1 Corinthians 6

Grace to you, and peace in our Lord,

1 Corinthians 6 deals with two particular issues; how believers should resolve conflict and how believers should remain pure. The memory passage for chapter 6 is;

1 Corinthians 6:1, 9-10, 18-20 (ESV)
¹ When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?
⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The outline theme is Correct Conflict Resolution and Purity.

The first main theme of 1 Cor 6 is the correct way to handle grievances between believers. Paul lays out a string of questions to challenge the approach that the Cor church was employing. It appears that believers were taking their matters of grievance to the secular courts instead of before the leaders of the church. Paul's challenge is based on the fact that the secular courts have no standing in the church, and that believers are better qualified to give guidance on issues between other believers. "...is no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between brothers..." is an indictment against the church's immaturity related to conflict resolution. Paul writes that if it escalates to the point of requiring the secular court to step in, both sides have already lost.

Paul is not condemning the secular courts altogether (Rom 13), but reminding the church of the correct roles it has to play in the conflict resolution of believers.

This section ends with a contrast of the unrighteous and the righteous. This 'list of sins' is followed by a powerful statement reinforcing the standing of the believer before God as one washed, sanctified and justified.

The second main theme in 1 Cor 6 is the purity of the believer. More specifically the sexual purity of the believer. Paul sharply contradicts the idea that our liberty in Christ and freedom from the eternal punishment of sin somehow condones sexually immoral behavior. "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (13b). And because our bodies are 'members of Christ' we should never 'become one flesh' with a prostitute, or any other sexual partner outside of marriage. (15) This is directly contradictory to the institution and relationship God created for men and women. We become one with Christ in Spirit, and become one with a mate in flesh.

Vv 18-20 speak more to our status as believers. We have the Holy Spirit living in us, and are thus His temple. Sexual sins are sins against our own body, which is not even our own anymore since we were bought with the blood of Christ. What do we do? Flee from sexual immorality and glorify God in our bodies.

How does this affect my Worship?
As a worshiper of God, my goal is to give Him all glory and honor and praise. This can not be with just my words or my thoughts; it must be with my body and my actions. James seems to have a few things to say about a faith that does not show fruit. It's the same with worship that does not show fruit. If the 'fruit of my lips' is small, hollow, rotten, or diseased, how can I offer it to God as a sacrifice. A sacrifice must cost something. Costless worship is not our calling as spirit-and-truth worshipers. I am not my own, I was bought with a price, I must glorify God with all that I am.

How does this affect my discipleship?
I have been recently challenged with situations concerning grievances between brothers; and let me say that I don't think I handled them well. If there are two believers who have submitted to Christ in their lives and to the body of Christ in the local church then their disputes, if there would be any, should be addressed by the body of Christ in the local church. If there are Elders or spiritual leaders who have standing in the church, they should be the ones who address these grievances. In a properly functioning body that is committed to intentional disciplemaking and is seeking the unity of the body, 'family matters' should be dealt with in the family. This is a loose association with discipleship in some ways, but a direct result of my own discipleship journey as I encounter situations like this.


May you walk not as your own, but as His,

Ethan