Misinterpretations often claim this verse prohibits all Christian judgment, ignoring the mandate to judge insiders, or wrongly extend church discipline to non-believers, overlooking the clear distinction between those 'within' and 'without'; others use it to excuse tolerating sin among professing Christians to avoid conflict, contradicting the context's call for expulsion of the immoral brother.
I Corinthians 5:12
King James Version (1769)
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
Paul instructs the Corinthian church that their authority to judge and discipline for sin extends only to fellow believers within the community, not to outsiders or unbelievers, emphasizing the church's role in maintaining internal purity and holiness through confrontation of unrepentant immorality, as God alone judges the world.