On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (06/09/21), Hank moves onto chapter 7 of the Gospel of Matthew, which is the final chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most brilliant sermons. The chapter opens with Jesus instructing His audience, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2 NIV). A verse that Hank often thinks is the most popular verse in the Bible—at least for skeptics. Jesus here is not contradicting what He says elsewhere in Scripture. For example, in John 7:24, Jesus tells us to judge—but when we do to make a right judgment. “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” The point here is that we must never judge self-righteously or hypocritically. Rather when we judge we should do so rightly and righteously. We tend to be gracious in our own judgments of self and often do not afford others the same graciousness that we would hope is applied to us. Thus, before we tell others what or what not to do, we should first look in the mirror and make sure that the mirror does not reflect the very sins we are judging others of.

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