One of the most abused passages in scripture is 'Judge not lest ye be judged'. I have seen it posted here on numerous occasions over the past few days, usually by those who are shaken by Gospel.

A few things need to be said about this passage.
First, the unsaved people who use it take it totally out of context. This passage refers to HYPOCRITICAL judgment, and has nothing to do with the scriptural duty of every Christian to discern whether a particular person is speaking truth or uttering the lies of the devil. This passage is a prohibition of hypocracy.

Elsewhere in scripture, Jesus Christ commanded his people that they need to "Judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). He told one man that he "hast rightly judged" (Luke 7:43) and asked others, "Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?" (Luke 12:57). In order to do the work that God requires of us, we need to know who's in the camp and who's still in sin. How else can young Christians recognise sound teaching from that of the devil, and how else can we know who so desperately needs to repent and come to Christ? We need to be in a position where we can quickly identify sin, and cast it out from our midst.

Those who are not born again in Christ ought to avoid citing scripture altogether, for the Spirit of God has not opened their eyes to its meaning. These men will not escape the judgment of God for twisting the Truth of His Word (2 Peter 3:16), so they best leave scriptures aside for those of us who genuinely KNOW the Lord Jesus and go back to their theology textbooks and philosophical musings.