Judgment + Mercy = Discernment
1 Corinthians Series
August 31st, 2025 CCCAG
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:1–11 (CSB)
Introduction: Misunderstanding Judgment
If I asked you what the most quoted bible verse in America is-
What do you think would be the answer?
Some might say John 3:16: “For God so loved the world…” But I don’t think that’s true. I think the verse most people know—and ALMOST ALWAYS take out of context—is Matthew 7:1: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
This is especially true if you’ve ever tried to talk with someone about the bible. Sooner or later, you touch on a subject that brings conviction of sin, or touches a sensitive part of their lives and the immediate response is; “Don’t judge me! The Bible says not to judge!”
Would you agree with that?
But here’s the problem: when the world hears the word “judge,” they think only of condemnation. They think of a gavel slamming down, a cold face behind a bench saying, “Guilty!”
But when Scripture talks about judgment, it means something richer and deeper. It means to weigh something.
It means to separate truth from lies, to identify what is righteous and what is sinful.
That is the crux of what we are going to be studying today, how to judge like God judges, not only with the letter of the law, but also with mercy.
With that in mind, Let’s open together to 1 Corinthians 6:1–11.
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:1–11 (CSB)
If any of you has a dispute against another, how dare you take it to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases?
3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life?
4 So if you have such matters, do you appoint as your judges those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers? 6 Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers!
7 As it is, to have legal disputes against one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and you do this to brothers and sisters! 9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males,, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
PRAYER
My goal today with this message is that I want us today to see what God has to say about using judgment, because the world today seems to tell us that we are not to judge any behavior or action.
But that isn’t biblical, it isn’t even practical for a civilized society never to judge wrongdoing.
In fact, think about this for a moment- the less a culture judges what is right and wrong, the more uncivilized the behavior becomes.
Think about what happens when we go soft on crime. What happens?
More crime, in even greater degrees.
That’s human nature.
This is why it’s very important for us to be able to judge right from wrong.
Now in the church, we have the bible to show us what is right and what is wrong.
That bible shows by defining what is right is if it is a reflection of God’s nature and character.
Conversely, we can define what is wrong as something that does not reflect God’s nature and character.
That helps us not only judge with the letter of the law, but the reason behind that law.
So how do we see the law in action? How do we apply it to judging what is right and what is wrong?
The first step is to realize that-
I. Law Is Law — God Sets the Standard
Here’s the principle: righteousness demands that law breakers be dealt with appropriately. God doesn’t wink at sin. He doesn’t excuse it. He is holy, and His law reflects His holiness.
- If someone steals, it’s sin.
- If someone lies, it’s sin.
- If someone commits sexual immorality, it’s sin.
And the law demands a consequence for its violation.
The consequences or wages of sin is death. That’s God’s Law.
It is irrefutable, immovable, and will always be applied to every situation.
We see this also in the law of sowing and reaping. Another way of saying- Cause and effect.
If you plant a bunch of poison ivy, don’t be surprised when your skin itches.
Therefore, judging what is good and what is bad is fairly straightforward in most circumstances.
That is why Paul uses this illustration of something that was going on in the church to highlight this point.
Believers in Corinth were dragging each other before pagan judges, asking unbelievers to settle their disputes.
This horrified Paul.
Why?
First because the Corinthian believers were showing everyone around them that they were no different that unbelievers- they care more about their wealth or property than they did showing the Christian ideals of forgiveness and generosity.
The people of that church had forgotten or never understood the debt that God had forgiven them and the price HE paid to settle that sin debt in sending Jesus to the cross.
They were acting like the servant who was forgiven a massive debt by his master, only to find a person who owed him a dollar and began to choke and beat him and demand to be paid back.
Paul sharply rebukes their behavior, saying it’s better to be cheated than to drag the church through such a public embarrassment.
The apostle then sits down and teaches them some truth. He makes the point-
1. We have the Word of God to help discern what is right and what is wrong
2. We have the Holy Spirit living within us to help us apply that word to judge correctly.
Then Paul drops a truth bomb-
Christians should be comfortable using these two things to discern the will of God, because in the future, you and I will even judge the angels.
That’s staggering.
I spent hours looking at this fact- how do we judge beings that have never sinned.
Judging has different meanings in this context- the first we have been talking about- determining right and wrong.
In the context of angels, since Godly angels have NEVER sinned, there is nothing to judge in that context.
Therefore the angels here in 1 Corinthians 6 is probably referring to the fallen angels, or demons.
Imagine for a moment- that evil spirit that has plagued you for your entire life- tempted you into the worst mistakes and sin of your life…
Now stands before you as it’s judge.
There is another way that the bible uses the term judge, and that is to reign and rule, such as in the book of Judges in the bible that tells of people who ruled Israel between the time of Moses and Joshua to the time of the kings.
In that sense, that fits in with Jesus’ own words that we will reign and rule with HIM in the coming kingdom.
Paul uses both of these points to show us this-
If that’s our destiny, surely we can handle disagreements about money, business, or relationships in this life.
Now- there is a caution here.
It’s not just about applying the law to people and situations. That’s what the pharisee’s did the gospels and Jesus condemned them for that.
There is also mercy in handling the law.
In John 8 Jesus is given a situation- the pharisee’s were apparently peeking into people’s windows and caught a married woman committing adultery. They drag out the woman and throw her before Jesus- who is the law of God. They demand that HE follow God’s law and command her to be stoned to death.
What did Jesus do?
Knelt down, and began writing in the sand.
What did he write? We don’t know for sure, but I suspect the 10 commandments.
Or areas of the law that they were guilty of breaking themselves that would demand them to be stoned as well.
Jesus then says, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone” and goes back to writing.
The bible says that the oldest among them left first- I love that. Ideally as we age, we should become more self-aware, and see all of the places we fall short of the glory of God. That’s why the oldest among them left first- they recognized their shortcomings and realized they were in no position to condemn this woman using Jesus’ standard.
But that leads to one of the greatest tensions we live with as Christians- obedience to God’s perfect law versus forgiveness and mercy.
How do we judge correctly, and practice mercy at the same time?
The first thing we have to see-
II: Mercy Does Not Lessen Sin’s Seriousness
If you break the law- you are guilty. In God’s view, you stand guilty and the sentence for any sin is an eternal death in hell.
However, as the greatest demonstration of mercy ever, God put a plan in motion so that HIS declaration that all sin must be punished by death could be followed, but in the Father’s mercy, HE sent His one and only SON to bear the punishment for that sin.
That’s what mercy is- unmerited favor.
So that begs the question-
Why do we hang onto offenses that are so little in the light of eternity, when we have been forgiven so much?
Let’s apply this idea to 1 Corinthians 6 and this court case-
Paul isn’t saying that whatever offense they were taking each other to court for didn’t matter.
He isn’t saying, “Just let it go, who cares.”
He’s saying, “Don’t go running to unbelievers to get revenge. Be willing to absorb the wrong rather than drag the name of Christ and HIS church through the mud.”
We need to live our lives recognizing that we represent God’s kingdom.
Here is another truth we need to live by-
Mercy is not denial of the consequences of sin—it’s deferring to God as the Judge.
Remember, At the cross, God did not downplay sin. He magnified its seriousness. Jesus’ suffering shows us how severe sin really is. And yet, in that very act, God offered mercy to sinners.
Here’s the principle: mercy recognizes human weakness and our propensity to sin, but it never makes light of sin.
Mercy is not saying, “It’s fine.” Mercy says, “That was evil, but I release it into God’s hands.”
And there is the tension we all live with-
Judgment without mercy is simply a recipe for cruelty.
Mercy without judgment becomes permissiveness.
But together, they reflect God’s heart.
That is how we use judgement to reflect the character of God to the world.
But what about those who haven’t decided to follow Jesus, and ask for God’s forgiveness?
We are going to look at that next, because these are things that are actually fairly easy for us to judge between what is right and what is wrong-
III. The Natural Human State Apart from God (vv. 9–10)
Paul then gives a sobering list.
This list reflected the attitude and prevailing sins of the city of Corinth and probably many in the church.
Let’s slow down here and walk through it carefully. This is not Paul trying to shame the church. This is Paul reminding them of what they were saved from.
He says: “The unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom. Do not be deceived…”
And then he lists nine categories of sin.
1. The Sexually Immoral (pornoi)
- This Greek word covers all sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman.
- In Corinth, sexual immorality was everywhere—temple prostitution, casual encounters, slave exploitation.
- Today it includes pornography, premarital sex, adultery, prostitution, hookup culture.
2. Idolaters
- Idol worship was rampant in Corinth. Meals in pagan temples were part of social life.
- Idolatry is anything that takes away from the worship of the One True God.
- Today, idolatry is not usually statues—it’s money, success, sports, politics, even family or self when they replace God.
3. Adulterers
- Breaking the covenant of marriage. In the Roman world, it was common for men to keep mistresses and for it to be tolerated.
- Today, adultery takes physical form, but also emotional affairs- otherwise known as work spouses or digital infidelity through sexting or pornography.
4. Males Who Have Sex with Males (malakoi, arsenokoitai)
- Paul uses two words: malakoi (“soft,” the passive partner) and arsenokoitai (the active partner). Together they describe homosexual practice.
- First-century Corinth was notorious for this, even celebrating it.
- Today, our culture celebrates it too, but Scripture is clear: it’s against God’s design.
5. Thieves
- Those who take what isn’t theirs. In Corinth, theft was common in markets and ports.
- Today: shoplifting, cheating on taxes, stealing time at work, pirating media.
6. The Greedy (pleonektai)
- Those who always want more. Covetousness in extreme form.
- Today: corporate greed, consumerism, or even the quiet envy that poisons the heart.
7. Drunkards
- Corinth was known for drunken revelry.
- Today, it includes alcohol, drugs, prescription abuse—anything that enslaves the body and dulls the mind.
8. The Verbally Abusive (loidoroi)
- Those who wound with their tongues: mockers, slanderers, insulters.
- Today, it looks like gossip, bullying, toxic online posts, hateful speech.
9. Swindlers (harpages)
- Violent robbers or extortionists.
- Today: scammers, predatory businesses, payday loans, manipulative advertising.
Paul’s point is not that these are “the really bad sinners” out there. His point is: this is the natural state of humanity apart from God. This is who we all were, in one form or another.
Point 4: The Gospel Transforms (v. 11)
And then comes verse 11—one of the most beautiful verses in Scripture.
“And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
This is a such a hopeful thought. It tell us that
- You were washed. The filth of sin has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
- You were sanctified. Set apart for God’s holy use. Different from the world.
- You were justified. Declared righteous in God’s courtroom.
Notice Paul doesn’t say, “You cleaned yourselves up.” He says, “You were washed.” It’s God’s work, not ours.
Point 5: The Call to Discernment
So how do we live this out?
In the tension between law and mercy is the spiritual gift of discernment.
Discernment is Spirit-led clarity—the ability to separate truth from error, righteousness from sin.
That is what we need today. Not worldly judgment, not shallow tolerance, but Spirit-led discernment.
- Discernment sees sin for what it is, but remembers the sinner can be washed.
- Discernment upholds God’s law while extending God’s mercy.
- Discernment calls the church to holiness without pride, and to compassion without compromise.
Altar call
