Chapter Analysis
1 Corinthians 6: Washed, Sanctified, Justified, And Bought With A Price
Lawsuits Among Believers
📖 1 Corinthians 6:1–6
¹ When one believer has a dispute with another believer, Paul asks how he dares to take the matter before unrighteous judges instead of before the saints. ² Do they not know that the saints will judge the world? If believers will judge the world, are they not able to judge smaller matters? ³ Do they not know that believers will judge angels? How much more should they be able to judge matters of this life? ⁴ If they have disputes about ordinary matters, why place them before those who have no standing in the church? ⁵ Paul says this to their shame. Is there not even one wise person among them who can judge between brothers? ⁶ Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and this before unbelievers.
🔹 The Truth
Believers should not be quick to take disputes with other believers before unbelieving courts.
The saints will judge the world.
Believers will judge angels.
God’s people should seek wise judgment within the body of Christ.
Public lawsuits between believers can bring shame and damage their witness.
🔹 The Promise
God gives wisdom among His people to handle matters rightly and honorably.
✅ Conclusion
Paul rebukes the Corinthians because they were taking brother-against-brother disputes before unbelievers. Since believers have a future role in judgment with Christ, they should be able to handle lesser matters with wisdom, humility, and righteousness.
Better To Suffer Wrong Than Defraud A Brother
📖 1 Corinthians 6:7–8
⁷ The very fact that they had lawsuits among themselves was already a defeat for them. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸ Instead, they themselves were doing wrong and cheating others, even their own brothers.
🔹 The Truth
Lawsuits among believers can show spiritual defeat.
It may be better to suffer wrong than to dishonor Christ.
Believers must not wrong or cheat one another.
Winning a dispute is not worth damaging the testimony of the Lord.
🔹 The Promise
God sees when His people suffer wrong for righteousness’ sake.
✅ Conclusion
The deeper issue was selfishness. Believers should be willing to suffer loss rather than harm the body of Christ or dishonor the name of the Lord.
Such Were Some Of You
📖 1 Corinthians 6:9–11
⁹ Do they not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? They must not be deceived: the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ thieves, greedy people, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ Such were some of them. But they were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
🔹 The Truth
The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Believers must not be deceived about the seriousness of sin.
Sinful lifestyles are not to be treated as harmless.
Some of the Corinthians had once lived in these sins.
In Christ, believers are washed, sanctified, and justified.
This work is in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.
🔹 The Promise
Those who were once enslaved to sin can be washed, sanctified, and justified through the Lord Jesus Christ.
✅ Conclusion
Paul does not soften the seriousness of sin, but he also does not deny the power of grace. The Corinthians were not what they once were. Christ had cleansed them, set them apart, and declared them righteous.
The Body Is For The Lord
📖 1 Corinthians 6:12–14
¹² All things may be lawful in a certain sense, but not all things are helpful. All things may be lawful, but Paul would not be brought under the power of anything. ¹³ Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will bring both to an end. The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ God raised up the Lord Jesus and will also raise believers up by His power.
🔹 The Truth
Christian freedom must be guided by what is helpful and honoring to God.
Believers must not be controlled by anything sinful.
The body is not for sexual immorality.
The body belongs to the Lord.
God raised Jesus and will also raise believers by His power.
🔹 The Promise
God will raise believers by His power, just as He raised the Lord Jesus.
✅ Conclusion
The body matters to God. It is not a disposable shell for selfish desires. The believer’s body belongs to the Lord and is destined for resurrection.
Joined To Christ, Not Immorality
📖 1 Corinthians 6:15–18
¹⁵ Do believers not know that their bodies are members of Christ? Should someone take the members of Christ and join them to a prostitute? Absolutely not. ¹⁶ Do they not know that the one joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? Scripture says that the two shall become one flesh. ¹⁷ But the one joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. ¹⁸ Therefore, believers must flee sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
🔹 The Truth
The bodies of believers are members of Christ.
Sexual sin is deeply serious because it involves the body.
Believers are joined to the Lord.
The one joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Believers are commanded to flee sexual immorality.
🔹 The Promise
Those who belong to Christ are united with Him and are called to live in purity.
✅ Conclusion
Paul does not tell believers to manage sexual immorality, entertain it, or stay near it. He commands them to flee it because they belong to Christ and are joined to Him.
Your Body Is The Temple Of The Holy Spirit
📖 1 Corinthians 6:19–20
¹⁹ Do believers not know that their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in them, whom they have from God? They are not their own. ²⁰ They were bought with a price. Therefore, they must glorify God in their body and in their spirit, which belong to God.
🔹 The Truth
The believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit dwells in believers and is given by God.
Believers are not their own.
Believers were bought with a price.
The body and spirit of the believer belong to God.
Believers must glorify God in their bodies.
🔹 The Promise
God dwells in His people by the Holy Spirit, and they belong to Him.
✅ Conclusion
The final answer to sexual immorality is ownership. Believers do not belong to themselves. They were bought with the price of Christ’s blood and are called to glorify God with the body He redeemed.
Overall Conclusion
1 Corinthians 6 teaches that believers must live as people who belong to Christ.
Paul first addresses lawsuits among believers, showing that disputes should be handled with wisdom, humility, and concern for the testimony of Christ. It is better to suffer wrong than to dishonor the Lord through selfish conflict.
Paul then warns that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, but he also reminds the Corinthians of God’s transforming grace: they were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.
The chapter ends by showing that the believer’s body belongs to the Lord. The body is not for sexual immorality, but for Christ. Believers are members of Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit, bought with a price, and called to glorify God.
Final Questions For You
- Why should believers be careful about taking disputes with one another before unbelievers?
- How does “such were some of you” show both the seriousness of sin and the power of God’s grace?
- What does it mean to glorify God in your body because you were bought with a price?
