Theological term
Golden Rule
3 sermons · All terms
The Prohibition Against Judgmentalism
Matthew 7:1–5 is among the most frequently misapplied texts in Scripture, routinely weaponised to silence any and all Christian judgment. This sermon from the Sermon on the Mount demonstrates that Christ's prohibition targets not judgment as such but the censorious, fault-finding, hypercritical spirit endemic to the Pharisees and to fallen human nature generally. The preacher surveys five legitimate spheres of Christian judgment — identifying false teachers, exercising church discipline, addressing sins of elders, and rendering civil judgments — before expositing the speck-and-plank illustration as Christ's indictment of hypocrisy. The sermon closes with practical counsel for mortifying judgmentalism through dependence on the Holy Spirit, the pursuit of humility, and a right understanding of remaining corruption in oneself and in one's neighbour.
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12, the Golden Rule, functions as the capstone of the Sermon on the Mount's legal teaching: whatever you wish men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. The sermon distinguishes the positive form of the rule from its weaker negative counterpart, showing that Christ's command demands active, unconditional love toward others — not a quid pro quo conditioned on how others treat us. The Golden Rule is examined as a summary of the Decalogue's second table and the love command of Leviticus 19:18, applied concretely to family, church, and society. Yet because the Sermon on the Mount is law, not gospel, its primary effect is to expose sin and drive the hearer to the cross, where justification by faith alone provides the only ground of hope for those who fall short of its demands.
The Prohibition Against Judgmentalism
Matthew 7:1–5 contains not a universal ban on discernment but a precise prohibition against the censorious, fault-finding spirit that delights in the shortcomings of others. Working through three movements — the prohibition itself, Christ's explanation of its consequence, and the plank-and-speck illustration — the sermon establishes that judgmentalism is a serious sin condemned by Christ on the Mount, one attended by self-righteousness, a lack of charity, and a practical denial of remaining corruption in oneself. The application calls believers to seek the Spirit's influence, apply biblical law evenhandedly, pursue humility, and let the cross be the death knell of self-righteousness.