12
The Bible and Judging

• The discerning of spirits
• 1. By their teaching Acts 15 2, 1, 5, 24.
• 2. By their deeds Acts 20 18, 19, 33, 34.
• 3. By what they do not do Matt. 23 3, 4.
• 4. By physical appearance John 7 24, cp. 23,
  5 8, 9. See Proverbs 7 10.

13
The Bible and Judging

• Conclusion
• Let us faithfully fulfill our duty to rightly
  judge and avoid all sinful judgments. Good
  judgment is an essential to happiness and the
  avoidance of choices that result in hurt and
  misery.