Paul uniquely links believers' future cosmic authority—judging both the world and angels—to their present responsibility for resolving mundane disputes within the church community.
1 Corinthians 6
Lawsuits Among Believers
1Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
2Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
4If then you have to judge things pertaining to this life, do you set them to judge who are of no account in the assembly?
5I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there even one wise man among you who would be able to decide between his brothers?
6But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers!
7Therefore it is already altogether a defect in you that you have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
8No, but you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that against your brothers.
9Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
10nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom.
11Some of you were such, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
Sexual Immorality and the Body as God's Temple
12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything.
13“Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power.
15Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
16Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”
17But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
18Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
20for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
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Theme
Paul addresses two critical issues undermining Christian community in Corinth: believers taking legal disputes before secular courts rather than resolving them within the church, and sexual immorality that defiles the body as God's temple. He argues that Christians, who will one day judge the world and angels, should be capable of settling internal disputes, and challenges them to consider being wronged rather than damaging their witness. The chapter culminates in Paul's teaching that believers' bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, purchased by Christ's sacrifice, and therefore must be kept holy rather than joined to sexual immorality.
Context
Following his treatment of church discipline in chapter 5, Paul continues addressing moral failures in the Corinthian church before turning to marriage questions in chapter 7.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-8 Lawsuits Before Unbelievers Condemned Paul rebukes Christians for taking disputes to secular courts instead of resolving conflicts within the church community.
- 9-11 The Unrighteous Excluded from God's Kingdom A catalog of sins that exclude people from God's kingdom, followed by reminder of the Corinthians' transformation through Christ.
- 12-17 Christian Freedom and Sexual Purity Paul refutes misuse of Christian liberty to justify sexual immorality, emphasizing the body's sacred purpose and union with Christ.
- 18-20 The Body as Temple of the Holy Spirit The climactic argument that sexual sin uniquely defiles the body, which belongs to God as His temple and was purchased by Christ.
Lawsuits Among Believers
6:1–6:11 epistle rebuke urgent
Paul rebukes believers for taking disputes to secular courts instead of resolving them within the church community. He reminds them that saints will judge the world and angels, and emphasizes their transformation and sanctification through Christ.
person_contrast
Paul uniquely links believers' future cosmic authority—judging both the world and angels—to their present responsibility for resolving mundane disputes within the church community.
Sexual Immorality and the Body as God's Temple
6:12–6:20 epistle instruction solemn
Paul teaches that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and warns against sexual immorality, emphasizing that believers belong to God who purchased them. He connects bodily holiness with spiritual union with Christ and the promise of resurrection.
theme_rarity
Paul uniquely links bodily resurrection with present sanctification, making this the only New Testament passage where future bodily glorification directly motivates current sexual purity.
Insights
Paul uniquely links bodily resurrection with present sanctification, making this the only New Testament passage where future bodily glorification directly motivates current sexual purity.
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
1 Corinthians 6:1 1 reference
1 Corinthians 6:7 1 reference
1 Corinthians 6:9 5 references
Lexicals 5
Ephesians 5:5 Lexical
Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man (who is an idolater), has any…
Luke 18:11 Lexical
The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men: extortionists,…
1 Corinthians 5:11 Lexical
But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, o…
1 Corinthians 5:10 Lexical
yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters,…
1 Timothy 1:10 Lexical
for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary…
1 Corinthians 6:10 2 references
Lexicals 2
1 Corinthians 6:14 1 reference
1 Corinthians 6:16 5 references
Lexicals 5
Acts 10:28 Lexical
He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one…
John 20:12 Lexical
and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
Mark 10:8 Lexical
and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Matthew 19:5 Lexical
and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall be…
Ephesians 5:31 Lexical
“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife. Then the two will become one fles…
1 Corinthians 6:18 2 references
Lexicals 2
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