1 Corinthians 6
6
The error of litigation in the Church
1Now another matter — the Greeks are devoted to litigation, it is a passion with them, but what has that to do with you? Are you going to haunt the law-courts of Corinth and with cases which you bring against one another! 2This has little to do with the true judgment and justice which your faith exemplifies. 3That is capable of judging angels, and if you have it are you not even capable of settling these business disputes which arise amongst yourselves? 4-7Have you no one wise enough for that, but must you go to law with one another, and invoke the methods and assistance of a corrupt judicial system to get the better of your brother? Questions of everyday life then cannot be settled by the Church, but you must needs take them before those who know nothing of your faith, and whom the Church on that account esteems as of no account. Yet you bring your quarrels and disputes before them! And why do such disputes arise? 8Is it not because you still have in your midst the old spirit of over-reaching and dishonesty? I declare it is better to be wronged, to be cheated and robbed, and to take the injustice and say no more about it, for that would more resemble your calling than to do the opposite. 9Yes, for the old world of wickedness that God is judging, which is for ever excluded from His Kingdom, is still lurking in your midst. O do not be deceived by it, whatever cloak it may put on! Fornication, idolatry, adultery, sodomy, 10dishonesty, greed, drunkenness, cursing, theft — these are the things that hide the Kingdom of God, and they can never win it. 11Were you once involved in them, and were you purified, cleansed, justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God? Yes, you were, you had won clear of that spirit of perdition, but see that it does not entangle you again, know it for what it is.
Man not subordinate to physical nature
12True, I am free, I am independent, and can act as seems good to me, yet, though nothing is bad in itself, evil in its influence is dangerous. I am a free man, but I will not be mastered by any influences. 13Food and drink have nothing to do with my real being, they affect the belly, not me, you say, and I am in my true self independent of them. Yet that physical part of you is doomed to destruction along with the material things that feed it. Perhaps you would dare to apply the same view to the body. Never! The body is not for fornication. It is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. 14And as the Lord was raised from the dead by the power of God, so shall we be raised. 15For there is nothing legitimate or natural for you in an appetite which demands such vile institutions and uses for its satisfaction. Your bodies are no longer carnal, they are members of Christ. 16Shall I take that which is spiritual and convert it into the very opposite, change the limbs of Christ into the flesh of a harlot? “They twain shall be of one flesh,” says Moses (Gen 2:24), and so this awful substitution takes place, and in the place of Christ’s body we find that of a harlot. Such then is their practice, this besetting sin of Corinth. Flee from it. 17For the One Spirit makes us one with the Lord. 18That is the truth, of which the other is the lie. Just as in the truth man cannot separate himself from the Lord, for there is but one Spirit, so in the false, in the carnal action, man cannot separate himself from the sin to which he surrenders, he sins not against another only, nor does the wrong of his action merely affect that which is outside himself. He cannot excuse himself by saying “it has nothing to do with my true being, it is inherent in the body only, and I disclaim its connection with me, though as a physical being I am forced by the power of Nature to submit to it, even as I am forced by other appetites to eat and drink!” The reasoning is false. 19Your bodies are spiritual structures, the spirit that dwells in you is of God, and your bodies are correspondingly spiritual, as temples, rather than animal organisms; 20they owe allegiance not to the physical self, but to Him who redeemed them at a price. God Himself is to be glorified in your bodies.
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1 Corinthians 6: GWC
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Translated in 1916, published in 1937.
1 Corinthians 6
6
1How dare any of you file a lawsuit before pagan judges if you have a dispute with your neighbor! Instead you should bring this before other believers. 2Don't you know that Christian believers will judge the world? If you're going to judge the world, are you not fit to judge in the most minor cases? 3Don't you know we are going to judge angels? How much more those things that relate to this life! 4So if you have to judge things that relate to this life, how can you go to judges that are not respected by the church?#6:4. Or “why not choose judges from the least respected members of the church?” 5I'm trying to shame you by saying this. What? You can't find one wise person among you who can settle a dispute that you have?
6Instead one believer takes another believer to court, and places the issue before unbelievers! 7The very fact you have lawsuits against each other already is a complete disaster. Wouldn't it be better to accept the injustice? Why not let yourselves be defrauded? 8But you would rather cause injustice and defraud even your fellow-believers in church.
9Don't you know those who are unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be fooled! People who are immoral, worship idols, commit adultery, are sexual perverts, homosexuals, 10thieves, greedy, drunkards, abusers, or cheats, will not inherit the kingdom of God. 11Some of you were once like that, but you have been made clean and holy. You have been made right in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
12People say, “I'm free to do anything”—but not everything is appropriate! “I'm free to do anything”—but I will not let anything control me! People say, 13“Food for the stomach, and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy both of them. Also, the body is not meant to be used for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us up the same way.#6:14. Referring to raising up the body, continuing the subject of the discussion. 15Don't you know your bodies are parts of Christ's body? Should I take the parts of Christ's body and join them to a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16Don't you realize that anyone who has sex with a prostitute becomes “one body” with her? Remember that Scripture says, “The two will become one body.”#6:16. Quoting Genesis 2:24. 17But whoever is joined to the Lord is one with him in spirit! 18Stay away from sexual immorality! All other sins that people commit are outside of the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit that is within you, that you received from God? 20You don't belong to yourself—a price was paid for you! So glorify God in your body!
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com