Lawsuits Among Believers. Sexual Immorality. 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

1 Lawsuits Among Believers Sexual Immorality 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

2 Lawsuits Among Believers Sexual Immorality Text: 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, 1. If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? 2. Do you not know that the saints 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, appoint as judges even men of little account 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 goes to law against another 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. 9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers or male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 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.

3 12. Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me but I will not be mastered by anything. 13. Food for the stomach and the stomach for food But God will destroy them both. The body 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 he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19. Do you not know that your body is a temple 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 body. Commentary: Lawsuits Among Believers 1 Corinthians 6:1, If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? I. This chapter deals with: A. Christians going to law with one another before pagan judges. (Verses 1-11)

4 B. Sexual vice. (Verses 12-20) C. The complacency of the membership of the Corinthian church in view of these serious departures from the way of the Lord. II. Against his neighbor... means against a Christian neighbor. A. Christians are to settle their differences among themselves quietly in the Lord s way. B. These personal differences were not to be hung out like dirty laundry for the world to see by having cases tried before pagan, unrighteous (non-christian) judges. C. Matthew 18:15-17, If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. D. It is sometimes necessary for Christians to appear in court to settle differences. E. Paul appealed to Caesar, but it was in regard to persecution from non-christians, not a problem he had with other Christians. F. The Rabbis had taught the Jews not to take their judicial problems to Gentile courts. However, this didn t keep them from consulting Pilate when seeking the death penalty against Jesus.

5 1 Corinthians 6:2, Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? I. The expression Do you not know... appears six times in this chapter (Verses 2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19) and only two times in all the other books written by the apostle Paul in the Bible. A. These expressions appear to be sarcastic in nature addressed to the conceited arrogance of the Corinthians who thought they knew so much but didn t even know how to settle differences among themselves. B. The world is judged by Christians when Christians preach and live the gospel. 1 Corinthians 6:3, 4, Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I. Paraphrase: You who claim to know all about judging angels in the last day, how about judging some of these petty disputes you are disgracefully airing in the courts of the pagans? A. Saints (faithful Christians) shall judge angels and the world through their union with the Messiah to whom all eternal judgment has been committed. B. Saints (faithful Christians) will only participate in judging at the last day as mystically united with Christ the righteous judge. C. Daniel 7:22, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom This is a judgment given

6 by the Ancient of Days on behalf of the saints, not a judgment made by saints. D. Paul said it was not fitting to let those who were the least qualified decide what the church was to do in these matters. 1 Corinthians 6:5, I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? I. Paul spoke in this condescending manner to let the Corinthians see that they had every reason to be ashamed of the way they were acting in this matter. A. Paul in essence, I meant for what I said to hurt. B. Paul was saying, Surely there is one wise man in the church somewhere to be found who can resolve these disputes among the members! C. Those appointed to responsible positions should be full of the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3), not those who were no account. 1 Corinthians 6:6-8, But instead, one brother goes to law against another and this in front of unbelievers! 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? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. I. For Christians to have differences they cannot resolve and for them to go to court before unbelievers would certainly hurt the reputation of the church and hinder the spread of the gospel.

7 II. This was regarded as a disgrace, fault by Paul. III. Paul further stated that there should be no need for lawsuits among Christians at all. A. Paul contended that it was better for a Christian to take wrong and to be defrauded than to bring the church into public disrespect by contentions and lawsuits. B. Matthew 5:38-42, You have heard that it was said, An eye or an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. IV. Some in the Corinthian church actually had wronged and defrauded their brethren. A. To these Paul gave a stern admonition. B. Cease and desist or be lost in torment! 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers or male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. I. Unrighteous people will not inherit the kingdom of God (heaven) in the world to come! A. Don t deceive yourselves. This is the way it is!

8 B. The unrighteous are those who do not obey the commands of God which are righteous. II. Sins specifically condemned by Paul in this passage are: A. fornication: sexual immorality among unmarried people. B. idolatry: worship of idols. Aphrodite was atop the Acro Corinthus which dominated the Corinthian scene. C. adultery: sexual impropriety of married people, unfaithfulness to marriage vows. D. effeminate: Males who wore women s clothes and were passive partners in sodomy. E. homosexuality: sexual activity involving same sex partners. F. thievery: stealing by non-violent means. G. covetousness: sinful desire to gain possession of that which belongs to someone else, greed. H. drunkenness: inebriation from alcohol or other drugs. I. reviling: slander. J. extortion: bringing pressure through legal and/or illegal means to secure the possessions of others, swindling. III. A significant number of the members of the Corinthian church evidently were guilty of sins such as these! A. Paul sought to restore the wayward.

9 B. Paul sought to restore the purity and reputation of the church. 1 Corinthians 6:11, 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. I. Paul called the attention of the Corinthians to the lives some of them lived before they were saved. A. This verse also strongly let the Corinthians know how absolutely inappropriate it was for the Corinthians, who had been saved from these sins, to revert to engaging in them again. B. Some at Corinth were no longer living as washed, sanctified and justified Christians. C. Some had backslidden into these sins to the peril of their eternal souls. II. Examples: A. Case 1. The Embezzling Employee. A story in the local newspaper reports that JKL has been convicted of embezzling funds from a local business. Some investigation reveals that he was fired from his previous job for the same reason. He, his wife and his children have been active members of your congregation for over ten years. Applying the principles cited above, what should the church leaders do? Be prepared to explain why you think they should take each step. B. Case 2. The Motel Rendezvous. While you and a friend were delivering publicity posters to local businesses, you saw RST and a man come out of a motel room. They kissed and then got into separate cars to drive off. RST and her husband are in your Sunday school class. Applying the principles cited above, what

10 steps should you take? Be prepared to explain why you would take each step. C. Case 3. The Departed Minister. BCD, the minister, recently moved to a position as minister in another church. The church leaders have discovered that, before he left, BCD removed all the fixtures from his church owned residence and emptied the benevolence account. What should be done by his former church and his present church? Introduction: Sexual Immorality I. Men and women are naturally romantically attracted to each other. A. Acting inappropriately on these attractions can be sinful. B. The mature person knows when and how to act or not act on these attractions to maintain purity and integrity. II. All of us have a strong desire to belong, to love and be loved. III. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 addressed several concerns of the disciples at Corinth. A. Is sexual intercourse sinful? B. Should Christians marry, stay married, or separate? C. Should a Christian continue a marriage relationship with an unbeliever?

11 1 Corinthians 6:12, Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me but I will not be mastered by anything. I. Many things which are lawful, permissible for Christians are not necessarily expedient or wise things for Christians to do. II. Christians must not become addicted to anything legal, illegal, wise, unwise. III. Evidently some Christians were trying to justify their sinfulness by claiming all their acts were covered by the liberty they enjoyed in Christ. IV. The liberty we enjoy in Christ is freedom from the guilt of sins, not the freedom to sin. V. All things are lawful for me (Paul). A. Paul here refers to the liberty he enjoyed in Christ. B. This is a relative not absolute principle. C. Paul certainly did not say that immorality, murder, etc., things he had just condemned, were permissible. VI. All things are not expedient. A. Expedient connotes that which is advantageous, profitable, advisable, that which tends to promote some desired object, in this case, Christian growth and maturity. B. Things that fall under Christian liberty may not always be advisable under all circumstances. VII. All things are lawful for me (Paul).

12 A. Paul repeated the basic principle under consideration mentioned earlier in this verse. VIII. I (Paul) will not be brought under the power of any. A. Paul would not allow himself to be controlled by any permissible thing which would lead him away from his work of saving sinners and edifying saints. 1 Corinthians 6:13, Food for the stomach and the stomach for food But God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. I. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats was evidently a familiar proverb of that day well understood by the Corinthians. A. The idea seems to be that just as the stomach hungers for food and its right to satisfy hunger with food, the human sexual drive can also rightly be satisfied without restraints. B. Paul contends that this logic is faulty because while the stomach was made for food, the Christian s body is made for service to the Lord, not for fornication. II. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: A. This was likely a proverb meaning that food was designed to be eaten (for the belly) and the belly was designed to digest the food. B. This was natural and good. III. Both the belly and food will be brought to nothing by the Lord.

13 A. These things are temporary and not in the same category as fornication. B. Some Corinthians must have argued that fornication was justified as a satisfying of a bodily urge just as eating satisfied bodily hunger. IV. Paul declared, The body is not for fornication! A. The body, the total person, is for the Lord s service. B. The Lord accepts faithful service from his servants and blesses them. 1 Corinthians 6:14, By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. I. As God raised Christ from the dead he will raise all Christians from the dead. II. Christ has wondrous things in mind for Christians! He certainly didn t envision a group of followers who would live in the depths of immorality. III. Christ sought to elevate, raise his followers to a higher level. IV. God raised up the Lord. A. Christ was bodily raised from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion. B. This was by the power of God the Father. V. God will raise us up through his power.

14 A. This speaks of the bodily resurrection of saints at the end of the world. B. This will be by the power of God the Father. 1 Corinthians 6:15, 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! I. We are members of Christ s holy body. II. God forbid that we should exchange our holy connection with Christ for a sensual connection with a prostitute. III. Know you not? in this verse and in verse 16 are still being used in a sarcastic way to disparage the sinful Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 6:15, 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! IV. God forbid that you Corinthian Christians... A. whose bodies belong to Christ. B. should take Christ s bodies and give them to harlots. V. Don t you know appears to be used sarcastically, don t you even know this? 1 Corinthians 6:16, 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.

15 I. A person who has sexual relations with a prostitute becomes one body with her. A. Genesis 2:24, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. II. He that is joined to a harlot is one body with her? A. Genesis 2:24, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. B. Paul asked, Don t you even know this much, you who claim to be so wise and knowledgeable? III. It is totally out of place, Paul said, for Corinthian Christians, or any other Christian for that matter, to take their bodies that belong to Christ and join them to harlots in sexual intercourse. 1 Corinthians 6:17, But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. I. We who are one with the Lord have become one spiritual body. II. Christians are joined totally to the Lord in mind, body and soul. III. Christians are to do nothing that would be inconsistent with total faithfulness to Christ. IV. Our spirits in thoughts, words and deeds are to be in total agreement with Christ s spirit. A. We are to be one with him.

16 1 Corinthians 6:18, Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. I. Christians are to flee fornication! II. Every sin a person commits is without the body except for fornication which is a sin against his own body. A. Genesis 39:9, No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? B. Proverbs 6:32, But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. III. Whether body is understood as physical body, spiritual body, church, family, society or nation, fornication is a sin against the body. IV. Flee fornication! A. Run! Temptation is everywhere. B. Genesis 39:6b-12, And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured. And it came to pass, after these things, that his master s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to pass about this

17 time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me; and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. C. Proverbs 6:32, But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding; he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. V. Most sins do not involve the body (as fornication does). VI. He that committeth fornication sins against his own body. A. All those with sexually transmitted diseases know for a fact that Paul here spoke the truth. 1 Corinthians 6:19, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; I. Our bodies constitute the temple of the Holy Spirit! We must keep our bodies pure and holy. II. We can not do as we please. We belong to God! III. Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you. IV. You have received the Holy Spirit from God. V. You do not belong to yourselves. A. You were bought with a price. B. All we do must reflect glory to our owner.

18 1 Corinthians 6:20, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. I. We were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. II. Because we were bought with the blood of his Son, we are to glorify God through everything we do in our bodies. A. Acts 20:28, Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. B. To resort to a heathen temple s prostitute was to take that which belongs to Jehovah God, our body, and make it one with a heathen god. III. Christians were bought with a price, the death of Christ on the cross. A. Acts 20:28, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. B. Saved Christians are definitely not to join themselves to heathen temple prostitutes and so become idol worshippers. IV. Glorify God, therefore, in your body! A. Believing in Christ and continuing to live in sin will not cut it! B. There must be congruency between what we believe and what we do. C. Our bodies are not to be abused, but used to do God s will.

19 Questions 1 Corinthians 6:1-20 1. If Christians have disputes with one another, how should and should not they resolve their differences? 2. What should other members of the church do to help the disputants resolve their differences? 3. What instructions did Jesus give regarding resolution of differences? 4. Is it ever permissible for Christians to go to court against other Christians? 5. When and how are Christians to judge the world?

20 6. How many times and where in Paul s writings is the phrase Do you not know... used? What is the significance of this phrase? 7. How and when will Christians judge angels? Why is this necessary? 8. Are all Christians saints? Why or why not? 9. Who are the people of little account in the church? 10. Describe Paul s attitude as inferred in verses 1-8.

21 11. What does the fact that the Corinthians had law suits among themselves before unbelievers mean? 12. Instead of going to court before unbelievers, what should disputant Christians do? 13. The wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. Neither the,,,,,,,, nor will inherit the kingdom of God 14. The Corinthians had been guilty of these sins, but they had been,,, in the name of the and by the of our. 15. Did the Corinthian Christians return to their former manner of life? 16. How should the cases of the Embezzling Employee, Motel Rendezvous and Departed Minister be handled?

22 17. Since all things are lawful, may Christians do anything they please? Why or why not? 18. How was the Corinthian s equation, argument in regard to meats and belly/fornication and body flawed? 19. What is Paul s point, application in saying Christ was raised and Christians will be raised from the dead? 20. What inconsistencies do we observe today in the use of Christians bodies and their professions of faith in Christ? 21. What does the Bible say about fornication?

23 22. What do you say about fornication? 23. If a Christian commits fornication, how long should the rest of us hold this against him/her? What should we do? 24. When God looks at us, is he pleased with the temple he sees? (See verse 19). What is in need or repair in our personal temple? 25. What can you do to better glorify God in your body?