1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6:1

C. Lawsuits among Believers (6:1-11) The first eleven verses of chapter 6 have to do with lawsuits among believers. News had come to Paul that some Christians were going to law against their fellow believersbefore the judges of this world. So he lays down these instructions of lasting value for the church. Note the repetition of the expression Do you not know (vv. 2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19). 6:1 The opening question expresses shocked surprise that any of them would think of taking a brother to law before the unrighteous, that is, before unsaved judges or magistrates. He finds it rather inconsistent that those who know true righteousness should go before men who are not characterized by righteousness. Imagine Christians looking for justice from those who have none to give! 6:2 A second glaring inconsistency is that those who one day will judge the world should be incapable of judging trivial matters that come up among themselves. The Scriptures teach that believers will reign with Christ over the earth when He returns in power and glory, and that matters of judgment will be committed to them. If Christians are going to judge the world, should they not be able to handle petty differences that plague them now? 6:3 Paul reminds the Corinthians that they will judge angels. It is almost astounding to consider the manner in which the apostle injects such a momentous statement into the discussion. Without fanfare or build-up, he states the tremendous fact that Christians will one day judge angels. We know from Jude v. 6 and 2Pe_2:4, 2Pe_2:9 that angels will be judged. We also know that Christ will be the Judge (Joh_5:22). It is because of our union with Him that we can be spoken of as judging angels in a coming day.

If we are considered qualified to judge angels, we should be able to handle the everyday problems that arise in this life.6:4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? Unsaved judges are not given places of honor or esteem by the local church. They are, of course, respected for the work they are doing in the world, but as far as church matters are concerned they do not have any jurisdiction. Thus Paul is asking the Corinthians: When matters arise between you requiring the impartial judgment of some third party, do you go outside the confines of the church and set men to judge you who are not recognized by the church for spiritual discernment? 6:5 Paul asks this question to move them to shame. Is it true that in an assembly that boasted of its wisdom and of the rich bestowment of gifts on its members, not one wise man could be found to settle these quarrels between his brethren?6:6 Apparently not one such wise man was available, since a Christian brother was going to law against his own brother in Christ, taking family matters before the unbelieving world. Truly a deplorable situation! 6:7 The expression Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you shows they were entirely wrong in this thing. They shouldn’t even think of going to law against one another. But perhaps one of the Christians would object at this point: Paul, you don’t understand. Brother so-and-so cheated me in business dealings. Paul’s answer is: Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? This would be the truly Christian attitude to take. It is much better to receive a wrong than to commit one. 6:8 But this was not the attitude among the Corinthians. Instead of being willing to accept wrong and be cheated, they were actually committing wrong against others, even their own brothers in Christ. 6:9 Had they forgotten that people whose lives are characteristically unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? If they have forgotten, then he will remind them of a list of sinners who will have no part in God’s kingdom. He does not mean to imply that Christians can practice such sins and be lost, but rather he is saying that people who practice such sins are not Christians. In this list, fornicators are distinct from adulterers. Here fornication means illicit sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried person, whereas adultery would mean such conduct on the part of a married person. Idolaters are mentioned again, as in the two previous lists in chapter 5. Homosexuals here means those who allow their bodies to be used in a perverted way, while sodomites are those who practice sodomy on others. 6:10 To the list are added thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners. Thieves are those who take what does not belong to them. Notice that the sin of covetousness is always listed among the most wicked vices. Though men might excuse it and think lightly of it, God condemns it vigorously. A covetous man is one with an inordinate desire for possessions that often drives him to use unjust means of acquiring the same. Drunkards, as has been said, are primarily those who are addicted to the use of alcohol. Revilers are those who use abusive speech against others. Extortioners are those who take advantage of others’ poverty or necessities to secure exorbitant gain. 6:11 Paul does not imply that these sins were practiced by the Corinthian believers, but he is warning them that such things characterized them before they were savedsuch were some of you. But they had been washed and sanctified and justified. They had been washed from their sin and impurity through the precious blood of Christ, and they were being continually washed from defilement through the word of God. They were sanctified by the operation of the Spirit of God, being set apart to God from the world. They had been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God; that is, they had been reckoned righteous before God on the basis of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross for them. What is Paul’s argument here? It is simply this, as so aptly expressed by Godet: Such a fathomless depth of grace is not to be recrossed.

1 Corinthians 6:12

D. Moral Laxness among Believers (6:12-20) 6:12 In the concluding verses of this chapter, the apostle lays down some principles for judging between right and wrong. The first principle is that a thing may be lawful and yet not helpful. When Paul says, All things are lawful for me, he does not mean all things in an absolute sense. For instance, it would not be lawful for him to commit any of the sins mentioned above. He is here speaking only about those things that are morally indifferent. For example, the question as to whether a Christian should eat pork was a very real issue among believers in Paul’s time.

Actually, it was a matter of moral indifference. It did not really matter to God whether a man ate pork. Paul is simply saying that certain things might be legitimate and yet not profitable. There might be certain things which would be permissible for me to do and yet if someone else saw me doing them, he might be stumbled by my action. In such a case, it would not be at all suitable for me. The second principle is that some things might be lawful and yet they might be enslaving. Paul states: I will not be brought under the power of any. This would have a very direct message today with regard to the subjects of liquor, tobacco, and drugs. These things, as well as many others, are enslaving and the Christian should not allow himself to be thus put in bondage. 6:13 A third principle is that some things are perfectly lawful for the believer and yet their value is temporary. Paul says: Foods for the stomach, and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. This means that the human stomach has been so constructed that it can receive foods and digest them. Likewise, God has wonderfully designed foods so they can be received by the human stomach. And yet we should not live for foods, because they are only of temporary value. They should not be given an undue place in the life of the believer. Don’t live as if the greatest thing in life is to gratify your appetites. Although the body is wonderfully designed by God for the reception and assimilation of food, there is one thing that is certain; the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. In planning the human body, God never intended that it should be used for vile or impure purposes. Rather He planned that it should be used for the glory of the Lord and in His blessed service. There is something amazing in this verse which should not escape notice. Not only is the body for the Lord, but even more wonderful is the thought that the Lord is for the body. This means that the Lord is interested in our bodies, their welfare, and their proper use. God wants our bodies to be presented to Him a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable (Rom_12:1). As Erdman says: Without the Lord, the body can never attain its true dignity and its immortal destiny.6:14 The fact that the Lord is for the body is further explained in this verse. God has not only raised up the Lord Jesus from among the dead, but He will also raise us up by His power.

His interest in our body does not end at the time of death. He is going to raise the body of every believer to fashion it like the glorious body of the Lord Jesus. We will not be disembodied spirits in eternity. Rather, our spirit and soul will be reunited with our glorified body, thus to enjoy the glories of heaven forever. 6:15 To further emphasize the need for personal purity in our lives and for guarding our bodies from impurity, the apostle reminds us that our bodies are members of Christ. Every believer is a member of the body of Christ. Would it be proper, then, to take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? To ask the question is to answer it, as Paul does with an indignant Certainly not!6:16 In the act of sexual union, two bodies become one. It was so stated at the dawn of creation: For the two, He says, shall become one flesh (Gen_2:24). This being so, if a believer should be joined to a harlot, it would be the same as making a member of Christ a member of a harlot.

The two would become one body.6:17 Just as in the physical act there is a union of two into one, so when a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and is joined to Him, the believer and Christ become so united that they can henceforth be spoken of as one spirit. This is the most perfect merging of two persons that is possible. It is the closest type of a union. Paul’s argument, therefore, is that those who are thus joined to the Lord should never tolerate any type of union that would be in conflict with this spiritual wedlock. A. T. Pierson writes: The sheep may wander from the shepherd, and the branch be cut off from the vine; the member be severed from the body, the child alienated from the father, and even the wife from the husband; but when two spirits blend in one, what shall part them? No outward connection or union, even of wedlock is so emphatically expressive of perfect merging of two lives in one. 6:18 And so the apostle warns the Corinthians to flee sexual immorality. They are not to dabble with it, trifle with it, study it, even talk about it. They are to flee from it! A beautiful Bible illustration of this is found in the account of Joseph when he was tempted to sin by Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39). While there may be safety in numbers, sometimes there is more safety in flight! Then Paul adds: Every sin that a man does is outside the body; but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Most sins have no direct effect on one’s body, but sexual immorality is unique in the sense that it does directly affect one’s body: a person reaps the consequences of this sin in his own body. The difficulty is that the verse says that every sin that a man commits is outside the body. But we believe that the apostle is speaking here in a comparative sense. While it is true that gluttony and drunkenness, for example, affect a person’s body, most sins do not. And not even gluttony or drunkenness affect the body as directly, as extensively, or as destructively as immorality. Sex outside marriage inevitably and irresistibly works havoc on the offender. 6:19 Again Paul reminds the Corinthians that theirs was a holy and dignified calling. Had they forgotten that their bodies were a temple of the Holy Spirit? That is the solemn truth of Scripture, that every believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God. How could we ever think of taking a body in which the Holy Spirit dwells and using it for vile purposes? Not only is our body the shrine of the Holy Spirit, but in addition, we are not our own. It is not for us to take our bodies and use them the way we desire. In the final analysis, they do not belong to us; they belong to the Lord. 6:20 We are the Lord’s both by creation and redemption. Here the latter is particularly in view. His ownership of us dates back to Calvary. We were bought at a price. At the cross, we see the price tag which the Lord Jesus put on us. He thought us to be of such value that He was willing to pay for us with the price of His own precious blood. How greatly Jesus must have loved us to bear our sins in His body on the cross! That being the case, I can no longer think of my body as my own. If I am to take it and use it in the way I desire, then I am acting as a thief, taking that which does not belong to me. Rather I must use my body to glorify God, the One to whom it belongs. Bates exclaimed: Head! Think of Him whose brow was thorn-girt. Hands! Toil for Him whose hands were nailed to the cross. Feet! Speed to do His behests whose feet were pierced. Body of mine! Be His temple whose body was wrung with pains unspeakable. We should also glorify God in our spirit, since both material and immaterial parts of man are God’s.