Matthew 7:1-5,

1 “Do not judge lest you be judged. 2“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3“And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

After saying, “Do not judge, for in the way you judge, you will be judged,” Jesus said, ”You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” He is saying don’t accuse or condemn a brother or sister for something when you yourself are guilty of something worse. In other words, clean up your own backyard before you mess with brother’s backyard.

But what about judging our neighbor’s backyard when our backyard is clean? Are we to say, “There but for the grace of God is my backyard?” Of course not, the answer to this question is found in who the backyard belongs to. Is it a believer’s yard or an unbeliever’s yard? If it belongs to an unbeliever we are to make no judgment. If it belongs to someone who claims to be a Christian, we are to make a judgment. 

Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, 9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10 I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12 What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 

The next 20 verses [1 Corinthians 6:1-20] say, 1 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? 3Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, matters of this life? 4If then you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, 6but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? 7Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. 9Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

The Body Is the Lord’s

12All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 13Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body. 14Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be! 16Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO WILL BECOME ONE FLESH.” 17But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.18Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Dear ones, we are instructed to help one another. If we see a brother in sin, we are to go to him and confront him about his sin in an effort to get him to repent and go forward, leaving it behind. We are members of the body of Christ. We are to nurture each member of our body. We are to encourage our brothers and sisters and help them stay true to Jesus. It is just asPeter said in 1 Peter 4:8, Above all, keep fervent in your love, because love covers a multitude of sins. 

When we see a bother or sister in sin we are to point it out and humbly help them in any way we can. We are to love one another. You cannot love a member of your body and turn your head away while it rots or decays.

The brother Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 had sinned and was remaining in that sin like nothing was wrong with it. That’s why Paul didn’t want any brothers or sisters associating with him. Had the man confessed he was doing wrong and repented, he would have been forgiven and his brothers and sisters could associate with him. But Paul did what he had to do. He delivered the man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

This is very serious. We need to lay down doctrines made by men and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through the word of God because He is the Person who reveals the truth to us.

Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant

Please weigh everything I write on the scales of the word of God, and not on opinions. One opinion many have believed is that we cannot walk without sinning, but the word of God says otherwise in several places, one place being 1 Timothy 5:20, Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning. We are to be fearful of sinning, not twisting scriptures and making excuses for them.