How To Understand Righteous and Unrighteous Judgment

Does the Bible tell us to judge between right and wrong? If, for example someone commits a violent crime against another person this can obviously be judged as a wrongful deed (unrighteous), committed by someone acting unlawfully or what also might be referred to as a sinful deed. We should also recognize the good deeds people perform (righteousness) and the people who perform them.

There are times judging deeds and motives is the correct, right thing to do, while other times it is incorrect or the wrong thing to do so. Jesus states in John 7:24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." The steps below will help to distinguish between righteous and unrighteous judgment, as revealed in Bible scriptures.  

1. It is righteous judgment, to evaluate preachers who claim they are bringing God's message. Some who claim to preach from God's word or who are teachers or prophets that have God's message, may not be what they claim to be. A number of Bible scriptures warn that "false prophets" are posing as preachers of the gospel and the message they bring to people can lead them away from God rather than closer to him.

   Matthew 7:15-20 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

   1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

2. It is unrighteous judgment to see others as being lower class citizens compared to us. The Bible, quoting the words of a teaching by Jesus, gives an example of how a person might see himself as righteous apart from God and how he will at the same time see others an unrighteous. This is where the term "self-righteousness" comes from and the Bible and warns that God sees it as a sinful deed when practiced.

   Luke 18:9-14 "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
3. The Bible states that we are to recognize (judge) sin for what it is, otherwise it has more opportunity to affect our lives and fellowship with God. An example in this area is given in I-Corinthians, in which the apostle Paul, writing to a church, expressed disappointment in their not recognizing adultery that was taking place between a man and his stepmother. He also asked them to take action in asking this couple to leave their church fellowship.

   1 Corinthians 5: 1-3 and 12-13 "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
   ...
   What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

These examples from the Holy Bible demonstrate the fact that there are times in which judgment becomes necessary but we are instructed by God's Word to make sure our judging is done with righteousness, rather than unrighteousness.