Biblical Separation Defended - Far Eastern Bible College

himself a prophet, or a brother. Titus 3:10 orders Christians to reject aheretic after the second admonition, and the only possible way that aChristian can obey this command is by judging the man’s orthodoxy ofdoctrine. In 1 Corinthians 5:12 Paul’s question, “Do ye not judge themthat are within?” is calling for the administration of Church disciplinewhich cannot be performed without forming an opinion about otherChristians. Is Christ in John 7:24 contradicting Matthew 7:1, when inJohn’s Gospel He utters the command which has universal application,“Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment”?The only explanation for a resolution between the command ofMatthew 7:1 and the multitude of biblical injunctions which require theforming of opinions about people, including other Christians, is torealize that Matthew 7:1 forbids censoriousness and not the necessaryduty of forming opinions about persons. The alternative to this is forChristians to abandon Church discipline; to despise civil judicialproceedings against crime; to forsake any attempt to cleanse the Church;and to give up all hope of protecting the lambs from false prophets andheretics; and to assume all men to be perfectly honest.The verse has been rightly understood to forbid censoriousness, andnot to forbid the judging of others per se, by the commentators Calvin,Alford, Lenski, Barnes, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and a myriad of otherworthies. On that misinterpretation of this verse which sees any and alljudging of others for any reason forbidden, Calvin declares:Hence it is evident, that this passage is altogether misapplied bythose persons who would desire to make that moderation, whichChrist recommends, a pretence for setting aside all distinctionbetween good and evil. We are not only permitted, but are evenbound, to condemn all sins; unless we choose to rebel againstGod himself,–nay, to repeal his laws, to reverse his decisions,and to overturn his judgment-seat. It is his will that we shouldproclaim the sentence that he pronounces on the actions of men:only we must preserve such modesty towards each other, as tomake it manifest that he is the only Lawgiver and Judge, (Isa.xxxiii 22). 7Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the able English expository preacher, in his book,Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, declares on the verse in question:55