"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:15-20
Once again, Jesus commands that we make judgments, particularly about those who allegedly speak for God. This applies to everyone who purports to speak for God. This is not limited to those who presume to call themselves or claim the office of Prophet. In our day we are wise to automatically doubt the veracity of anyone who claims to be a prophet in that sense.
Jesus’ words about judging those who speak for God applies to all preachers, teachers, and authors. It applies to counselors, and even friends or family members who offer counsel. How do we judge them? Here are five criterion:
First, in this passage Jesus calls us to “know them by their fruits.” Their fruits means two things: (a) the results of their words; and/or (b) the spiritual fruit (maturity) in their own lives.
Second, God warned in His law (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) that we are to judge the genuineness of a prophet who speaks about the future by whether what he says will come to pass actually comes to pass. So much for the majority of end times gurus. The penalty for false prophets who fail this test in the Old Testament was death!
Third, Isaiah 8:20 warns not to heed the words, of those who claim to speak for God, that are not according to the Word of God (the Bible), because “there is no light in them.” In other words, we are not to trust anyone who says anything that is not biblical.
Fourth and fifth, 1 John 4:1-6 gives two more tests: (a) If a person is wrong about Christ (God’s most complete and perfect “Word”), we are not to trust their words about any other spiritual matter. (b) Because the words of God are routinely rejected by the world, if the world heeds the words of a so-called prophet, we can be assured they are not God’s Words.
So, again, Jesus’ words, “Judge not” (Matthew 7:1) cannot mean that we are to make no judgments whatsoever. Clearly, Jesus’ words in the rest of the chapter (as well as the rest of the Bible), command us to make many judgments about many things. What we are not to do is condemn anyone since that job belongs to God alone!