Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!
The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And 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.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not 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.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

• 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

1 Corinthians 6:1-8 ‘resolve differences among believers’: “Two members of the church in Corinth had taken a grievance before the civil magistrates at the judgment seat (Gk. bēma), publicly located in the midst of the city marketplace. Paul was appalled that Spirit-filled believers should submit their disagreements to the judgment of nonbelievers, who were totally lacking in spiritual insight (vv. 5-6). Pagan courts were not the proper arena for the administration of justice between Christians. The ethics of Christian behavior demanded that either the dispute be resolved within the church (v. 4) or that the wronged party choose the more excellent way and endure the injustice without seeking redress (vv. 7-8).”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Patty Comber, Pauline Epistles contributor)

1 Corinthians 6:1 ‘Dare’: “Suing another believer in a secular law court is a daring act of disobedience because of its implications related to all sin—the displeasure of God. a matter against another. The phrase in Gr. was commonly used of a lawsuit (‘go to law’). unrighteous. This does not refer to their moral character, but to their unsaved spiritual condition. before the saints. Believers are to settle all issues between themselves within the church.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Corinthians 6:2 ‘judge the world’: ”Because Christians will assist Christ to judge the world in the millennial kingdom (Rev. 2:26, 27, 3:21; cf. Dan. 7:22), they are more than qualified with the truth, the Spirit, the gifts, and the resources they presently have in Him to settle small matters that come up among themselves in this present life.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Corinthians 6:3 ‘judge angels’: “The Gr. word can mean ‘rule or govern.’ Since the Lord Himself will judge fallen angels (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6), it is likely this means we will have some rule in eternity over holy angels. Since angels are ‘ministering spirits’ to serve the saints (Heb. 1:14), it seems reasonable that they will serve us in glory.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Corinthians 6:9-16 ‘The Destiny of the Righteous and the Unrighteous’: “The destiny of all believers of all generations is to be with Christ in His earthly 1000­year messianic kingdom. Believers from all generations past, including those now living in the dispensation of the church, will enjoy His triumph over evil. Those of the past, including church age believers, will be on earth in their new, eternal bodies. The resurrected Jews of the Old Testament will also share in Christ’s kingdom rule, when He possesses the nations as His inheritance as well as the very ends of the earth (Psalm 2:8).
“The apostle Paul makes it clear that the ‘unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Is Paul referring to those who practice unrighteous works, or does he have something else in mind? In the context of this statement and the earlier verses (verses 1-8), he is concerned about the church saints-believers-taking their fellow Christians to court (verse 6) ‘before the unrighteous and not before the saints’ (verse 1). Problems among believers should be settled by fellow believers in Christ and not before unbelievers (verses 5-6). A church has come to a pretty sad state ‘when its members believe that they are more likely to get justice from unbelievers than from their own brothers’ (Barrett, First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 138).
“Paul then makes an important distinction between the believer and the unbeliever. The unbeliever is the unrighteous as a spiritual group, while the righteous, the saint, is the brother in Christ. It’s possible for believers to walk as carnal Christians (3:3), but from a positional standpoint, they are righteous before God and ‘sanctified in Christ’ (1:2). The lost are the unrighteous whose sins are not covered by the blood of Christ. They openly practice all manner of heinous and debauched acts (6:9-10), and they will not inherit the kingdom of God (verse 10).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ‘the unrighteous will not inherit’: “In this text there is a solemn sentence, a reminder, and a change. First, the solemn sentence: ‘Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom?’ Paul named several types of sinners. ‘Sexually immoral people’ are men and women who have been guilty of sexual sin with unmarried persons.  Idolatry is the worshiping of any god other than the true and living Lord. Idolatry is not merely the worship of images made of stone, or wood, or gods of gold. Family, wealth, and one’s own ambitions may be idols. Paul also listed adultery, ‘males who have sex with males,’ and ‘thieves’-not merely those who are brought before judges for having broken into a house or robbed a person in the street but those persons who are dishonest in trade and so cheat their customers. Then the apostle listed ‘greedy people’ and ‘drunkards.’ We know that in the church at Corinth were some who were so degraded that they were actually drunk at the Lord’s table. Drunkenness is one of the most debasing of sins-it lowers the whole tone of the person who is held in bondage by it. Those who fall into it generally fall into other deadly vices. Next are ‘verbally abusive people’-those who gossip and slander, those who revile, profane swearers. To close the list the apostle wrote, ‘or swindlers’-people who demand high rates of interest and those who prey on the poor while they pretend they are going to be their helpers.
“Second, we also have a reminder-‘some of you used’ to be like this.” This reminder illustrates the great power of the gospel. The gospel can effect the salvation of all sorts of sinners, even the most degraded. However depraved and fallen they may be, they cannot have gone beyond the reach of the gospel. The Lord saves such great sinners to glorify his gospel. He also saves them to magnify his mercy, for the worse the sin, the more is the Lord’s pity. He does it also to confound self-righteousness, for he said, ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (Lk 5:32). Further, by this means he also encourages other great sinners to come to him. The greater the sinner who is saved by God’s grace, the more glory accrues to the grace that saved him. Finally, the Lord saves them that he may win from them great love, intense zeal, and much earnestness. Oh how that great sinner will love the Lord and how he will talk about the Lord to other sinners!
“A third point in this text is the marvelous change: ‘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.’ It is the washing of the sinner in the blood of Christ that Paul spoke of. And after that washing comes the sanctifying-that is, the changing of the heart and the remaking of one’s whole nature as holy. That is the work of the Spirit of God, by the application of the word of Christ. Then follows makes us righteous in the sight of God, and sanctification gives us true holiness.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Corinthians 6:12 ‘’: “All things are lawful for me was the theological slogan the Corinthians had adopted to justify their behavior. Paul affirmed his own doctrine of Christian liberty. But the Corinthians needed to understand that the ‘lawfulness’ of any given behavior was qualified by whether it is ‘beneficial.’ Freedom to act as one pleases is not really freedom at all. It is the most insidious form of bondage. Paul provided guidelines for decision making (see 1 Cor 8).”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Patty Comber, Pauline Epistles contributor)

1 Corinthians 6:12 ‘All things are lawful … not helpful’: “That may have been a Corinthian slogan. It was true that no matter what sins a believer commits, God forgives (Eph. 1:7), but not everything they did was profitable or beneficial. The price of abusing freedom and grace was very high. Sin always produces loss. power. Sin has power. The word means ‘mastered’ (cf. Rom. 6:14), and no sin is more enslaving than sexual sin. While it can never be the unbroken pattern of a true believer’s life, it can be the recurring habit that saps joy, peace, usefulness and brings divine chastening and even church discipline (cf. 5:1ff.). See … 1 Thess. 4:3–5. Sexual sin controls, so the believer must never allow sin to have that control, but must master it in the Lord’s strength (see note on 9:27). Paul categorically rejects the ungodly notion that freedom in Christ gives license to sin (cf. Rom. 7:6; 8:13, 21).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Corinthians 6:13-17 ‘bodily appetites do not need to be satisfied’: “Like the statement in 6:12, this one was probably also a Corinthian slogan: Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food. It conveys the idea, ‘I’ve got a bodily appetite, so I need to satisfy it.’ The problem was that the Corinthians extended this argument beyond just eating. Some were arguing that sexual cravings also needed to be satisfied-even by visiting pagan temple prostitutes (6:15)! However, Paul would have none of that kind of thinking: The body is not for sexual immorality. God created sex for procreation and intimacy between a husband and wife within the covenant bond of marriage. Our bodies are not our own to do with as we please but are for the Lord (6:13). What we do with them, then, is not irrelevant and is to be determined by the Lord. After all, God raised up the body of the Lord Jesus and will one day raise the bodies of believers by his power (6:14).
“Furthermore, our bodies are a part of Christ’s body-that is, the church is in spiritual union with him. To sexually unite with a prostitute is to be illegitimately one body with her. According to Genesis 2:24, when a man and woman are joined sexually in marriage, they legitimately become one flesh (6:16). Thus, to engage in prostitution or any other sexually immoral relationship is to make Christ and his body (the church) part of an illegitimate union (6:15). And that’s exactly what happens when a person is both joined to a prostitute and joined to the Lord (6:16-17). We should never make our Savior part of such an unrighteous union!”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Corinthians 6:16 ‘one flesh’: “Paul supports his point in the previous verse by appealing to the truth of Gen. 2:24 that defines the sexual union between a man and a woman as ‘one flesh.’ When a person is joined to a harlot, it is a one flesh experience; therefore, Christ spiritually is joined to that harlot.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Corinthians 6:17-18 ‘This is Something to Conquer’: “Maybe they’re only anecdotal. Maybe they’re only a few isolated stories that don’t reflect the everyday pressures our youth are facing. Maybe they’re just a few bad apples tainting the image of the rest. Any way we cut it, it seems we’re reading about too many cases of sexual assault involving athletes. Whether it’s the same percentage as the rest of the population, I don’t know. What I do believe is that it’s too many-even one is too many-and it’s in no small part happening because of the unhealthy attitude our society has about sex and the roles that we expect people-men and women, boys and girls-to play.
“Men are expected to be the aggressors, the initiators. Women are expected to hold out and maintain purity. Good for the women, but whatever happened to men maintaining purity as well? Or was it ever a concept within our culture or any culture? Do we still live by the ‘notches’ on the gun belt or, in this case, the bed rail? Since when is sexual conquest of people who are often friends or acquaintances a positive development? Come on-really?
“Whatever happened to valuing the innocence and purity of our young women and men-at any age? Maybe it’s time to reclaim that for our society and for the sake of our children.
“And what about honoring each other? You should never coerce a date in any way – or anyone else for that matter.
“If you are a young person, make sure that other young people understand the stand you are taking. Too many times people shine a light on the negative behavior but are slow to recognize positive behavior and attitudes. Let your light shine.”

• Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker, Uncommon Life – Daily Challenge (excerpt from devotion for 11 April)

1 Corinthians 6:18 ‘flee sexual immorality’: ”Paul closed this section in his first letter to the Corinthians with two imperatives. The first is to ‘flee sexual immorality’ (6:18). To flee means ‘to run from.’ James writes that if we resist the devil he will flee from us (see 4:7). However, when it comes to sexual immorality, the apostle Paul states that we should be the ones to flee.
“To flee sexual immorality is to imitate Joseph, who ran out of Potiphar’s house because he had the good sense to realize he was better off without his garment than without his character (see Genesis 39:7-16). He understood that a person cannot remain in a situation that is tempting and hope to win the battle. King David did not flee-and look what happened to him. He lost his family, and eventually his kingdom was corrupted because of his sexual sin. If you’re in a situation that tempts you toward sexual sin, get away from it. Move your desk, quit your job, change your rules-do whatever you have to do to keep from being polluted by the world.”

• David Jeremiah, 1 Corinthians (Jeremiah Bible Study Series)

1 Corinthians 6:18 ‘flee sexual immorality’: “Paul’s exhortation is brief and to the point: Flee sexual immorality! Sexual sin is unique because by joining sexually to someone other than one’s spouse, a person enters into an illegitimate one-flesh union (see 6:16) and sins against his own body. This, in fact, is why people experience emotional, psychological, and spiritual scars as a result of sexual sin.”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ‘three things, starting with a blessing’: “Notice three things in this text. First is a blessed fact: ‘You were bought at a price.’ Then comes a plain consequence: ‘You are not your own.’ And out of that springs inevitably a natural conclusion: ‘So glorify God with your body.’
“First, the blessed fact: ‘You were bought at a price.’ Paul reminded us that we were redeemed from the punishment due us, redeemed from the wrath of God, redeemed to Christ to be his forever. ‘You were bought’ implies a price, but the words ‘at a price’ are added to show that it was not for nothing that we were purchased; something inestimably precious was paid for us­ ‘the precious blood of Christ’ (1Pt 1:19). Our being ‘bought at a price’ is the most important fact in our present existence. It determines all we do and are future existence, for redeeming love is the song of heaven: ‘You were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood’ (Rv 5:9).
“Second, from this arises an important consequence-‘You are not your own.’ If bought, we are not our own. Now if it is true that we are not our own, then the inferences from this are that we have no right to injure what does not belong to us; and, as we are not our own, we have no right to be idle or to waste our talents. Further, we have no right to do what our old will would do; we are to desire to be obedient to the will of our Father who is in heaven. Yet again, if we are not our own, then we have no right to serve ourselves. The person who is living entirely for himself, whose object is his own ease, comfort, honor, or wealth-what does he know about redemption by Christ? If our aims rise no higher than our personal advantages, we are false to the fact that we are bought at a price, we are traitors to him in whose redemption we pretend to share.
“Finally, from this there is a natural conclusion-‘So glorify God with your body.’ The force of the apostle’s language falls on the word body, and perhaps it is so because we are so apt to forget the truth of God that the body is redeemed and is the Lord’s and should be made to glorify God. The Christian’s body should glorify God by its chastity. The body should glorify God by its self-control in all things-in eating, drinking, sleeping-in everything that has to do with the flesh. As the apostle put it, ‘Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God’ (1Co 10:31). The body ought to glorify God by its industry. A lazy servant is a bad Christian and does not glorify God in his or her body. Our bodies used to work hard enough for the devil; now that they belong to God we need to make them work for the Lord.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon illustrations

1 Corinthians 6:19 ‘Have a high regard for you body’: “You will live forever in this body. It will be different, mind you. What is now crooked will be straightened. What is now faulty will be fixed. Your body will be different, but you won’t have a different body. You will have this one. Does that change the view you have of it? I hope so.
“God has a high regard for your body. You should as well. Respect it. I did not say worship it. But I did say respect it. It is after all the temple of God. Be careful how you feed it, use it, and maintain it. You wouldn’t want anyone trashing your home; God doesn’t want anyone trashing his. After all, it is his, isn’t it?“

• Max Lucado, When Christ Comes

1 Corinthians 6:20 ‘Glorify God in body and spirit’: ”The second imperative that Paul mentions is a positive one. He writes, ‘Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.’ … In essence, Paul is giving you two choices: gratify your lusts or magnify your Lord. The good news is that there is something about magnifying the Lord that will help you overcome temptation. If you use your energies to serve God and glorify Jesus Christ, you will find ways to avoid precarious situations. And when sexual temptation does come, you will be better prepared to flee.”

• David Jeremiah, 1 Corinthians (Jeremiah Bible Study Series)

My Thoughts

Paul starts this chapter with a “what were you thinking” question.  If we cannot have a complaint against a Christian neighbor settled within the church, why would we ever go to an unbeliever to arbitrate the case? Because the unbeliever does not have Jesus in his heart, how can he have the right wisdom to pass a just verdict?  We do not seem to have a separate court system for the church, but maybe we should.  The arbiter will have God whispering in his ear.  He will know how many witnesses that you need.  And he would counsel toward forgiveness rather than getting even.

Paul speaks of how the idea of one cheating another, and the other wanting a lawsuit to settle the matter means that both sides in the argument are already defeated.  No repentance.  No restitution.  No forgiveness.  No love.  How can you be washed in the blood of Christ Jesus when you lack those things?

But then, Paul returns to the idea of sexual immorality.  First Corinthians 6:6 can be said about most sin, at least all sin that may not be against the law.  We are free to engage in such sin, for our sins are forgiven, but is the activity beneficial to us?  If you argue that it is neutral – no harm done – does anyone else become harmed?  The deal is that these “victimless” sins, have a victim.  Us, the perpetrators of the sin.  When you add 1 Cor. 6:6 with Romans 14:23b, you get that anything that is not faith, is sin whether allowable, excusable, but never beneficial.

The expression about food was probably a local Corinthian expression, but expanding that to sexual activity is not valid.  Our bodies were made to glorify God.  There is no way that Paul can conceive of us glorifying God with sinful behavior.  Thus, it makes what God has made pure to be impure.  Paul states that all other sins are external to our bodies, but sexual sin is internal, and it harms our bodies.  This goes beyond the chance for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.  No amount of prophylactic measures can remove that sin.

But back to our freedom, Paul is not saying that we lose our salvation, but we wreck any progress that we make toward sanctification.

And with our eyes on Jesus, we will not notice the temptations along the path.  While Paul speaks of how God gives us the strength to endure temptation, here he tells us to flee from the temptation of sexual immorality.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Lawsuits Among Believers What attitudes underlying this situation do you see in yourself: (a) Insistence on ‘my rights’? (b) Desire for revenge? (c) Desire to make things right? (d) Willingness to ‘bend the rules’? (e) Preferring my old way of life rather than following Christ?
“2. How can the group help you change these attitudes?
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Sexual Immorality 1. In what area do you struggle with the ‘permissible’ versus the ‘beneficial’? How can you begin a ‘temple maintenance program’ (vv.19-20) to help you?

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

First Corinthians 6 has two sets of questions as shown.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.