James 4:11

‘He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.’

And one reason why no man should speak against another and set himself up as judge is because by doing so they are speaking against the Law and judging the Law. But we might ask, why should that be so? And the answer is, because of what the Law teaches which by their activities they are refuting. He has told us, for example, that we should not be ‘talebearers’ (Leviticus 19:10). If we then disobey this we are passing judgment on the Law that it is wrong and does not apply to us. The same applies to passing judgment on all those parts of the Law which stress love and mercy, such as, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18). We would not like to be judged by others ourselves, and so we should also avoid judging others. And thus by judging others we are passing a verdict against that Law. We are saying that it is unworkable and not to be observed. But rather than doing that we should approach all with love and sympathy. (Of course if they are blatantly and unrepentantly openly scorning the Law that will be a different matter. Then it will be God Who is passing judgment. But that is not the question that is being dealt with here).

‘But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.’ The point here is that those who are doers of the Law and those who are judges of the Law take up a totally different attitude. The judge is concerned with judging, not with doing. But they have to be concerned with doing. Thus they exclude themselves from being judges. They are no longer impartial.