Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
1 CORINTHIANS 6
Lawsuits Among Believers
1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Sexual Immorality
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Application Notes
6:1-6 Paul has just explained what to do with open immorality in the congregation. Now he teaches how the congregation should handle disputes between believers. Society has set up a legal system so that disagreements can be resolved in courts. But Paul declares that disagreeing Christians should not have to go to a secular court to resolve their differences. Christians have the Holy Spirit and the mind of Christ, so why should we turn to those who lack God's divine wisdom? Because of all that we have been given as believers, and because of the authority that we will have in the future to judge the world and the angels, we should be able to deal with disputes among ourselves. (For more on judging the world, see John 5:22 and Revelation 3:21. Judging angels is mentioned in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6.)
6:6-8 Why did Paul say that Christians should not take their disagreements to unbelievers in secular courts? (1) If the judge and jury are not Christians, they are unlikely to be sensitive to Christian values. (2) The basis for going to court is often revenge; this should never be a Christian's motive. (3) Lawsuits among Christians harm the cause of Christ and make the church look bad, causing unbelievers to focus on its problems rather than on its purpose.
6:9-11 Paul is describing characteristics of unbelievers. He doesn't mean that all those who have indulged in sexual sin or who have been idol worshipers, adulterers, people who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, or swindlers will be automatically and irrevocably excluded from heaven. Christians come out of all kinds of different backgrounds, including these. They may still struggle with evil desires, but they should not continue in these practices. In 6:11, Paul clearly states that even those who sin in these ways can have their lives changed by Christ. However, those who say that they are Christians but persist in these practices with no sign of remorse will not inherit the kingdom of God. Such people need to reevaluate their lives to see if they truly believe in Christ because their actions would certainly say otherwise.
6:9-11 In a permissive society, Christians will be especially tempted to overlook or tolerate many immoral behaviours (greed, drunkenness, cheating) while remaining outraged at others (prostitution, theft, violent abuse). We must not participate in sin or condone it in any way, nor should we be selective about what we condemn or excuse. We may find it difficult to avoid the more "acceptable" forms of sin, but the Corinthians had the same struggle. God expects his followers in any age to have high standards.
6:9 "Men who have sex with men" refers to those who practice homosexuality. Is homosexual sexual behaviour an acceptable life choice? Do Christians, based on biblical principles, have the freedom to engage sexually with whoever they choose? The Bible specifically refers to homosexual sexual behaviour as sin (Leviticus 18:22-29; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Timothy 1:9-11). Those who are Christians must follow what the Bible says because Jesus urged us to obey God's Word (John 15:10). We must be careful, however, to disapprove of the practice but not condemn individuals who experience same-sex attraction. Even those who commit homosexual acts are not to be feared, ridiculed, or hated. All people are made in the image of God; we all need forgiveness and inner transformation through the power of God's Holy Spirit. The church should be a haven of forgiveness and healing for all who realise their need for Jesus and who desire to learn what it looks like to follow him wholeheartedly. The church must love those who are gay without compromising the biblical stance against homosexual sexual behaviour.
6:11 Paul emphasises God's action in making believers new people. Our salvation includes all three aspects of God's work: Our sins are washed away, we are set apart for special use ("sanctified"), and we have been made right with God ("justified").
6:12-13 Many of the world's religions teach that the soul or spirit is important but the body is not, and Christianity has sometimes been influenced by these ideas. In truth, however, Christianity takes our physicality very seriously. We worship a God who created a physical world and pronounced it good. He promises us a new earth where real people will have transformed physical lives--not a cloud where disembodied souls listen to harp music. At the heart of Christianity is the story of God himself taking on flesh and blood and coming to live with us, offering both physical healing and spiritual restoration.
We humans, like Adam, are a combination of dust and spirit. Just as our spirits affect our bodies, our physical bodies affect our spirits. We cannot commit sin with our bodies without damaging our souls because our bodies and souls are inseparably joined. In the new earth we will have resurrection bodies uncorrupted by sin. Then we will enjoy the fullness of our salvation.
6:12-13 The Christian faith gives freedom--freedom from sin and guilt, and freedom to use and enjoy anything that comes from God. But Christians should not abuse this freedom and hurt themselves or others. Drinking too much leads to alcoholism; gluttony leads to obesity. Be careful that what God has allowed you to enjoy doesn't grow into a bad habit that controls you. (For more about Christian freedom and everyday behaviour, see 1 Corinthians 8.)
6:12 Apparently, the church had been quoting and misapplying the words "I have the right to do anything." Some Christians in Corinth were excusing their sins by saying that (1) because Christ had taken away all sin they had complete freedom to live as they pleased or (2) what they were doing was not strictly forbidden by Scripture. Paul answered both these excuses in several ways: (1) While Christ has taken away our sin, this does not give us freedom to go on doing what we know is wrong, because doing so shows that our sinful nature is still dominating us. The New Testament specifically forbids many sins (see 6:9-10 for some examples) that were originally prohibited in the Old Testament (see Romans 12:9-21; 13:8-10). (2) Some actions are not sinful in themselves, but they are not appropriate because they can control our lives and lead us away from God. (3) Some actions may hurt others. Anything we do that hurts rather than helps others is not good.
6:13 Sexual immorality is a temptation that is always before us. Movies, shows, and videos present sex outside of marriage as a normal--even desirable--part of life, while marriage is often shown as confining and joyless. We can even be looked down on by others if we are suspected of being pure. But God does not forbid sexual sin just to be difficult. He knows its power to destroy us physically and spiritually. No one should underestimate the power of sexual immorality. It has devastated countless lives and destroyed families, churches, communities, and even nations. God wants to protect us from damaging ourselves and others, so he offers to fill us--our loneliness, our desires--with himself.
6:15-17 This teaching about sexual immorality and prostitutes was especially important for the Corinthian church because the temple of the love goddess Aphrodite was in Corinth. This temple employed more than a thousand prostitutes as priestesses, and sex was part of the worship ritual. Paul clearly stated that Christians are to have no part in sexual immorality, even if it is acceptable and popular in the surrounding culture.
6:18 Christians are free to be all they can be for God, but they are not free from God's plan for healthy and holy living. God created sex to be a beautiful and essential ingredient of marriage, but sexual sin-sex outside the marriage relationship-a/ways hurts someone. It hurts God because it shows that we would rather follow our own desires than the leading of the Holy Spirit. It hurts others because it violates the commitment so necessary to a trusting relationship. It can bring disease to our bodies. And it deeply affects our psyches and identities, which respond in anguish when we harm ourselves physically and spiritually.
6:19-20 What did Paul mean when he said that our bodies belong to God? Many people say they have the right to do whatever they want with their own bodies. Although they think that this is freedom, they are really enslaved to their own desires. When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us; therefore, we no longer own our bodies. That we have been "bought at a price" brings to mind the picture of slaves purchased at an auction. Christ's death freed us from sin but also obligates us to his service. If you live in a building owned by someone else, you try not to violate the building's rules. Because your body belongs to God, you must not violate his standards for living.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)