1 Corinthians 6 Footnotes

6:1-11 Apparently Corinthian believers were quick to rush to the courts. They could not simply fall in with the litigious practices of their city; they needed to sort out their differences among themselves.

6:12-20 While it was customary for Corinthian men to have sex with prostitutes at local temples, Paul argued that this should not be the practice of the followers of Christ.

Paul mentioned same-sex eroticism among vices that bar the practitioners from the kingdom of God (vv. 9-11). The Greek words malakos (“soft [one]”) and arsenokoites (“one who has coitus with a man”) make clear that Paul was not talking about sexual inclination or orientation, but sodomy—the act of sexual penetration between men. Elsewhere Paul cited the homosexual/lesbian way of life as symptomatic of humanity’s rejection of God and his design at creation (Rm 1:24-27). Christians are right to call homosexuality a sin, but as vv. 9-11 demonstrate, they should not do so while tolerating other sins in their own lives. This passage also shows that the sin of homosexuality is forgivable through the sacrifice of Christ. (See the article, “What Does the Bible Teach About Homosexuality?” p. 1432.)