Lawsuits among believers and moral instruction

6:1 When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? 6:2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! 6:4 So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? 6:5 I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians? 6:6 Instead, does a Christian sue a Christian, and do this before unbelievers? 6:7 The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 6:8 But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters! 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, 6:10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 6:11 Some of you once lived this way. 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. 6:12 "All things are lawful for me" - but not everything is beneficial. "All things are lawful for me" - but I will not be controlled by anything. 6:13 "Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both." The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 6:14 Now God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power. 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 6:16 Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." 6:17 But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. 6:18 Flee sexual immorality! "Every sin a person commits is outside of the body" - but the immoral person sins against his own body. 6:19 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? 6:20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Because believers have been washed, sanctified, justified, joined to Christ, and claimed by God for resurrection life, they must not handle disputes or use their bodies by the standards of the unbelieving world. That means ordinary lawsuits between believers should not be taken before unbelieving judges, and sexual immorality must be fled.

Paul continues his call to holiness by confronting two serious failures in Corinth. First, some believers were taking fellow believers to court before unbelievers. Paul is astonished by this. Since the saints will one day judge the world and even angels, they should be able to settle ordinary matters among themselves now. His point is not that civil courts never have a proper role. Rather, ordinary disputes between Christians should not be prosecuted before unbelieving tribunals. The church, as God’s holy people, should have enough wisdom to deal with such cases. In verses 7–8, Paul sharpens the rebuke. The problem is not only that they are going to court before unbelievers. The very fact that brother is suing brother already reveals moral defeat. Even if someone were to win the case, the church would still have failed. So Paul presses them with a searching question: would it not be better, in some cases, to suffer wrong than to damage the fellowship and shame the church before outsiders? Yet instead of accepting loss, some of them were doing wrong and cheating fellow believers. This leads directly into the kingdom warning in verses 9–10. Paul is not changing subjects. By using the language of the “unrighteous,” he connects the courts of verse 1 with the kind of conduct that does not inherit God’s kingdom. He tells them plainly not to be deceived. Sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, homosexual practice, theft, greed, drunkenness, abusive speech, and swindling are not minor matters. Those who persist in such unrighteous living will not inherit the kingdom of God. This is a real eschatological warning, not merely a statement about reduced reward. But Paul does not end with warning. In verse 11, he reminds them of God’s saving work. Some of them once lived in those very sins, but they were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. These are decisive conversion realities accomplished by God, not acts of self-reform. God cleansed them, set them apart as holy, and declared them righteous. Since He has done this for them, they must not return to the patterns from which they were rescued. In verses 12–13, Paul appears to quote Corinthian slogans about freedom and bodily appetite. Some were saying, “All things are lawful for me.” Paul answers that not everything is beneficial, and he refuses to be mastered by anything. Christian freedom does not mean moral permission to do whatever one wants. Freedom must be tested by what is truly good and by whether something gains control over a person. They also seem to have said, “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” as though bodily appetites were morally neutral and temporary. Paul answers that this way of thinking does not apply to sexuality. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. The body matters to God. It is not disposable. God raised the Lord Jesus, and He will also raise believers by His power. So Paul’s teaching is not anti-body. Rather, the body has lasting significance because it belongs to Christ and will be raised. Paul then strengthens the argument further. Believers’ bodies are members of Christ. Therefore sexual sin is not a private matter. If someone joins himself to a prostitute, he is taking what belongs to Christ and misusing it in a sinful union. Paul rejects that absolutely. He quotes Genesis: “The two will become one flesh.” His point is that sexual union creates a real bodily bond. It is not a casual act with no deeper meaning. By contrast, the one united to the Lord is one spirit with Him. This speaks of a real union with Christ without collapsing personal distinction, and that union carries moral consequences. That is why Paul gives the direct command: flee sexual immorality. Do not move toward it, excuse it, or test the limits around it. Run from it. In the logic of this passage, sexual immorality is especially serious because it misuses one’s own body—a body that belongs to Christ, is destined for resurrection, and is indwelt by the Spirit. Paul’s concern is not merely social embarrassment or painful consequences. His concern is holiness. He closes with one of the strongest reasons in the passage. The believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in them and was given by God. That means the body is consecrated to God. It is not available for common or immoral use. Christians are not their own. They were bought at a price, referring to Christ’s redeeming work. Because God has purchased them, He has rightful claim over them. Therefore they must glorify God in their body. Throughout this whole section, Paul refuses to separate spiritual identity from everyday conduct. Future glory, present holiness, union with Christ, the Spirit’s indwelling, and God’s ownership all shape how believers handle conflict and how they use their bodies. Rights, slogans, and appetites do not rule the Christian life. The Lord does.

• The repeated question “Do you not know?” shows that Paul is calling the Corinthians to live consistently with truths they already confess. - The saints will judge the world and angels, so ordinary disputes between believers should be handled with wisdom inside the church. - Paul addresses ordinary disputes between believers, not every possible use of civil courts in every circumstance. - The existence of brother-against-brother lawsuits already shows spiritual and moral failure, even before any verdict is reached. - The language of the “unrighteous” links the unbelieving courts of verse 1 with the kingdom warning of verses 9–10. - The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God
• this is a real warning against persistent unrighteous practice. - Some believers once lived in these sins, but God washed, sanctified, and justified them in Christ by the Spirit. - Christian freedom does not make everything beneficial, and believers must not be mastered by anything. - The body is for the Lord, destined for resurrection, joined to Christ, and is the temple of the Holy Spirit. - Believers were bought at a price, so they must glorify God with their bodies.

• Do not turn verses 1–8 into a universal rule for every possible legal question
• Paul is speaking about ordinary disputes between believers. - Do not use verses 1–8 to suppress lawful civil action in cases such as crime, abuse, or victim protection
• the passage addresses ordinary disputes within the church. - Do not soften verses 9–10 into a warning only about loss of reward
• Paul speaks of exclusion from inheriting the kingdom. - Do not read verses 9–10 without verse 11
• the passage joins serious warning with real grace and transformation. - Do not treat the slogans in verses 12–13 as Paul’s own teaching
• he is correcting them. - Do not reduce temple language to health or self-esteem
• Paul’s point is holiness, God’s ownership, and moral accountability. - Do not narrow Paul’s sexual ethic to prostitution alone
• his reasons extend to sexual immorality more broadly because they rest on union with Christ, one-flesh union, resurrection, and temple holiness.

Paul frames both issues inside a corporate and holiness-shaped world. Brother suing brother is not just poor conflict management; it is family shame before outsiders and a sign that the sanctified community is failing to exercise its own wisdom. The sexual argument is not generic moralism either. By quoting Genesis 2:24 and invoking resurrection, Christ-membership, and temple holiness, Paul treats bodily union as morally weighty and covenantally consequential. That double frame guards against two opposite misreadings: turning verses 1-8 into a universal ban on all civil recourse, or shrinking verses 12-20 into a merely private sexual ethic.

- Churches should seek wise and credible ways to resolve ordinary disputes among believers within the Christian community. - Believers should ask not only what they have a right to do, but whether insisting on that right harms the church’s unity and witness. - Warnings about unrighteous living should be used to call people to repentance, while also holding out the cleansing, sanctification, and justification found in Christ. - Claims of Christian liberty should be tested by two questions: Is it beneficial? Will it master me? - Sexual ethics should be taught from the passage’s own reasons: union with Christ, the resurrection of the body, the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, and God’s ownership of His people. - Believers should treat their bodies as belonging to the Lord and therefore reject any use of the body that contradicts holiness.

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