Lesson 12 – 1 Corinthians Chapter 6:7-13
We’re six chapters into Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, and so far we’ve observed that once Paul left them on their own, things began to deteriorate rather quickly.
I think it all started when the Corinthians began to look inward instead of upward, relying solely upon their own wisdom and knowledge and not including God in their daily activities.
John 15:5:
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
By including God in our lives every day, we will find ourselves connected to “The Vine.” Just as you cut a branch away from the vine, you will quickly find that the branch will wither and die. Jesus says, “…, for apart from Me you can do nothing,” meaning that the things we do on our own will not hold any kingdom value whatsoever. This is contrary to storing up treasures in heaven.
The Corinthians seemed to be doing anything but storing up treasures in heaven. In chapter 6 we see that they started dragging each other into court, many times just out of greed, so that through the court system they could gain personal riches.
1 Cor. 6:7:
“Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?”
To paraphrase this first part we could say, “The fact that you’ve dragged another brother into court means you’ve already lost spiritually.” For Christians not to forgive each other and reconcile their own differences is to demonstrate a personal spiritual defeat.
Matthew 5:38-42:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”
I’m pretty sure Jesus isn’t referring to Christian vs. Christian here, but it’s about us living in this world, and being seen as a disciple of Christ… it’s all about our witness. This most definitely holds true whenever a Christian deals with another Christian. What this really comes down to is each party trusting God.
Matthew 6:33:
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
You might say, “But Lord, I lost $10,000 dollars to this scoundrel, I need to get it back.” Do we think we live in the shadows, where God can’t see us? Do we need to remind ourselves that there is nothing that goes on in our lives that God doesn’t know about? God sees us when we’re on the highest mountain top, and He sees us when we’re in the lowest part of the darkest valley.
Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
Personally, when I look back on my life at the times I have been wronged or ripped-off, it has been at the hands of, as Paul has said, by “so-called Christians.” But you know what? I’m still standing here before you as a survivor, with the help of God.
Was I mad when I was wronged and defrauded? Yep, but God has been faithful to me every step of the way, even when I wanted to get back at those who hurt me and Crystal.
When we kick and fight back against the world, we discredit the power, wisdom, and work of God. It’s the “natural man” inside us that wants to have his own way, but it’s much better for us to lose out financially, than for us to take a hit spiritually.
Romans 12:19:
“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
This is a hard truth for us to take in, because we want to be the ones to inflict the payback, we want to see that justice is done first hand. When we’re hurt, abused, humiliated, or treated unjustly, we naturally want the one who hurt us to experience what we felt. We demand our “pound of flesh.”
You’ve seen the sign, “Authorized Personnel Only.” This is how we should see things as believers when wanting justice done, God is the only One authorized to make things right. We can’t do it because we still have our sin nature. With God there is no conflict of interest.
Before Paul says “vengeance is God’s” in Romans 12, he tells us in verse 2…
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
It’s the world that acts on its vengeance, and then takes joy in doing so. That’s not to say that Christians haven’t fallen victim to this way of thinking as well. As Christians, we shouldn’t be seeking to avenge ourselves, but we must focus on the fact that we’ve been saved by God’s grace, and how His grace changes everything.
Eph. 2:8:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”
As people forgiven by God through Christ by His grace, we’re commanded to emulate God’s nature by forgiving others who have wronged us. So, you can see how this applies to not bringing lawsuits against one another.
Col. 3:13 (NLT):
“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”
If we are clothing ourselves with love, revenge and payback are taken out of the equation, resulting in Christlikeness when dealing with fellow Christians, as well as with the world.
1 Cor. 6:8:
“On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.”
With this, we see that the Corinthians were not acting in love, in fact, they were guilty of wronging and defrauding their own brothers in Christ.
1 Cor. 6:9-10:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”
The casual reader might come to the conclusion that if you’re guilty of one of the sins listed here, you’ve lost your salvation. This isn’t what Paul is saying at all. At this point Paul is juxtaposing the Corinthian believers with unbelievers. All the sins he has listed here can be seen as typical behavior of the unsaved world.
The grammatical tense that is being used in the original language would have made it clear to anyone reading this letter, that Paul wasn’t talking about people who struggled with or even failed in these sins, but to the ones who brazenly and deliberately continued in them.
The unrighteous can be characterized by all these sins that are listed, and this isn’t an exhaustive list by any means. In effect, Paul is saying, “Why in the world would you want to be seen as acting just like the world?” What Paul is telling us is these people will not inherit the kingdom of God because they are still considered enemies of God.
Like we talked about last time, these Corinthians who had at one time had their hands to the plow, were now looking back, as Jesus tells us specifically not to do. Instead of growing in Christ, they were folding in Christ.
2 Cor. 5:17 (NKJV):
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
2 Peter 1:4 (NLT):
“And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
The problem was, the Corinthian believers had not escaped the world’s corruption, they were embracing it.
Being that Paul saw fit to name these sins, I won’t gloss over them.
Fornicators… this has to do with people engaging in sex outside of marriage. In the world today, this is more and more considered to be the norm. Some commentators go so far as to say those who habitually practice and defend it cannot possibly belong to God. Fornication goes against God.
Idolators… these are people who worship false gods and false religions. A common belief is all roads lead to God. The sad reality is, aside from belonging to Christ, all roads will lead to the “White Throne” judgment of God, just prior to being condemned to an eternity of punishment separated from God.
Adulterers… this pertains to those who participate in sex with others outside the marriage covenant. In the Old Testament, those who were guilty of this were usually stoned to death. The sin of adultery can harm others besides the participants, infecting family, friends, and the children.
Effeminate and homosexuals… this seems to be front and center in society these days, especially in the United States.
Romans 1:26-27 (NLT):
“That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.”
Homosexuality is an affront to God, and is satan’s counterfeit to normal sexual relations.
Deut. 22:5:
“A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.”
Lev. 18:22 (NLT):
“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.”
Lev. 20:13:
“If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”
1 Tim. 1:8-10:
“But we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,”
John MacArthur writes, “Confusion of sex roles, like adultery, is particularly evil because it attacks the family. It corrupts the biblical plan for family, including the standards for authority and submission within the family, and thus retards the passing of righteousness from one generation to the next. The most ungodly societies of history have been plagued by sex role perversions, no doubt because satan is so intent on destroying the family. Churches who, in the name of love, defend homosexuality and condone homosexual ministers, “marriages,” and congregations, not only pervert God’s standards of morality, but encourages their members to sin.”
Thieves and covetous… this has to do with greed pure and simple. The one who covets is not satisfied, and wants what others have. The thief takes what he wants, regardless of how it might affect others. Do not covet and do not seal are in the “Big Ten” of God’s commands.
Drunkards… this kind of goes without saying anything. It reminds me of Otis on the Andy Griffith Show in the little town of Mayberry. Andy always had to throw Otis in jail because he was drunk. Today alcoholism is a serious problem throughout the world. Many sins are born from drunkenness.
Revilers… we don’t use this word much today. A reviler is someone who habitually uses abusive language to attack the character of another person. Today we would call a reviler a verbal abuser, one who never listens to reason nor cares to. These people have hearts filled with hate.
Swindlers… they’ve always been around. Some synonyms would be fraudster, charlatan, scammer, double-crosser… you get the picture. Swindlers will take advantage of any unsuspecting individual they can scam, and they will even defraud their own family.
After naming all these God-offending sins. Paul says…
1 Cor. 6:11:
“Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
Such were some of you…
Paul can say such a thing without hesitation because, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
Though many believers have “never” been guilty of the particular sins Paul has listed, be sure, that every believer was guilty of sin before they gave their life to Christ. That’s why the world needs Jesus today more than ever.
Luke 19:10:
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The message to the world is that no person has sinned too greatly or for so long that Jesus can’t cleanse them from their sin.
But you were washed…
Here’s another “big but” in the Bible! In fact, we have three of them here; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified!!!
The sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf was absolutely perfect and never needs to be repeated again. Those who trust in Jesus are washed and cleansed by His blood.
Again, the grammatical tense of these verbs in the Greek is important because it indicates a completed transaction… but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified… it’s a done deal as far as God is concerned.
They were washed…
Titus 3:5:
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”
They were sanctified…
Hebrews 2:11:
“For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,”
They were justified…
Romans 5:9:
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
By Paul pointing out these three holy truths to the Corinthian believers, it must have stirred up a renewed obligation in the hearts of these men, as it should for us as well. Instead of focusing on self, they needed to offer up themselves for service to God.
Romans 12:1 (NLT):
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.”
The million-dollar question is, would the Corinthians do it, would they rededicate their lives to Christ? A transformed mind should manifest itself by evidence of a transformed life.
1 Cor. 6:12:
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.”
All things are lawful for me…
This saying may have been a popular credo for the Corinthians at this time. Credo comes straight from the Latin word meaning “I believe.” It can be taken as a guiding principle or set of principles. Some examples would be: “I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie; I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave; and I believe that it is better to know than to be ignorant.”
The credo All things are lawful for me was being misused by the Corinthians and they were using it to satisfy their sexual appetites. Even today, some Christians will use this verse to give them an excuse to sin freely. It’s an abuse of the understanding that all of our sins have been forgiven… and we have been forgiven.
It is absolutely true that every Christian is free and no longer under the penalty of the law… everything is lawful for them. We have been set free from the Mosaic Law, and now we are to live under the law of Christ, which is to love God with all our being and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
By saying, All things are lawful for me, Paul is anticipating an argument from the Corinthians who justified their sin in the name of “Christian liberty.”
Gal. 5:1:
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
Paul then says, but not all things are profitable!
Profitable… The Greek word sympherō means to help, be expedient, or to be to one’s advantage.
So let’s be clear, sinning is never to anyone’s advantage. In the short or long run, sin will always place a person in the losing column.
There is a parallel Scripture, when taken out of context, delivers the same mind-set that the Corinthians were demonstrating…
Romans 5:20-21 (NLT):
“God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
To look at this the way that the Corinthians might interpret this, is to say, “If I sin more and more, this means God’s grace increases more and more… so sinning is okay because God’s grace covers it all.” I can understand how people might twist this Scripture to justify their sinful ways, but Paul refutes this in the very next two verses.
Romans 6:1-2 (NLT):
“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”
This is the point Paul is making when he says, but not all things are profitable. Considering all that God has done for us, freeing us from the enslavement of sin, and guaranteeing us an eternity with Him in heaven… how can we use our bodies for such evil purposes? Satan wants us to think otherwise.
All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything…
To get specific, Paul is zeroing in on sexual sin. To address the liberal way of thinking when it comes to sexual sins, we can simply ask, “Is what you’re doing glorifying God in any way? When you’re having that adulterous relationship, does that glorify God? When you’re looking at pornography, does that glorify God?” The answer is no… as if you didn’t already know that.
1 Cor. 10:31:
“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
To be mastered by sexual sin can reap a harvest of lying, stealing, cheating, bitterness, hatred, slander, gossip, and unforgiveness. In our hearts, we already know these things are wrong, and God’s Word confirms it for us.
Sexual sin ignites a fire in us that is almost impossible to put out. In the beginning it seems nice and enjoyable, it even brings pleasure and satisfaction… then it all comes crashing in on us, quickly developing into a wildfire out of control. The Corinthians to be sure, were out of control, and they were doing anything to justify their sins.
So when Paul says, all things are lawful, he qualifies this Christian liberty with the law of love, which applies the both neighbor and self.
Gal. 5:13 (NLT):
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
Mark 12:30:
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
For a person to engage in sexual sin with another person is not loving that person at all, even though in their sinful way of thinking they are.
1 Cor. 6:13:
“Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.”
(NLT) “You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.”
The Greek text literally says, “The foods the belly, the belly the foods.” Perhaps this was another credo that went around with the idea that “Sex is no different from eating: the stomach was made for food, and the body was made for sex.” You can see the casual light-hearted approach to this.
The Corinthians reasoned in their own minds that food was both pleasurable and necessary. When their stomach’s started rumbling, they ate to satisfy their hunger. On the flipside, they would argue, that sex was pleasurable and necessary as well. Whenever their bodies craved to be sexually satisfied, they did as they pleased to indulge their sexual appetite.
Warren Wiersbe writes, “Sensuality is to sex what gluttony is to eating; both are sinful and both bring disastrous consequences.”
Speaking of food and the stomach, Paul says, but God will do away with both of them.
So, will we be chowing down in heaven?
Some have speculated that our glorified bodies will not require food for sustenance, but the Lord promised, “I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7, NIV).
Then when Jesus appeared to His followers in His glorified body, He asked them if there were anything to eat. Luke reports that “they gave him a piece of broiled fish … and [He] ate it in their presence” (Luke 24:42–43, NIV).
I don’t think Jesus was hungry, because He was no longer subject to human needs. Jesus ate with His disciples, having a time of fellowship with them, and to show them it was really Him.
So when Paul says, but God will do away with both of them, is this a contradiction in the Bible?
The question then becomes, what is the future reality for stomachs and food? I think what Paul is pointing out to us is that they are both temporary on this side of eternity. Then he says, God will “destroy” both or do away with both. By this phrase, Paul seems to mean that we will all die physically and stop eating food. Feeding our stomachs is not the ultimate purpose of who we are. We do not “live to eat.”
Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body…
We are not our own anymore, we belong to Jesus. Jesus purchased us with His own blood.
Romans 6:12-13:
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
Yet the body is not for immorality…
Every sexual immoral behavior a Christian engages in, drags the Lord Jesus Christ into that sinful engagement. The phrase, “My body, my choice” might be agreeable to a lost world, but not for the Christian!
In the past we’ve talked a lot about being a bond-slave of Christ. A bond-slave is not his own person. He has sold himself to someone else. He belongs to someone else. He does not merely do as he pleases. His time is not his own. He is not free to follow the whims of his personal desires. He is not free to indulge the craving of his appetites as he wishes. He is not his own. He belongs to his Master. The Christian belongs to his Master.
To use our bodies in an immoral way, is to go against our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:10-11:
“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Being alive to God in Christ Jesus is to recognize that our bodies are… but for the Lord.
And, the Lord is for the body…
Eph. 1:22:
“And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
We’ll close with this…
Jesus is not only the head of the body; He is the fullness of the body. There is a future day when the body of Christ will reach its completeness, meaning the day is coming when we are united with Jesus in our glorified bodies… this will bring full glory to the Lamb of God. When this happens, Jesus will present us to His Father.
Until that day, Christians have a duty to preserve their bodies by not yielding to their flesh. Our takeaway is, we are not our own, every believer has been purchased with the blood of God (it’s priceless). The question is, how will you live out each day, will you live it for God or for yourself?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do the will of your Father. You’ll always have a choice to make.