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1 Corinthians

Chapter 6

Disputes, Bodies, and Belonging to the Lord

Paul rebukes the Corinthians for taking disputes before unbelieving courts, arguing that a people destined to judge the world should be able to settle ordinary matters among themselves and should rather suffer wrong than shame one another publicly. He then turns from lawsuits to the body's holiness, reminding them that many of them were once marked by unrighteous lives but have been washed, sanctified, and justified in Christ. Because their bodies are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit, sexual immorality cannot be treated as morally trivial.

This chapter extends the church's internal accountability from chapter 5 into disputes, status, and bodily conduct. It keeps pressing the same point from different angles: Corinth's life together must be shaped by belonging to Christ rather than by the habits of the surrounding world.

3 sections·451 words·~2 min read

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1 Corinthians 6

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vv. 1-8

Lawsuits among Believers

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I1f 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!

vv. 9-17

Members of Christ

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D9o you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

12“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.

15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.

vv. 18-20

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

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F18lee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

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  1. 01vv. 1-8Lawsuits among BelieversPaul is appalled that believers are carrying grievances against one another before unrighteous courts instead of settling them among the saints. He says their future calling should make them competent for lesser matters now, and that the very existence of such lawsuits already shows defeat, especially when the strong response is to wrong and cheat fellow believers.
  2. 02vv. 9-17Members of ChristPaul warns that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, but reminds the Corinthians that some of them once lived in those ways and have now been washed, sanctified, and justified in Jesus Christ. He then challenges slogans about freedom and appetite by insisting that the body belongs to the Lord, will be raised by God, and cannot be joined to sexual immorality without violating its identity as a member of Christ.
  3. 03vv. 18-20The Temple of the Holy SpiritPaul closes by commanding flight from sexual immorality and by naming the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, received from God. Because believers are not their own but have been bought at a price, the only fitting response is to glorify God with the body.
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