1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
Chapter six seems to abruptly open a new topic: “Should church members go to the secular courts of law to decide disputes among themselves?” After studying the content however, I think this continues the main subject of the previous chapter, where a man had defrauded his father by taking his step-mother for his own wife. Again and again the Apostle returns to condemn fornication (v9, v13, v15, v18). The list of sexual sins (v9) that immediate follow the charge of defrauding in the brotherhood (v9) is also a notable point that links these two topics. Probably the sinning brother had used the civil courts to justify his actions.
Paul answers the question of Christians going to Court for judgment by elaborating two powerful points: 1) believers are far better capacitated to judge rightly than are unbelievers, and 2) the defrauded Christian’s best response is to accept and forgive wrongs, thereby avoiding even church-appointed judges. These two truths are without argument. The frequent questions in the text make it difficult to follow the train of thought in these verses. Here is my paraphrase translation:
(6:1) Are you really so insolent as to take your very brother to stand before ungodly courts when you have a dispute against him, instead of asking saints in the church to judge the matter?
(2) Aren’t you aware that the saints shall someday judge the whole world? If the saints are sufficiently wise to judge the world, are they not competent to decide trivial matters among you?
(3) Don’t you know that we saints will even judge the angels? Then surely we are able to decide earthly disputes.
(4) So if an earthly dispute arises in the brotherhood, you should be able to select the least qualified saint among you to judge the case!
(5) I say this to shame you. Is there truly not one man among you that is wise enough to settle disputes between believers?”
The Apostle’s argument is unassailable, but what does he mean by saying that the saints shall judge the world? We know that on the final Day of Judgment all tribes and nations will stand before the throne of Christ to give account. And the Scriptures say that Christ will return with the departed saints to judge the world (Jude 1:14-15; 1Thes 4:14).
However, I think the Apostle’s remark primarily refers to the departed saints now in Paradise who are reigning with Christ until the end of the world, for their realm of judgment includes earthly and heavenly aspects – know ye not that we shall judge angels? While the actual operation is unclear, the idea agrees with other Scriptures. Jesus, for instance, told His disciples that they would sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel in the regeneration (Mat 19:28; Luke 22:30), and that every overcomer will be granted to sit with Him on His throne (Rev 3:21). Several times in the Revelation the saints who have passed from this life are pictured as reigning in heaven until the final resurrection (Rev 5:10; 6:9-11; 20:4). See my notes for Rev 20.
After the Judgment, the resurrected saints of God will serve in His temple (Rev 7:15), they will be given responsibilities in His heavenly Kingdom (Mat 25:21; Luke 19:17; Rev 22:3), they will reign with Christ forever and ever.
6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
The NT strongly discourages the Christian any participation in lawsuits and general use of the civil courts. It is better to quickly settle any dispute outside of court and especially if you were the one in the wrong (Mat 5:25-26), but even when you have been wronged (Mat 5:40). The situation was even worse in Corinth, where both the plaintiff and defendant were brothers in the church! The witness of the brotherhood is greatly hindered by internal conflicts (see chapter 1).
To defraud (apostereo) means to cheat or treat unjustly (see Jam 5:4), but in 1Cor 7:5 the word is used in reference to sexual manipulations. And in Mark 10:19, the same word is used in the tenth commandment, Thou shalt not covet they neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s (Ex 20:17). Shockingly, members of the church in Corinth were actively defrauding and wronging their fellow brothers in the Lord (v8).
In this church made up of so many “wise” men, “instructors” even, one would think that to settle these matters should be a simple task. Yet the divisions and contentions among them tended to distrust and favoritism. There was not even a single wise man in their number deemed credible to judge. There was utterly a fault among them.
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
The list of sexual sins in this verse, while not intended to be comprehensive, is probably the most detailed one in the Bible. See also Gal 5:19.
Fornicators – the Greek word pornos refers to promiscuity, incest, prostitution, pre-marital sex and other addictions.
Idolaters – while it seems misplaced in this list, the word appears in similar contexts (Eph 5:5; 1Cor 5:11; Rev 22:15).
Adulterers – the Greek word moichos refers to an unfaithful marriage partner and also to a Christian who has left the truth.
Effeminate – the Greek word malakos/kia literally means to be weak or sickly and seems to indicate all types of sexual perversions.
Abusers of themselves with mankind – arseno (male) koites (beds), or homosexuality (similar in LXX of Lev 20:13; 1Tim 1:10).
Covetous – a greedy person, someone who increases his own goods at the expense of others; he overcharges, uses unethical means to increase his wealth and gauges his own successes by comparing himself with others.
Revilers – those who slander others, a gossip, a person who speaks evil of others, a person who incites the crowd against another, a rabble-rouser, a loud-mouth know-it-all.
Extortioners – a swindler and cheat, a person who by lawful means robs another, a man who accepts bribes, a ravenous person who will take what is “his” with no regard to the well-being of others. A manipulator.
Be not deceived. This grave warning implies that some were in that danger. Is not the situation similar to many churches of our own day? Having been “saved and sanctified” (v11), many deceive themselves into the astonishing belief that sin no longer affects them! Their false teachers have taught them to believe that they are “unconditionally saved,” or that wicked acts by saved persons are not sin, or that a truly saved person is not able to sin. The Scriptures do not agree. Here the fact is very bluntly stated: those who are committing wicked acts shall not inherit the Kingdom.
Homosexuality was not uncommon among the Gentiles and the Roman emperors were famous for their wicked relationships. Nero went so far as to officially marry his catamite. The societies of today have completed the circle, having now accepted homosexual/lesbian relationships as normal, sanctionable “marriages.” Indeed, they have moved beyond homosexuality and pressure children into the even more wicked practice of transgenderism. While any sin is sufficiently sinful to send the sinner to hell, the sin of homosexuality/transgenderism is especially destructive to the plan of God in creating the World and Mankind.
Nevertheless, the grouping of these abhorrent sins with the “lesser” sins of covetousness and gossip is instructive. He who practices one of these sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God. It is easy to anathematize the extreme, deviant sins like homosexuality because they are contrary to nature, yet fail to recognize that sins of covetousness and gossip will bar a person from inheriting the Kingdom. Those sins are very destructive to the church body. How necessary it is for the churches to keep themselves pure from all sins! Can a hand be raised to condemn immorality when it is stained with other sins?
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Washed, sanctified, and justified. In good fashion with preachers everywhere, Paul repeats his point for emphasis, saying the same thing three times in slightly different ways. To be washed (apolouo) is to be forgiven and cleansed (Acts 22:16; Heb 10:22; Rev 1:5), which is an important spiritual aspect of baptism (baptizo). The word sanctified (hagiazo) is frequently used in the NT and simply means “to make holy.” It is often translated holy and saints (see note, John 17:17). To be justified is to be made righteous in God’s sight (Rom 4:6; James 2:23). These three terms are so similar as to made separate definitions a dubious undertaking. Calvinist theologians, nonetheless, have attempted to do so, even forcing great importance on the order of the words in this verse. The reading of an honest, simple mind is that these three words are essentially synonymous. See my note for Rom 2:13.
Some denominations define sanctification as a second step or plane in the Christian experience which follows a period of proving after the initial act of salvation. Among Anabaptists meanwhile, the predominant belief is that sanctification is a process of growing in holiness, in faith and in good works during the Christian’s life. While sanctification requires Man’s full participation in will, mind and heart, only God is able to sanctify (1Pet 1:2; Rom 15:16).
Such were some of you. The members in Corinth came from a variety of sinful backgrounds and situations. Some were backsliding into their old habits, lusts and sins. The Apostle warns them that this must not be allowed to continue. Notice the subtle reference to the Trinity which is a common element in the New Testament (i.e. Gal 4:6; Php 3:3; Eph 1:17; 1Pet 1:2).
12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
I suspect that the “wise instructors” in Corinth recited this proverb in order to justify their sinful actions (see 1Cor 10:23). All things are lawful for me. The Apostle Paul preached this liberty too, saying that the Christian is not under the Law, but under grace (Rom 6:14; Gal 5:1). The Corinthians however, were taking this truth and rationalizing to an extreme conclusion: “If I am not under the Law and all things are lawful to me, then the sins listed in the Law are not sin to me. Christ has released me from the Law. I am free to do whatever my flesh wants.” In effect, they were using their “liberty in Christ” as a license to sin (see Gal 5:13). The Apostle corrects their erroneous hypothesis, “Just because you ‘can’ doesn’t mean you ‘should.’ Yes, all things are lawful unto me; but certain things are not beneficial.”
The Corinthian approach is similar to the oft-invoked epithet when a sinning Christian refuses correction: “You can’t tell me I’m wrong! The Bible says not to judge others. So be quiet and leave me alone.” See our notes for the previous chapter.
Their argument also fails at a crucial second point. “All things are lawful now that Christ has come” is true for issues like abstaining from certain meats, keeping the Sabbath, touching ceremonially unclean items, etc, but it is misapplied in cases of sinful behaviors such as those listed in the previous verses. Fornication is never lawful, idolatry is never expedient, unrighteousness is never edifying (1Cor 10:23). Incredibly, some in the Corinthian church thought harlotry was lawful for them! The idea is ridiculous, yet many professing Christians are doing the same today, from sanctioning pre-marital sexual relations to permitting divorce and remarriage. Some will even justify deviant sexual behavior like homosexuality and polygamy. Be not deceived, Paul warns. Many have ignored him.
I will not be brought under the power (exousiazo) of any. Here is the Christian attitude toward sin in all its forms. It is especially relevant to addicting sins like fornication, adultery and harlotry (v15-16), because the one who has yielded his members to uncleanness is enslaved to that sin. He is not living in liberty, for his ability to choose to stop sinning has been effectively taken away. He is living under the power of that sin, he is a prisoner to it. The liberty that is in Christ sets one free to choose once again. And if he be Christ’s, he will choose to do what is good and right. The same Greek word for power is used also in 1Cor 7:4, The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. He that is joined to any other than his lawful wife is ceding his power to a strange woman. Another example is the godly woman gaining power by veiling her head (1Cor 11:7).
13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
It further seems that some were justifying fornication and harlotry by saying it was only a natural bodily appetite. Meats for the belly and the belly for meats, they said. It is true that under the New Covenant, there is no food unclean of itself (Rom 14:14), so we are neither better nor worse for eating or not eating (1Cor 8:8). But that argument cannot apply in the case of fornication, which, unlike eating food now declared to be clean, is a sinful act. Meats and the belly will one day be destroyed, but God has promised to raise up our bodies in the last day (v14), a transformed, incorruptible, eternal and celestial body (ch15). So the body is for the Lord, and should be kept in sanctification and holiness for Him.
The body is not for fornication. Recognize that sexual appetites cannot be satisfied in the same way as dietary appetites. God did not design the body for fornication, but intended for sexual desires to be satisfied within the bounds of His created order. Sin, in its most basic definition, is disobeying or corrupting God’s perfectly designed plan. And that is why Satan is constantly attempting to corrupt God’s creation and make it perform an action contrary to His order. Doubts concerning the sinfulness of a matter is often resolved by evaluating it under this definition.
God created man’s appetites, but sexual appetites are much more complex than are food appetites. Acts of sex involve others. They can hurt and offend in a variety of ways. Obviously, sex must be kept within its created order and purpose. All activity outside of that is sinful.
14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
The Apostle repeats this promise in many of his epistles (Rom 8:11; 2Cor 4:14). It is the fundamental motivation for believing in Christ (1Cor 15:19). Everlasting life in the mansions of heaven in the hereafter! Astonishingly, some in Corinth did not even believe in the bodily resurrection of Man at the last day (1Cor 15:12).
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
The church is a spiritual body with Christ the head and each person a member in particular (1Cor 12). Plainly then, wickedness cannot be allowed to continue in a church, for Christ and sin are not compatible. He will be honored in the church that proclaims to be His people. Otherwise, the candlestick will be snuffed out and He will go elsewhere (Rev 2:5). The purity that is in Christ can have no connection with the impurity of a harlot, or any other sinful person.
The Christian marriage relationship parallels this relationship of Christ with the Church (Eph 5:21-33) and both realities have the same communion: “The two shall be one flesh” (Mat 19:5-6). Yet, how is being joined with an harlot becoming one flesh with her? Actually, there is a very literal explanation, for according to scientists there is an exchange of chemicals between two sexual partners that forever link them physically. Even sickness and disease can be permanently transmitted through sexual acts. A person who has sex with a harlot literally gives a part of his body and physically receives a part of hers. On the other hand, studies have shown that there are definite health benefits for those involved in monogamous relationships, where constantly shared chemicals actually improve the function of the immune system. These facts were unknown to the writers of the Scriptures, but its Author knew.
Beyond the physical oneness, there is a mysterious, invisible spiritual intimacy in the sexual union that affects the person. More than just shared chemicals, this oneness affects the spirit – and very negatively in the case of harlotry, fornication and adultery. I have personally heard Christians who fell into these sins testify that they felt as if a darkness or strange spirit entered their soul. I think they are correct. The ancient pagan religions had temple prostitutes for that purpose, to become one with the god/goddess of the temple. Given the profound, sacred teachings of the Scripture concerning marriage, there is every reason to believe that little-understood spiritualities are shared in the sexual act that will deeply affect those persons.
Jesus prayed to the Father that His followers might be one in Us…I in them, and Thou in Me (John 17:20-23). This spiritual oneness with Christ is simply having communion with Him, working to develop a Faith/Love relationship with Him (John 14:23). It is the highest goal of Man and the most basic reason that God created the world in the beginning. Sadly, it is clear that many churches have forgotten this truth. On one side are the Pergamos-type churches who have allowed the World’s values into their membership which results in the purity that is in Christ being contaminated by sin (Rev 2:12-17). On the other side are Ephesus-type churches who are so strict in regulating their members that they have forgotten the real purpose for which God ordained the church – to love Him (Rev 2:1-7).
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
Here is one temptation which the Christian is not urged to “stand fast and resist.” Instead, flee fornication, as Joseph, who fled from the presence of a promiscuous woman. The temptations of sexual excess are among the strongest in Satan’s arsenal of wickedness (Pro 7:5, 26), for these sins are able to tightly enslave the body. Fornication (porneia) opens the body to external contamination – the very body that Christ has promised to raise from the dead (v14). And as the previous note explains, sexual sins must be categorized separate from the other “sins against the body” such as gluttony, drug addiction, self-mutilation, for in sexual intercourse the two actually “become one flesh” in the physical exchange of body chemicals and the even more alarming yet mysterious spiritual effects.
In spite of the Scripture’s clear teaching, many churches have failed to uphold the purity of Christian courtship and marriage, even to allowing their young people to engage in sex before marriage. I’m not sure which is worse, the wickedness of those acts, or the elders’ sins of negligence and permissiveness. Both have grievous, far-reaching consequences. How can the churches of Christ maintain spiritual relevance in the world when they demonstrate blatant disregard to the mandates of Scripture? They cannot. The hypocrisy is just too great. No wonder these liberal churches have been unable to check the tide of worse rebellions of homosexuality, sex changes and gender “identities.”
Fortunately, a remnant of churches still hold fast to the traditions which the Apostles have taught (2Thes 2:15). Their commitment to obeying the Word of God is admirable. And those young people who stand firm in the face of great societal pressures in order to live according to Bible principles will surely receive their heavenly recompense. Let us all be sober and vigilant, for Satan is a fearsome adversary who never sleeps (1Pet 5:8). He wants to destroy our witness and spiritual life. The story is told of a dating couple who were unhappy that the bride-to-be’s father insisted on them maintaining certain standards of courtship, “Don’t you trust us?” they whined. “Sure I trust you,” the father replied, “But I don’t trust the devil.”
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
In verse fifteen, the Apostle reminds that believers are collectively the body of Christ – their bodies are members with Christ as the local church. Now he sharpens this truth to apply to the individual – the body of each believer is the temple (naos) of the Holy Spirit. It makes a powerful argument against allowing dishonorable acts in the body, for that would be like desecrating the sacred cherubim, or burning strange incense at the golden altar (see 2Cor 6:14). Under the Old Covenant, the glory of God dwelt in the physical Temple at Jerusalem, but now, by the sanctifying blood of His Son, God dwells in the believer (John 14:23; Heb 10:19-22). Earlier in this epistle, Paul showed that the local church is the temple of God (see 1Cor 3:16).
This is a fundamental and life-changing New Testament principle that has its roots in the creation of the world, when God designed Man in His own image, uniquely created for fellowship and capable of rational decision. Man can choose to glorify God or reject Him, to love Him or to hate Him – there can be no surer proof of love than this freedom. On the other hand, what a dangerous plan! What if Man will not voluntarily choose to love Him? The Bible story shows that God did everything possible to convince Man to choose Him. His powerful message of salvation; the dramatic testimony of Christ’s great sacrifice, the beautiful accounts of love and commitment; God’s great mercy and faithfulness in the prophets – all these demonstrate His goodness.
The Devil knows all this too and is determined to wreck God’s good design. He will do all in his power to pervert God’s highest creation. Satan knows that if he can ruin that good image, then God’s beautiful handiwork will not shine in its intended power. Keeping our bodies pure and holy to their proper use is only sensible. “What? Do you not see that you are not your own? God made you! He owns you. He has every right to tell you how to live.”
This doctrine of the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit must be spiritually discerned, for the Spirit does not dwell in literal, physical blood and bones. Our vile body will be refashioned at the end (Php 3:21). The Scriptures teach that the flesh is always corrupt (Rom 7:18); even the Christian finds it to be constantly contrary to the Spirit (Gal 5:17). On the other hand, we are to born again in spirit (John 3:3-8) and worship God in spirit (John 4:24). The dichotomy is clear: We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Eph 5:30) and yet, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1Cor 15:50).
I think the synthesis of these apparently separate ideas is that each of the three “parts” of man have physical and spiritual aspects. The soul (psuche) relates to conscious life yet does not entirely die when life ends. Neither does the spirit (pnuema) cease to exist when the last pnuema of life is drawn. And while a significant part of the body is visible flesh and blood, it is impossible (in our limited way of thinking) to separate the body from the spiritual. The mind and its thoughts, for instance, are processed in the body’s brain which is flesh and blood. This interconnection of the physical with the spirit in Man is, at least partly, what it means to be created in God’s image, for He also is a tri-une Being and though God is a Spirit, He also can take the bodily form of a Man (Php 2:8).
To the Christian, the flesh (sarx) is intrinsically fallen and corrupt, but the body (soma) is redeemable and must be kept in purity for the Lord (note: the Greek words are not used exclusively within those definitions). Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit (v20). Elsewhere the Apostle exhorts us to walk worthy of the Lord (Col 1:10; Eph 4:1; 1Thes 2:12), which is to consecrate the actions of our bodies in holiness unto Him. Sin falls into two categories: sins of the body (theft, fornication, murder, etc) and sins of the spirit (covetousness, lust, hatred, etc), yet all are called sins of the flesh (Rom 8:1-13). Every sin done in the body was preceded by a sin of the spirit, but let us be careful to separate the impulses to covetousness, lust and hatred from actual their actual sins (see James 1:15). Someone has offered the following humorous illustration: “While you cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” Thoughts are constantly flying around in our heads, born by a myriad of largely uncontrollable effects of environment, circumstance and all else that living in this fallen world entails. Kick out those bad thought seeds, don’t let them sprout and grow into defiling sins (Heb 12:15).
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
God paid a high price for Man’s salvation, He gave His own Son (John 3:16). Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ (1Pet 1:18-19). I have written elsewhere concerning the equal payment that all authentic forgiveness demands (see notes for Rom 4:6; Mat 18:35). To forgive a small debt requires the reciprocal small payment, but to forgive a great debt requires great sacrifice, great loss, great suffering. The redemption of Mankind by the forgiveness of sins was not merely a “judicial ruling” as some theologians propose, but a real action of atonement. And as our eternal sin-bearer, Jesus shows us the high cost of that forgiveness (see note Mat 26:37). To redeem us from the curse of the Law, Jesus was made a curse for us (Gal 3:13). His profound, sacrificial acts of love continually supplicate the Redeemed to reciprocate His great love (Rom 5:8).
“Ponder how much God has paid for your redemption; it will motivate you to glorify Him more and more.” It is a compelling thought which the Apostle repeats in the next chapter (1Cor 7:23). Christ dwells in your body and He has bought you at great cost, so keep your bodies pure and worthy of God’s presence and choosing.