1 Corinthians 6
6
1DARE any of you, having a matter against another, go to be judged before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2Know you not that the saints shall judge this world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3Know you not that we shall judge angels? how much more things of this world?
4If therefore you have judgments of things pertaining to this world, set them to judge, who are the most despised in the church.
5I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not among you any one wise man, that is able to judge between his brethren?
6But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers.
7Already indeed there is plainly a fault among you, that you have lawsuits one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
8But you do wrong and defraud, and that to your brethren.
9Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
10Nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God.
11And such some of you were; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God.
12All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
13Meat for the belly, and the belly for the meats; but God shall destroy both it and them: but the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14Now God hath both raised up the Lord, and will raise us up also by his power.
15Know you 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.
16Or know you not, that he who is joined to a harlot, is made one body? For they shall be, saith he, two in one flesh.
17But he who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit.
18Fly fornication. Every sin that a man doth, is without the body; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body.
19Or know you not, that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own?
20For you are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body.
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1 Corinthians 6: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1 Corinthians 6
6
Lawsuits Before Unbelievers.#Christians at Corinth are suing one another before pagan judges in Roman courts. A barrage of rhetorical questions (1 Cor 6:1–9) betrays Paul’s indignation over this practice, which he sees as an infringement upon the holiness of the Christian community. 1How can any one of you with a case against another dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment instead of to the holy ones? 2#The principle to which Paul appeals is an eschatological prerogative promised to Christians: they are to share with Christ the judgment of the world (cf. Dn 7:22, 27). Hence they ought to be able to settle minor disputes within the community. Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?#Wis 3:8; Mt 19:28; Rev 20:4. 3Do you not know that we will judge angels? Then why not everyday matters? 4If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters, do you seat as judges people of no standing in the church? 5I say this to shame you. Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to be able to settle a case between brothers? 6But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers?
7Now indeed [then] it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?#Mt 5:38–42; Rom 12:17–21; 1 Thes 5:15. 8Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers. 9#A catalogue of typical vices that exclude from the kingdom of God and that should be excluded from God’s church. Such lists (cf. 1 Cor 5:10) reflect the common moral sensibility of the New Testament period. Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes#The Greek word translated as boy prostitutes may refer to catamites, i.e., boys or young men who were kept for purposes of prostitution, a practice not uncommon in the Greco-Roman world. In Greek mythology this was the function of Ganymede, the “cupbearer of the gods,” whose Latin name was Catamitus. The term translated sodomites refers to adult males who indulged in homosexual practices with such boys. See similar condemnations of such practices in Rom 1:26–27; 1 Tm 1:10. nor sodomites#15:50; Gal 5:19–21; Eph 5:5. 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.#Ti 3:3–7.
Sexual Immorality.#Paul now turns to the opinion of some Corinthians that sexuality is a morally indifferent area (1 Cor 6:12–13). This leads him to explain the mutual relation between the Lord Jesus and our bodies (1 Cor 6:13b) in a densely packed paragraph that contains elements of a profound theology of sexuality (1 Cor 6:15–20). 12“Everything is lawful for me,”#Everything is lawful for me: the Corinthians may have derived this slogan from Paul’s preaching about Christian freedom, but they mean something different by it: they consider sexual satisfaction a matter as indifferent as food, and they attribute no lasting significance to bodily functions (1 Cor 6:13a). Paul begins to deal with the slogan by two qualifications, which suggest principles for judging sexual activity. Not everything is beneficial: cf. 1 Cor 10:23, and the whole argument of 1 Cor 8–10 on the finality of freedom and moral activity. Not let myself be dominated: certain apparently free actions may involve in fact a secret servitude in conflict with the lordship of Jesus. but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful for me,” but I will not let myself be dominated by anything.#10:23. 13“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; 14God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.#Rom 8:11; 2 Cor 4:14.
15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take Christ’s members and make them the members of a prostitute?#6:15b–16] A prostitute: the reference may be specifically to religious prostitution, an accepted part of pagan culture at Corinth and elsewhere; but the prostitute also serves as a symbol for any sexual relationship that conflicts with Christ’s claim over us individually. The two…will become one flesh: the text of Gn 2:24 is applied positively to human marriage in Matthew and Mark, and in Eph 5:29–32: love of husband and wife reflect the love of Christ for his church. The application of the text to union with a prostitute is jarring, for such a union is a parody, an antitype of marriage, which does conflict with Christ’s claim over us. This explains the horror expressed in 1 Cor 6:15b. Of course not!#12:27; Rom 6:12–13; 12:5; Eph 5:30. 16[Or] do you not know that anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For “the two,” it says, “will become one flesh.”#Gn 2:24; Mt 19:5; Mk 10:8; Eph 5:31. 17But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.#Rom 8:9–10; 2 Cor 3:17. 18Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body.#Against his own body: expresses the intimacy and depth of sexual disorder, which violates the very orientation of our bodies. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple#Paul’s vision becomes trinitarian. A temple: sacred by reason of God’s gift, his indwelling Spirit. Not your own: but “for the Lord,” who acquires ownership by the act of redemption. Glorify God in your body: the argument concludes with a positive imperative to supplement the negative “avoid immorality” of 1 Cor 6:18. Far from being a terrain that is morally indifferent, the area of sexuality is one in which our relationship with God (and his Christ and his Spirit) is very intimately expressed: he is either highly glorified or deeply offended. of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?#3:16–17; Rom 5:5. 20For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.#3:23; 7:23; Acts 20:28 / Rom 12:1; Phil 1:20.
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