Friday, February 16, 2018

The Apostle by Chapter | 1 Corinthians Chapter 6


By Sam Nobles

Chapter 6 finds the Apostle Paul continuing to talk about the sin within the Corinthian church. He specifically addresses two areas in which the Corinthian believers were struggling – lawsuits and moral laxness.

Lawsuits (v.1-11)
Paul’s rant against sinful behavior finds point on Christians suing fellow believers in a court of pagan judges. The Apostle steps up to condemn this behavior based upon three different grounds.
·      First, on the grounds of it being illogical (v.2-6), Paul addresses the fact that it doesn’t add up that believers can’t settle and judge differences between themselves and other believers, but will one day be responsible for judging angels.
·      Second, on the grounds of it being illegal (v.7-8), Paul lets these Corinthian believers know that they were defrauding one another with more wrong action. The old saying is true, “Two wrongs don’t make a right”.
·      Third, on the grounds of it being inexcusable (v.9-11), Paul reminds the Corinthian believers that God had forgiven them of many horrible sins. Could they not forgive one another of a few lesser sins?

Moral Laxness (v.12-20)
In the same way that Paul addressed the Corinthian’s lawsuit issue, he addresses the Corinthian’s moral laxness, but this time in two regards.
·      First, in regard to food (v.12-13), the Apostle Paul discusses mastery. God created the human stomach so that it can receive foods and digest them. In the same manner, God has designed foods so they can be received by the human stomach. And yet we should not live for foods, because they are only of temporary value. They should not be given an undue place in the life of the believer. Don't live as if the greatest thing in life is to gratify your appetites.[i]
·      Secondly, in regard to sexuality (v.13-20), Paul urges the Corinthian believers to flee from sexual immorality because it is a sin against one’s own body (v.18). Not to mention that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, purchased by the blood of Jesus.


Scripture to Claim:
“’All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV)




[i] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Second Edition, ed. Arthur L. Farstad, 2nd ed. edition (Thomas Nelson, 2016).

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