1 Corinthians 6

Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

If then you have to judge things pertaining to this life, do you set them to judge who are of no account in the assembly?

I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there even one wise man among you who would be able to decide between his brothers?

But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers!

Therefore it is already altogether a defect in you that you have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?

No, but you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that against your brothers.

Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,

nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom.

Some of you were such, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything.

“Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power.

Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!

Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”

But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter confronts the Corinthian believers’ failure to live out their identity in Christ, focusing first on their resort to secular courts over internal disputes and then on the grave sin of sexual immorality. Paul grounds his exhortation in their future destiny as judges of the world and angels, their present sanctification in Christ, and the sacredness of the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. The chapter marks a turning point from communal dysfunction to ethical holiness, situating both legal disputes and bodily purity within the larger reality of the gospel.

Flow.

Paul rebukes the church for taking fellow believers to court before unbelievers, arguing that the saints will one day judge the world and should therefore be capable of settling earthly matters.
He exposes the moral failure behind their lawsuits: not only are they defrauding one another, but they are behaving contrary to their calling, revealing a deficit of wisdom and love.
Turning to sexual immorality, Paul refutes the slogan “all things are lawful” by affirming that not all things are beneficial and that believers must not fall under the power of any sin.
He culminates with a strong theological argument: the body is united to Christ, indwelt by the Spirit, and redeemed by God’s power, and therefore must be kept pure, especially from sexual sin.

Connections.
Following chapter 5, which addresses corporate tolerance of immorality within the church, chapter 6 intensifies the call to holiness by confronting both interpersonal injustice and personal sexual sin. Paul reveals that the same gospel that demands discipline (chap. 5) also demands self-denial and bodily purity. The concerns about idolatry and immorality introduced here are further unpacked in chapter 7, which deals with marriage, singleness, and the proper use of the body in light of God’s redemptive purposes.

What it teaches.
The church is called to resolve conflicts internally, reflecting its future role in God’s kingdom (WCF 24.1), and to avoid the defilement of both communal peace and bodily integrity. Believers, having been washed, sanctified, and justified in Christ (), are no longer their own but belong to God (WCF 13.1; HC LD 32), whose indwelling Spirit makes the body a holy temple (WCF 18.1). Sexual immorality uniquely profanes this union because it yokes Christ’s members to sin, violating the profound mystery of one-flesh union (; HC Q/A 108). Thus, the believer’s body is not subject to autonomy but to the lordship of Christ (; HC Q/A 1).

Apply.
Walk in the freedom of redemption by refusing both to exploit others in dispute and to surrender your body to sin’s dominion.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.