15. LET YOURSELVES BE DEFRAUDED - 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

 

In the church today we find believers are becoming more and more like the world from out of which we have been called. This is not a problem unique to our times for even in the apostolic church this was a problem. In the passage we are now considering in 1 Corinthians, we see that the church at Corinth was once again becoming like the world from which it had been called. More and more traits of immoral Corinthian society were being found in the church.

 

Please read 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

 

Verse 1: Paul had obviously heard reports from Corinth concerning disputes within the church being settled, or at least taken, to heathen courts. What Paul does in this passage is settle the principle of Christian dispute solving by way of general principle, rather than giving a specific example of the problems then existent in Corinth. By doing so, Paul equally addresses each example of this problem in Corinth at the same time, for he gives a principle to govern every occasion.

Clearly the case of lawsuits in Corinth is not that far removed from the previous problem that Paul was addressing, for both problems involve negligence in proper church disciplinary practice. Instead of following the principles of church discipline as outlined in the Scriptures (Mt 18:15ff), believers were taking one another to heathen courts for solutions to disputes. Paul finds it difficult to believe that a believer would actually do such a thing, it being once again incongruous with the Christian faith. Disputes will of course arise between believers, but there are avenues to address each within the church.

QUESTIONS: Discuss the reasons why Christians ought not to take their disputes with other believers to heathen courts.

 

What does such behaviour suggest about Christians? Explain your answer.

 

Verse 2: Paul, by way of a question, reminds the Corinthians of things he had taught them in the past - in this case in reference to Judgment Day. Previously Paul had apparently taught the Corinthian believers concerning the joining of believers to Christ in judging the world at the last day (Dan 7:9-27; Mt 19:28; Lk 22:30; Rev 20:4). Clearly this means that the ones to whom they are going to judgment on everyday affairs will be judged by them in the end - is there any reason then why they need to go to these people for judgment? Can they not judge these matters themselves? Clearly Paul believes that the church is competent to judge such matters when they arise without the need of heathen judges.

Verse 3: Not only will we be involved in the judgment of unbelievers, but Paul points out that we will also be involved in the judging of angels. Again the question is asked, cannot believers then be expected to judge things of this current age between themselves? Surely if we are to judge the greater, why can not Christians judge the lesser?

Verse 4: There are a number of possible translations for this verse. Among them are translations which contain a command to appoint those that are least esteemed in the church to judge everyday matters and a statement that says the least esteemed in the church have been appointed to judge everyday matters. However, the context would suggest that the people appointed by the church in Corinth to judge these everyday matters were heathen judges, those that are least esteemed by the church. Even the least esteemed within the church as regards spiritual things should be able to judge Christian matters better than unbelievers (1:24,30; 2:6-8; 3:19). Therefore if there was a need to judge a matter between believers it should be done by believers.

By calling such judges the least esteemed by the church, Paul is not saying that these judges were considered terrible or that they were to be looked down upon. Neither is he anywhere saying that these judges were men of disrepute, for the Roman justice system was looked upon as being very fair and just overall. What Paul is saying is that as regards the Christian faith, these heathen judges have no part in it and are therefore the least esteemed in matters of Christian conduct. They have no understanding of Christian ethics and morality.

Verse 5: The situation at Corinth regarding lawsuits was an embarrassment to the Christian church. Such practices exhibited in Corinth was not something signifying Christian progress (let alone spiritual eliteness), but was shameful behaviour for Christians. These matters ought to have been sorted out within the church by means of Christian counsel and discipline.

Paul finds it hard to fathom why no Christian person in Corinth was able to correctly judge these matters (especially given that they were so wise). Could it be that there were no truly wise among them? Could not a single brother be found who would be able to bring about reconciliation between disaffected brethren?

Here Paul brings out a most important point, for the disputants were not enemies but brethren in the same spiritual family. These people belonged together in the Body and ought not to be tearing away at each other.

QUESTION: Why should being Christians mean that such divisive behaviour as lawsuits shouldn’t take place? Explain your answer.

 

Verse 6: Despite the familial relations within the Christian church, believers were still suing one another at Corinth and that before the ungodly. What a terrible witness this must have been for the Christian church in Corinth?

QUESTION: What sort of testimony did the Corinthians exhibit toward unbelievers by their behaviour in the law courts? Explain.

 

NOTE: INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY QUESTION HERE: What does Paul mean in 1 Corinthians 6:7 when he says, ‘you should let yourselves be defrauded?’

 

Verse 7: Because the believer was acting in an unchristian manner by suing his brother, whether that person won the case before a pagan judge or not didn’t matter, for he had already failed and lost as a Christian through such ungodly behaviour. He also failed and lost because of the shame brought upon the Christian church in front of the ungodly, who would see in all this an opportunity to attack Christ, the gospel and the church.

Paul recognizes that there will perhaps be times when a believer will suffer loss at the hands of a Christian brother. In such circumstances, Paul prescribes the acceptance of such losses without the use of heathen judges (Mt 5:38-40; Lk 6:28-30).

Verse 8: Rather than living in a godly manner toward their brethren in Christ, the Corinthians were in fact treating their brethren poorly and wrongly. It would seem that they may have been in fact stealing from one another. These ‘brethren’ were deliberately wronging one another in order to satisfy their own selfish desires. This was why there were lawsuits being carried out against one another.

Verses 9,10: Those who live lives of wickedness demonstrate that they are not part of the Kingdom of Righteousness but part of the Kingdom of Unrighteousness. Those who belong to this kingdom will not be received into the Kingdom of God (Jn 5:29; Rom 2:5-10; Heb 10:26,27). Here Paul is giving a much-unveiled warning to those living unchristian lives - did their behaviour indicate an unsaved condition? The Corinthian church needed to take heed to their behaviour and not be deceived into thinking they were saved if they were not, for no unbeliever will be accepted into the Kingdom of God whatsoever. It is all too easy to wander off into a world of unrighteousness believing ‘once saved always saved - no matter what.’ The Christian has been called into another kingdom, that of righteousness and has the responsibility and ability to actually live that way.

QUESTION: What unrighteousness is Paul referring to in verse 9 as being excluded from the Kingdom of God? Explain.

 

Paul gives a list of lifestyles, which is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather representative of those that are consistent with unsaved states (5:10,11) and of those that will perish eternally. They are examples of unrighteous lives, and the selfish and unloving attitude displayed by the Corinthians in suing and wronging one another also fit into this list. It would be self-deception for such people to think that they were saved, for these sorts of people would not be saved at all. If the Corinthians continued in this sin they too would be included in the list of those that are actually in the Kingdom of Unrighteousness and will therefore perish in the same way.

QUESTION: Does this mean that a fatal blow has been struck against the Reformed doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints? Explain.

 

Verse 11: These lifestyle patterns were of the sort that many in Corinth used to live as unsaved unbelievers. Now as believers these ways of life should no longer be true of them. Because they have become part of Christ’s kingdom these past lifestyles should be exactly that - past.

Believers lives have been washed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the blood of Christ has taken away their sin (Acts 9:17,18). Their guilt is now gone because of what Christ has done for them. They have also been sanctified in Christ (Jn 17:19; Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Cor 1:9) - that is set apart from the world unto Christ, so that these past lifestyles should have nothing any longer to do with them for they are no longer part of the Kingdom of Unrighteousness. Believers are also justified, or declared blameless and righteous because of Christ’s righteousness imputed to them and because Christ suffered in their stead for sin (Rom 3:24,28; 5:1,9; 8:30; Gal 2:16; 3:24; Tit 3:7). In the light of such blessings these lifestyles should no longer be part of the believer’s life.

Adding to the sinfulness of returning to such lifestyles is the fact that these things were brought about not by the believer himself, but through the work of the Holy Spirit within (Acts 10:47; Rom 5:5; 1 Cor 12:3; Eph 1:13,14; 4:30; Tit 3:5). To continue in sin therefore, is an incredible display of ungratefulness and unthankfulness toward God.

QUESTION: What do the comments of Paul in verse 11 reveal about the Corinthians to whom he wrote?

 

Individual Discovery

What does Paul mean when he says that all things are lawful to him?

 

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17/10/2006

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