1 Corinthians 6:1-8 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! 2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

“4So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? 6Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers!

“7The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers!”

Hypocritical Judging

“The pot calling the kettle black” is an idiomatic phrase which has to do with someone criticizing another person for a fault or a mistake that the accuser is also engaged in, but it doesn’t have to be the same exact mistake. And it can be about someone calling out another person’s sins or mistakes (past or present) when the accuser themselves is habitually and deliberately engaged in sin, which is hypocritical judging. And this does not mean that we do not call out the sins of others, but that we are not to do so with wrong motives, or hypocritically, or selfishly. But we are to do so justly, with godly love.

So, this brings me to the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). The scribes and the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman caught in adultery. (Do you ever wonder where the man also caught in adultery with her went?) But this was to test Jesus in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus wrote something in the dirt with His finger. And then He said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” And then He wrote more on the ground. Do you ever wonder what Jesus wrote on the ground that led her accusers to go away one by one?

Jesus is God. And when He lived on the earth He was fully man and fully God (God incarnate). So He knew what was in the hearts of these men. He knew the reason they brought this woman before Him, and it wasn’t because they were concerned about obeying the commands of God. And He knew the evil that they were doing, too. He addressed them on this subject multiple times, I believe (see Matthew 23:1-36). So I believe what He wrote on the ground exposed their sins to them, letting them know that Jesus knew their sins, and that He could expose their sins, too, and so they then departed.

Righteous Judging

Now, not all judging is wrong. We definitely have an example of this in the previous chapter where Paul was chiding the church because there was a man among them in an incestual relationship with his father’s wife and no one was doing anything about it. And so what that was doing was that it gave approval to the man’s sin and it gave the church, as a whole, the idea that the sin was acceptable. And it provided the opportunity for that sin to spread throughout the congregation. Evidently the man was not repentant and so they had to remove him for a time until he repented of his sin.

Therefore, the story of the woman caught in adultery is not teaching us that all judging is wrong. The Scriptures do not teach that we are never to judge another person’s actions or attitudes or words or habits. But what multiple passages of Scripture are teaching is that we are not to judge other people hypocritically, unjustly, by human standards, by our own traditions, by comparing others to ourselves, or in hate, with the wrong motives, prejudicially, by appearances, and/or without first giving the person a hearing or a chance to defend himself. So always judge justly with love.

[Matthew 7:1-5; John 7:24,51; John 8:15-16; Romans 2:3; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Corinthians 6:1-6; 2 Corinthians 10:12; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Galatians 6:1-5; Ephesians 5:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; James 5:19-20; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 John 2:18-25; 1 John 4:1; Jude 1:22-23; Revelation 2:2]

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black
An Original Work / September 7, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

In Harmony

Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Love each other truly. Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil. Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor. Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction; Praying faithfully.
Honor one another. Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people who are found in need.
Do not be conceited. Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion in humility.
Keep your tongue from evil. Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another. Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous; listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil – is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear. Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord. Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another. Live in harmony.