One Corinthians Six

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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

1 Corinthians 6:2 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?

saints shall judge. The resurrected saints will apparently “judge the world” during the coming millennium, when Christ reigns and His people reign with Him (Revelation 2:26; 3:21; 20:4).

1 Corinthians 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

we shall judge angels. The fallen angels are being “reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6), but it is doubtful that the saints will participate in that judgment, for all such are already destined for “everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41). More likely, we shall have authority over the holy angels, for they were created for this very purpose, being “sent forth to minister for [that is, 'serve'] them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).

1 Corinthians 6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

1 Corinthians 6:5 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?

your shame. The Greek word translated “shame” is entrope, which means “turning inward” or “inversion.” See also 1 Corinthians 15:34, where Paul uses the same rebuke. The modern scientific word “entropy” is essentially the same word. In science, entropy is a measure of disorder or confusion.

1 Corinthians 6:6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

1 Corinthians 6:7 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?

rather take wrong. This principle is as relevant today as in Paul's days. Christians ought to love one another, not sue one another! Christians, like unbelievers, do unfortunately get into mundane arguments and disagreements with each other. They should be able to settle such arguments amicably, however, as Christian brothers. If not, they should be willing to accept Christian mediation from disinterested fellow-Christians. Failing this, the more mature Christian should be willing simply to yield to the other, even if he is legally in the right. Above all, they should not take the matter to court, as this damages the testimony of the whole church.

1 Corinthians 6:8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

1 Corinthians 6:9 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,

effeminate. A man or boy who submits himself to be used sexually by another man.

1 Corinthians 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 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.

the Lord Jesus. Any man or woman, no matter how wicked, can be saved and transformed through faith in Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 lists several flagrant sins from which Christ can set converts free. This includes even those sins associated with homosexuality, modern practitioners of which attempt to justify with the pretense that they are born “gay.”

1 Corinthians 6:12 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.

under the power of any. On decisions dealing with doubtful things, see the notes on Romans 14. The principle given here is to steer clear of any involvement with drugs, intoxicating drink, smoking, gambling or any other behavior that might become addictive.

1 Corinthians 6:13 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.

1 Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

1 Corinthians 6:15 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.

1 Corinthians 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

fornication. In Biblical usage, “fornication” can mean any sexual congress outside monogamous marriage. It thus includes not only premarital sex, but also adultery, homosexual acts, incest, remarriage after un-Biblical divorce, and sexual acts with animals, all of which are explicitly forbidden in the law as given through Moses (e.g., Leviticus 20:10-21). Christ expanded the prohibition against adultery to include even sexual lusting (Matthew 5:28).

1 Corinthians 6:19 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?

your body. This is the classic verse which teaches that a Christian's body belongs to God, not to himself or herself (modern “pro-choice” feminists notwithstanding). Since our “bodies are the members of Christ” (1 Corinthians 6:15), we have no right to unite them with some other body in any sexual relation outside of monogamous marriage. Such becomes a sin “against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18), which could easily result in one of many sex-transmitted diseases (only the worst of which is AIDS), not to mention psychological disorders.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

bought with a price. The purchase price of our bodies was the infinitely precious shed blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Realization of this fact provides another very potent principle for discerning the rightness or wrongness of a certain behavior. Does it, or does it not, glorify God in our body and spirit?