1. Romans 2:1–3 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Is judging others in and of itself sinful?

Romans 2:1–3 (ESV)

1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

No. In Romans 2:1–3 Paul’s emphasis falls on the false feeling of self-righteousness of a person who makes a negative judgment about his neighbour. Such a person thinks that his ethical judgment over others gives him certain rights or a special position in this world. He believes himself, wrongly, to be safe in his moral stance. And thereby thinks that he can evade God’s judgment—as if a person could somehow be made righteous by his judgment about people and not by faith in the Creator.1