James 4:11-12

¹¹ Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

There are seven verses in which exhortations to guard the tongue and speech are given: 1:19, 26; 2:12; 3:8-9, 16; 4:11; and 5:9. It seems that this must have been the besetting sin of these believing Jews. Evil, of course, must always be judged, whether it is unsound doctrine or an evil conduct; this belongs to the responsibility of a believer. But God alone, the Righteous Judge, knows the heart and its motives. Speaking against a brother and judging him, that is, pronouncing a sentence of condemnation upon him, is the same as speaking against the law and judging the law. — Gaebelein, page 1134.

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The “law” in [verse 11] is the “royal law” of loving one’s neighbor as oneself. If we are observing the law of love, we will not speak ill of fellow believers (1 John 3:11; 4:7, 20-21). — Grace, page 2200.

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We may disagree with a brother in Christ who holds to an unsound teaching, but we have no right to speak disparagingly of him or judge his motives. A believer who does is setting himself up as a judge. This is exactly the point James is making to his readers: he who speaks against his brother, speaks against the perfect law of liberty, which is the law of love (James 1:25 cf 2:8). If they loved their neighbor, they would not talk behind his back in an attempt to exalt themselves or to further their cause. If they did, they were assuming the role of a judge. James thunders back at such arrogance, “Who art thou that judgest another?” After all, the accuser had his own sins and failures with which to contend. It is God that is the Judge of all the earth, who will deliver the saved and destroy His enemies in the coming days of the Lord. — Sadler, page 115.

slander (v.11) = lit. “speak down on”