1 Corinthians 6

Big Idea: God’s people should look and be different.

1 Corinthians 6:1-8

I think Paul is concerned about two things in this section. He is concerned about how the Corinthian church looks to the community around it. He is also concerned that basic principles of Christian living are not being followed within the Christian community. It seems that Paul has gotten a report from Corinth indicating that church members are suing each other in the public courts.

When we take a Christian brother or sister to court the community outside the church is right to question us when we claim to be defined by our love. One of the primary expressions of our love for one another is forgiveness. Paul does not disagree with the reality that wrong has been done. He wants the wrong to be dealt with in a way that demonstrates the love of Christ and the power of the gospel. When a Christian sues another Christian, he is saying that the church was unable to resolve the issue to his satisfaction. A non-Christian would be justified in asking what difference does being a Christian make.

The more fundamental issue is that the brothers and sisters within the church are taking advantage of one another. The selfish and greedy ways of the culture around the church have found their way inside the church. In the previous chapter Paul has provided instruction on church discipline. He is not suggesting an anything goes environment. He is instructing the members of the church to treat each other fairly, regardless of how they have been treated in the past.

When an offense occurs, it takes great wisdom to work for the reconciliation of the relationship and the spiritual growth of both the offender and the offended. The offended must be willing to forgive and the offender must be willing to repent if true reconciliation is to be achieved.

1. Have you ever been offended or cheated by a fellow church member?

2. Was the situation resolved? How was it resolved?

3. After hearing Paul’s instruction, how could you have responded differently?

4. What do you think Paul would say if the offense came from someone outside the church?

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Paul now provides the reason for the Corinthians to listen to and obey his instruction. He begins by making it clear that people who live a sinful lifestyle will not inherit eternal life. He also states that the members of the church in Corinth were people who lived sinful lifestyles before they decided to follow Jesus. Paul reminds them that repentance was a part of their conversion. Repentance is a changing of direction or a changing of the mind. Change is required and expected when we decide to follow Jesus.

Paul tells us that Jesus has given us everything we need to live a new lifestyle. We were dirty and filthy in our sin and the blood of Jesus washed over us and cleansed us. Baptism is where this happens as the water represents Christ’s blood that cleanses us. Now that we are clean, we are set apart for a new purpose, to love God and others. We are no longer focused on ourselves and our own needs. Finally, we have been declared “not guilty”. There is no longer a penalty to pay for our sin because Jesus has already paid it.

Paul wants the Corinthians and us to understand that we are different now that we have decided to accept Jesus. Since we are different, we should live a different way. If we do not live a different way, then we have reason to question whether we have really allowed the Holy Spirit to come into us.

1. 1. How has your life changed since you decided to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

   2. What could you use a better understanding of: baptism or washing, sanctification, or justification?

1 Corinthians 6:12-14

One of the major false teachings that was creeping into the early church was Gnosticism. Gnosticism separated the material from the spiritual. The material was evil and destined for destruction while the spiritual was eternal. The spiritual was saved by receiving special knowledge from God and having a relationship with Him. This all sounds good until we look at what this meant regarding the physical. To the Gnostic what was done with the physical body did not matter. This opened the door for sexual immorality and gluttony.

Paul makes it clear that for the Christian the body matters. In this Paul agrees with what Jesus taught in the great commandment.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 NIV)

Our love for God must come from all our being. There is no concept of separating ourselves into independent pieces that allow us to proudly and freely sin while maintaining spiritual superiority because of the knowledge we have been blessed with. Anytime we hear someone say that Sunday is God’s and the rest of the week belongs to them we are hearing echoes of Gnosticism.

1. 1. What part of your life do you consider yours?

   2. What would the church be like if everyone regarded the physical body and its activities as irrelevant to our relationship with God?

   3. What are the things we do as believers that should reinforce the importance of the physical world to God?

1 Corinthians 6:15-20

In this section Paul gets very specific about his concern for the Corinthian church. Worship of the Greek gods very often involved going to the temple and having sex with a temple prostitute. Limiting sex to the marriage relationship was a new and foreign concept. The church appears to be having difficulty making this change and Paul wants them to understand why this is so important. Unlike the Gnostics, Paul tells us that the body and the spirit are totally connected. What the body does impacts the spirit.

Our response to the last thing Paul says will depend on our understanding of God and our relationship with Him. For those who believe that God is mean and angry the concept of belonging to God feels more like slavery to an evil master. The natural human response to this is the rebellion which we see all around us.

For those who believe that God is good and loving the concept of belonging to God is a very good thing. To have been purchased out of slavery to be a child of God says that we are incredibly valuable to God. Paul says that if we understand this our desire will be to honor our heavenly Father in everything we do.

1. What are the idols that our culture worships?

2. What forms does this worship take?

3. How do we as Christians avoid worshiping the same idols?

4. How does it feel to belong to God?

5. What does “honor God with your body” look like in your life?