“For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the Church? But whose who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” 1 Corinthians 5:12-13

“Wait just a minute! What is all this talk about judging? I thought we are not to judge anybody! Didn’t Jesus tell His disciples to not judge?”

One thing is sure, “Judge not so that you will not be judged” is the sinner’s favorite Scripture to quote when he is confronted with sin. 

 

So why does today’s text say that Christians are to judge those in the Church while God will judge those outside the Church? As Christians, we are our brother and sister’s keeper and we are commanded to take the splinter out of our brother’s eye after first removing the log out of our own eye.This means we judge ourselves first, but does not mean we are to neglect the splinter in our brother’s eye.

The Greek word rendered “judge” here is krino and literally means “to condemn.” This sentiment is sometimes expressed in our language when someone angrily says, “Go to hell!” If you hate another person so strongly that you wish them condemned to hell, then you, yourself are in danger of that doom - Jesus said that by whatever standard you judge by, you will be judged by, and that anyone who is not willing to forgive cannot be forgiven themselves.

Jesus also said to “judge righteously”, and “You will know them by the fruits they bear.”So, we are taught to carefully examine others as well as ourselves. When you or I think of judging a person or a matter it is not condemning but is more closely related to discerning.

The context of our text today concerns a brother practicing sin while in the Church. A man was living with a woman who he was not married to and the local congregation was tolerating it. Paul knew that this was bad for the Church and bad for the man.

 The congregation did not want to be judgmental and were trying to express God’s love, but the Apostle Paul openly rebuked them saying, -“You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead! - Your boasting is not good! - I wrote you to not associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person! - I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved!” and as we see in our text -“remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”

How do you suppose the Church here had become “arrogant” and was “boasting?” Those were very strong allegations leveled at the Church by the Apostle. Actually, Paul could not write those things to the brethren in Corinth unless he had already judged them by the report of two or more witnesses. This was not a condemnation but a righteous judgment made upon testimonies and discernment. Paul strongly corrects the Church for failing to judge the man as a sinner in the Body of Christ and asks, -“Do you not know that we will judge angels?! 

Obviously, they were arrogant because they had exalted themselves above God by judging by a humanistic standard rather than the true and righteous standard of God. They were boasting by believing that they were fulfilling the love of God by not judging this so-called brother a sinner and removing him from the fellowship. 

When the Church laid down their humanistic standard and raised God’s righteous standard, the man later repented of his sin and was restored. He would never have come to repentance if they had continued to comfort him in his sins. The devil had the man in his grasp and his sin would eventually spread to others in the Church- in frustration Paul asks, - "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 

The Church is the pillar and foundation of the Truth and we are being judged by the Scriptures. Peter wrote that judgment begins with the Household of God - we are being judged now whether we obey and follow God or esteem and follow man and his ways. If we fail to obey this instruction commanded by an Apostle, we are arrogant and boastful and are in danger of condemnation.