1 Corinthians 6
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CHAPTER 6
Lawsuits Among Believers (6:1-11)
1 In this section Paul brings up another problem in the Corinthian church, which had been reported to him by others: namely, some members of the church were going to court with charges against other church members; one brother goes to law against another (verse 6).
In any church it’s possible for a dispute to arise between members from time to time. It shouldn’t happen, but we all know that it does. Christ also knew that these kinds of disputes would arise. And He gave clear instructions as to what to do when they arose—and those instructions involved settling the dispute within the church (see Matthew 18:15-17 and comment). But the Corinthian Christians were going outside the church to law courts and accusing each other before the ungodly, that is, before unbelievers.
Why does Paul call unbelievers the ungodly? Because all men are ungodly until they believe in Jesus (Romans 3:10). It is only through faith in Christ that man can be declared “godly,” or righteous (see Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:15-16 and comments).
Paul asks: How can the ungodly pass judgment on the SAINTS, that is, believers? Believers can only be judged according to spiritual criteria; the spiritual man … is not subject to any man’s judgment (1 Corinthians 2:15).
Paul does not mean here that Christians should disregard the decisions of the judges and the courts. No indeed. Paul himself submitted to all civil authorities and respected them (see Romans 13:1-7). Paul is only saying here that those disputes that arise between Christians should be settled in the church and not in civil courts.
2 The saints (believers) will judge the world.14 Since they are going to judge the world, they ought to be able to judge in such tiny things as disputes between brothers!
When will believers judge the world? They will judge the world when Christ comes again on the day of judgment (see Matthew 19:28; Revelation 3:21 and comments).
3 Believers will also judge ANGELS (see 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). Who are these angels whom we will judge? They are heavenly beings. Some angels have remained obedient to God and serve Him. Others, like Satan and his evil spirits, have rebelled against God and now oppose Him (see Revelation 12:9). On the day of judgment, these evil angels (evil spirits) will be judged and condemned. Paul’s point is this: if the Corinthian Christians are one day going to judge heavenly beings like angels, then surely they ought to be able to judge earthly things like disputes between brothers!
4 Paul says here that since the Corinthian Christians are going to judge such big things as the world and angels, then surely even men of little account in the church15 should be able to judge the disputes that arise between brothers. Anyway, it is better to appoint even men of little account in the church to judge disputes than to go outside the church to ungodly judges.
Who are these men of little account in the church? They are ordinary Christians. Paul is thinking here especially of the very humble and uneducated members of the church. Even these Christians of little account are more competent to judge church disputes than outside judges.
5 The Corinthian Christians took great pride in their “wisdom.” They thought they were wiser than the apostles (1 Corinthians 4:20). Therefore, asks Paul sarcastically, how can there be no one wise enough in the church to judge these disputes between brothers?
6 To take your Christian brother to court is very wrong. When you do that, you become your brother’s enemy. If you do that, where is love? Instead of disputing with your brother, it would be far better to give up the dispute and let your brother win—even if it meant suffering loss (verse 7). That is the Christian way. Jesus taught that we should not even oppose an unbeliever in court (see Matthew 5:25,39-41). If that’s so, how much worse it is to take our Christian brother to court and oppose him in front of unbelievers!16
7 Paul now goes to the heart of the Corinthians’ sin in this matter. Their sin is to have the disputes in the first place; where they are settled is a secondary issue. Simply engaging in these disputes means that the Corinthians are spiritually defeated already. These disputes are proof that the Corinthians are still immature and worldly. In disputing with their brother, they are, in fact, sinning against him. They may have defeated their brother in court, but sin has defeated them in their hearts!
It is much better to suffer a little loss in this world than to suffer eternal loss on the day of judgment!
8 Even though our brother has cheated us or wronged us in some way, if we take him to court, we cheat and wrong him in return. Because when we do that, we are not forgiving and loving our brother; we are cheating him out of our love and forgiveness. And when we do not love and forgive our brother, we sin against him.
9-10 Who are the wicked? (verse 9). They are the same as the ungodly in verse 1; that is, they are unbelievers. They are those who are mentioned here in verses 9-10, those who continue in these sins without repenting. Such people will not inherit the kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:19-21). What is our inheritance in the kingdom of God? Salvation—eternal life.
11 The Corinthian Christians had once been wicked, unrighteous; they had once been sinners like those mentioned in verses 9-10. But now they were no longer unrighteous. Through faith in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit they had been converted, transformed.
How had they been transformed? First, they had been washed. They had repented of their sins and had been baptized with water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God—the Holy Spirit (see Mark 1:4,7-8 and comment).
Then, having been washed, they were sanctified. They became a new creation in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17 and comment).
Having been sanctified, they were then justified—or declared RIGHTEOUS—in God’s sight (see Titus 3:3-7).
All these things are included in our salvation. We receive this salvation by grace and through faith (see Ephesians 2:8 and comment; General Article: Way of Salvation).
Therefore, if the Corinthians, and we also, have truly been washed, sanctified, and justified, how then can we continue to behave as we did before we became Christians? if we are new creations, we must behave like new creations (see Romans 6:17-18; Ephesians 4:1 and comments).
Sexual Immorality (6:12-20)
12 “Everything (except sin) is permissible for me” was a common saying among the Corinthian Christians. But even though some action might not be a sin and therefore legally permissible, it still might not be beneficial for a person to do it. The action could result in harm both to the person himself and to his brother (see Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Peter 2:16 and comments).
Paul says: I will not be mastered by anything. Paul will allow no bodily desire to dominate him, or to “rule” over him. It is possible for us, through the very freedom we have found in Christ, to again allow ourselves to become slaves of our sinful desires. Our freedom in Christ is not for sinning, but for serving God! (see Romans 6:18,22; Galatians 5:13 and comments). Therefore, let us not again make sin our master (see John 8:34).
13 The Corinthians had another saying: “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food.” This saying is true. In this life, the stomach and food are indeed made for each other. But in heaven there will be no need for either food or stomach; God will destroy them both.
However, the Corinthians also said: “Just as the stomach is made for food, so the body is made for sexual pleasure”—and that saying is not true. God will do away with our stomachs in heaven, but He will not do away with our bodies. Instead, He will raise our bodies (verse 14).
Our bodies are not made for sexual pleasure, or any other kind of pleasure; our bodies are made to serve the Lord. Our body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (verse 19). Therefore, we must not be mastered by any pleasure. To be mastered by pleasure is to make our body a slave to sin all over again.
Just as food and stomach are made for each other, so the Lord and our bodies are made for each other. The Lord is spiritual “food” for our bodies (see John 6:54).
14 God raised Christ; He will also raise us. He will raise not only our spirits, but He will raise our bodies as well (see Romans 6:5,8; 8:11; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:20-21 and comments).
15 Our bodies are members of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). If we sleep with a prostitute, then we no longer belong to Christ but to the prostitute.
In Corinth, the prostitutes practiced their prof ession in the temple of the Greek goddess of love. Therefore, whenever a man had intercourse with a prostitute, he also became united with the goddess of the prostitute; he became, in a sense, an idol worshiper. According to the Bible, idol worship is like adultery. When a man worships an idol, he is leaving the one true God and uniting himself with a false god or demon (Ezekiel 23:37: Hosea 5:4).
16 Just as a man and his wife become one flesh during intercourse, so a man who has intercourse with a prostitute becomes “one flesh” with that prostitute. Paul here quotes from Genesis 2:24, which is written about marriage. (Paul doesn’t mean here that the man and the prostitute become “married” by having intercourse; they do not. In true marriage a man and wife are united not only in body but also in heart and mind and spirit.)
Paul’s point is this: How can a man who is united with Christ in one spiritual body then go and unite himself in one body with a prostitute? This is a terrible sin against Christ. It is not only physical adultery; it is also spiritual adultery.
17 Just as a man and a woman become united in body, so does Christ become united in spirit with each believer (see John 17:20-23).
18 With the exception of sexual immorality, all sinful desires can be satisfied by objects that are not part of one’s body. The desire to drink alcohol is satisfied by alcohol. The desire to become rich is satisfied by money. But the desire to have sexual intercourse is satisfied only by the stimulation of one’s own body. Thus sexual immorality in a special way defiles one’s body, because during fornication one’s own body is given in sin to a prostitute or adulteress. This is what Paul means when he says that he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
Therefore Paul says: Flee from sexual immorality. Not only must we resist the temptation to sexual immorality; we must run away from it!
19 When we engage in sexual immorality, we are defiling not just our body but also God’s temple—because the believer’s body is itself God’s temple. By our sin we “destroy” or ruin God’s temple. if we do this, He will also destroy us (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
It is not only God’s temple that we destroy by sexual immorality; it is also the Holy Spirit’s temple—because the body of each Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We must not defile or make unholy the Holy Spirit’s temple—that is, our body. If we do, the Holy Spirit will leave us; He will not dwell in an unholy place.
Our bodies are the temple of God and of His Holy Spirit; therefore, our bodies belong to God. You are not your own, Paul says. The Corinthian believers thought that their bodies were their own, and that therefore they could do as they pleased with their bodies. They thought that God didn’t care that much about their bodies, but only cared about their spirits. How wrong they were!
20 How much does God care about our bodies? He cares so much that He bought our bodies! (see 1 Corinthians 7:23). What was the price God paid? The price He paid was the blood—the body—of His only Son Jesus Christ (see Mark 10:45; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19 and comments). God has bought us. Therefore, we must hand over our bodies, our lives, to Him (see Romans 12:1 and comment). Our bodies, our lives, are God’s. All the parts of our bodies, our members, are not ours but God’s. Therefore, we must use our members not according to our own will but according to God’s will. In this world our lives have only one purpose, and that purpose is to glorify God with our entire selves—body, soul, and spirit.