1 Corinthians 6

This chapter addresses issues of legal disputes among believers and moral misconduct within the Corinthian church. Paul criticizes the community for resorting to secular courts rather than resolving conflicts internally and emphasizes the importance of upholding Christian ethics, especially in matters of sexual purity, as the body of believers is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:1 (NKJV) Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

Paul challenges the Corinthians on their readiness to take legal disputes against fellow believers to secular courts rather than resolving them within the church community, highlighting a failure to recognize the spiritual authority and wisdom among the saints.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 (NKJV) Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

Paul argues that if believers are destined to judge the world and even angels, they should certainly be capable of resolving minor disputes among themselves. This responsibility underscores their spiritual maturity and divine authority to handle earthly matters.

1 Corinthians 6:4 (NKJV) If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?

Paul criticizes the Corinthians for allowing those considered least qualified within the church to judge in disputes, possibly indicating the use of secular judges or those not respected within their community, thus questioning their judgment and spiritual discernment.

1 Corinthians 6:5-6 (NKJV) I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

Paul expresses disappointment and shame that no one among the Corinthians is deemed wise enough to mediate disputes, leading to the public spectacle of believers suing each other in pagan courts, which undermines the witness of the church to the non-believing world.

1 Corinthians 6:7-8 (NKJV) Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

Paul points out that the very act of suing another believer is a defeat for the church. He suggests that it would be more honorable to suffer wrong or be cheated than to disgrace the community by public legal disputes, accusing them of committing injustices against their own members.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul warns against various forms of unrighteous behavior, listing actions that are incompatible with the kingdom of God. This serves as a reminder to the Corinthians to examine their own lives and purge behaviors that could disqualify them from God's eternal kingdom.

1 Corinthians 6:11 (NKJV) And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Despite their past, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they have been cleansed, sanctified, and justified through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, emphasizing transformation and the need to live in accordance with their new identity in Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NKJV) All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Paul discusses Christian liberty, noting that while all things might be permissible, not all actions are beneficial or constructive. He stresses personal discipline to avoid being mastered by any habit or desire, emphasizing moral discernment in their newfound freedom.

1 Corinthians 6:13-14 (NKJV) Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

Paul addresses bodily matters, clarifying that while certain things like food are temporal, the body has a higher purpose and should not be used for immorality. He connects the body's purpose to the Lord, reflecting the resurrection power that believers will experience, thus sanctifying the physical body as something destined for eternal significance.

1 Corinthians 6:15-16 (NKJV) Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”

Paul confronts sexual immorality by reminding the Corinthians that their bodies are part of Christ's body. Engaging in sexual immorality, particularly with a prostitute, violates this sacred unity, as sexual union makes them one flesh with another, contrary to their union with Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:17-18 (NKJV) But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Highlighting the spiritual union with the Lord, Paul urges fleeing from sexual immorality, noting its unique sinfulness as it involves a direct offense against one's own body, which is meant to be a temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Paul culminates his argument by affirming that believers' bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing that they do not belong to themselves but to God, having been redeemed at a great cost. This calls for a life that glorifies God both in body and spirit, underscoring the holistic nature of Christian ethics and devotion.

Note that the Holy Spirit dwells in the spirit of a believer, and humans are composed of body, soul, and spirit. It is in the spirit that the deepest communion with God occurs. However, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 specifically uses the term "body" to emphasize that the whole person is unified. Paul addresses the Corinthians in a context where he wants to stress that physical actions performed by the body are just as significant in one's spiritual life. This approach serves to underline that sanctification and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit affect the entire being, not just the non-material aspects.