1 Corinthians 6

1Co 6:1-11.

LITIGATION OF

CHRISTIANS IN

HEATHEN

COURTS

CENSURED:

ITS

VERY

EXISTENCE

BETRAYS A

WRONG

SPIRIT:

BETTER TO

BEAR

WRONG

NOW, AND

HEREAFTER THE

DOERS OF

WRONG

SHALL

BE

SHUT

OUT OF

HEAVEN.

1. Dare--This word implies treason against Christian brotherhood

[BENGEL].

before the unjust--The Gentile judges are here so termed by an epithet

appropriate to the subject in question, namely, one concerning justice.

Though all Gentiles were not altogether unjust, yet in the highest

view of justice which has regard to God as the Supreme Judge, they are

so: Christians, on the other hand, as regarding God as the only Fountain

of justice, should not expect justice from them.

before . . . saints--The Jews abroad were permitted to refer their

disputes to Jewish arbitrators [JOSEPHUS,

Antiquities, 14.10,17].

So the Christians were allowed to have Christian arbitrators.

2. Do ye not know--as a truth universally recognized by Christians.

Notwithstanding all your glorying in your "knowledge," ye are acting

contrary to it

(1Co 1:4, 5; 8:1).

The oldest manuscripts have "Or" before "know ye not"; that is, "What!

(expressing surprise) know ye not," &c.

saints . . . judge--that is, "rule," including judgment: as

assessors of Christ.

Mt 19:28,

"judging," that is, "ruling over." (Compare

Ps 49:14;

Da 7:22, 27;

Re 2:26; 3:21; 20:4).

There is a distinction drawn by able expositors between the saints who

judge or rule, and the world which is ruled by them: as

there is between the elected

(Mt 20:23)

twelve apostles who sit on thrones judging, and the twelve tribes of

Israel that are judged by them. To reign, and to be

saved, are not necessarily synonymous. As Jehovah employed

angels to carry the law into effect when He descended on Sinai to

establish His throne in Israel, so at His coming the saints shall

administer the kingdom for, and under, Him. The nations of the earth,

and Israel the foremost, in the flesh, shall, in this view, be the

subjects of the rule of the Lord and His saints in glorified

bodies. The mistake of the Chiliasts was that they took the merely

carnal view, restricting the kingdom to the terrestrial part. This part

shall have place with the accession of spiritual and temporal blessings

such as Christ's presence must produce. Besides this earthly glory,

there shall be the heavenly glory of the saints reigning in

transfigured bodies, and holding such blessed intercourse with mortal

men, as angels had with men of old, and as Christ, Moses, and Elias, in

glory had with Peter, James, and John, in the flesh at the

transfiguration

(2Ti 2:12;

2Pe 1:16-18).

But here the "world" seems to be the unbelieving world that is to be

"condemned"

(1Co 11:22),

rather than the whole world, including the subject nations which are to

be brought under Christ's sway; however, it may include both

those to be condemned, with the bad angels, and those about to be

brought into obedience to the sway of Christ with His saints. Compare

Mt 25:32, 40,

"all nations," "these my brethren" on the thrones with Him. The event

will decide the truth of this view.

judged by you--or, before you (compare

1Co 3:22).

smallest matters--The weightiest of earthly questions at issue are

infinitely small compared with those to be decided on the judgment-day.

3. judge angels--namely, bad angels. We who are now "a spectacle

to angels" shall then "judge angels." The saints shall join in approving

the final sentence of the Judge on them

(Jude 6).

Believers shall, as administrators of the kingdom under Jesus, put down

all rule that is hostile to God. Perhaps, too, good angels shall

then receive from the Judge, with the approval of the saints, higher

honors.

4. judgments--that is, cases for judgment.

least esteemed--literally, "those of no esteem." Any, however low in

the Church, rather than the heathen

(1Co 1:28).

Questions of earthly property are of secondary consequence in the eyes

of true Christians, and are therefore delegated to those in a secondary

position in the Church.

5. your shame--Thus he checks their puffed-up spirit

(1Co 5:2;

compare

1Co 15:34).

To shame you out of your present unworthy course of litigation before

the heathen, I have said

(1Co 6:4),

"Set the least esteemed in the Church to judge." Better even this, than

your present course.

Is it so?--Are you in such a helpless state that, &c.?

not a wise man--though ye admire "wisdom" so much on other occasions

(1Co 1:5, 22).

Paul alludes probably to the title, "cachain," or wise man,

applied to each Rabbi in Jewish councils.

no, not one--not even one, amidst so many reputed among you for

wisdom

(1Co 3:18; 4:6).

shall be able--when applied to.

brethren--literally, "brother"; that is, judge between brother and

brother. As each case should arise, the arbitrator was to be chosen from

the body of the church, such a wise person as had the charism, or gift,

of church government.

6. But--emphatically answering the question in the end of

1Co 6:5

in the negative. Translate, "Nay," &c.

7. utterly a fault--literally, "a shortcoming" (not so strong as

sin). Your going to law at all is a falling short of your high

privileges, not to say your doing so before unbelievers, which

aggravates it.

rather take wrong--

(Pr 20:22;

Mt 5:39, 40);

that is, "suffer yourselves to be wronged."

8. ye--emphatic. Ye, whom your Lord commanded to return

good for evil, on the contrary, "do wrong (by taking away) and

defraud" (by retaining what is entrusted to you; or "defraud" marks the

effect of the "wrong" done, namely, the loss inflicted). Not

only do ye not bear, but ye inflict wrongs.

9. unrighteous--Translate, "Doers of wrong": referring to

1Co 6:8

(compare

Ga 5:21).

kingdom of God--which is a kingdom of righteousness

(Ro 14:17).

fornicators--alluding to

1Co 5:1-13;

also below,

1Co 6:12-18.

effeminate--self-polluters, who submit to unnatural lusts.

11. ye are washed--The Greek middle voice expresses, "Ye have

had yourselves washed." This washing implies the admission to the

benefits of Christ's salvation generally; of which the parts are;

(1) Sanctification, or the setting apart from the world, and

adoption into the Church: so "sanctified" is used

1Co 7:14;

Joh 17:19.

Compare

1Pe 1:2,

where it rather seems to mean the setting apart of one as

consecrated by the Spirit in the eternal purpose God. (2)

Justification from condemnation through the righteousness of God

in Christ by faith

(Ro 1:17).

So PARÆUS. The order of

sanctification before justification shows that it must be

so taken, and not in the sense of progressive sanctification.

"Washed" precedes both, and so must refer to the Christian's outward

new birth of water, the sign of the inward setting apart to the Lord by

the inspiration of the Spirit as the seed of new life

(Joh 3:5;

Eph 5:26;

Tit 3:5;

Heb 10:22).

Paul (compare the Church of England Baptismal Service), in charity, and

faith in the ideal of the Church, presumes that baptism realizes its

original design, and that those outwardly baptized inwardly enter into

vital communion with Christ

(Ga 3:27).

He presents the grand ideal which those alone realized in whom the

inward and the outward baptism coalesced. At the same time he

recognizes the fact that this in many cases does not hold good

(1Co 6:8-10),

leaving it to God to decide who are the really "washed," while he only

decides on broad general principles.

in the name of . . . Jesus, and by the Spirit--rather, "in the Spirit,"

that is, by His in-dwelling. Both clauses belong to the

three--"washed, sanctified, justified."

our God--The "our" reminds the that amidst all his reproofs God is

still the common God of himself and them.

1Co 6:12-20.

REFUTATION OF THE

ANTINOMIAN

DEFENSE OF

FORNICATION AS IF

IT

WAS

LAWFUL

BECAUSE

MEATS

ARE

SO.

12. All things are lawful unto me--These, which were Paul's own words

on a former occasion (to the Corinthians, compare

1Co 10:23,

and Ga 5:23),

were made a pretext for excusing the eating of meats offered to idols,

and so of what was generally connected with idolatry

(Ac 15:29),

"fornication" (perhaps in the letter of the Corinthians to Paul,

1Co 7:1).

Paul's remark had referred only to things indifferent: but they

wished to treat fornication as such, on the ground that the existence

of bodily appetites proved the lawfulness of their

gratification.

me--Paul giving himself as a sample of Christians in general.

but I--whatever others do, I will not, &c.

lawful . . . brought under the power--The Greek

words are from the same root, whence there is a play on the words: All

things are in my power, but I will not be brought

under the power of any of them (the "all things"). He who commits

"fornication," steps aside from his own legitimate power or liberty,

and is "brought under the power" of an harlot

(1Co 6:15;

compare

1Co 7:4).

The "power" ought to be in the hands of the believer, not in the

things which he uses [BENGEL]; else his

liberty is forfeited; he ceases to be his own master

(Joh 8:34-36;

Ga 5:13;

1Pe 2:16;

2Pe 2:19).

Unlawful things ruin thousands; "lawful" things (unlawfully used), ten

thousands.

13. The argument drawn from the indifference of meats

(1Co 8:8;

Ro 14:14, 17;

compare

Mr 7:18;

Col 2:20-22)

to that of fornication does not hold good. Meats doubtless are

indifferent, since both they and the "belly" for which they are created

are to be "destroyed" in the future state. But "the body is not

(created) for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body"

(as its Redeemer, who hath Himself assumed the body): "And God hath

raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us" (that is our bodies):

therefore the "body" is not, like the "belly," after having served a

temporary use, to be destroyed: Now "he that committeth fornication,

sinneth against his own body"

(1Co 6:18).

Therefore fornication is not indifferent, since it is a sin against

one's own body, which, like the Lord for whom it is created, is not to

be destroyed, but to be raised to eternal existence. Thus Paul gives

here the germ of the three subjects handled in subsequent sections: (1)

The relation between the sexes. (2) The question of meats offered to

idols. (3) The resurrection of the body.

shall destroy--at the Lord's coming to change the natural bodies of

believers into spiritual bodies

(1Co 15:44, 52).

There is a real essence underlying the superficial phenomena of the

present temporary organization of the body, and this essential germ,

when all the particles are scattered, involves the future resurrection

of the body incorruptible.

14.

(Ro 8:11).

raised up--rather, "raised," to distinguish it from "will raise

up us"; the Greek of the latter being a compound, the

former a simple verb. Believers shall be raised up out of the

rest of the dead (see on

Php 3:11);

the first resurrection

(Re 20:5).

us--Here he speaks of the possibility of his being found in the grave

when Christ comes; elsewhere, of his being possibly found alive

(1Th 4:17).

In either event, the Lord's coming rather than death is the great

object of the Christian's expectation

(Ro 8:19).

15. Resuming the thought in

1Co 6:13,

"the body is for the Lord"

(1Co 12:27;

Eph 4:12, 15, 16; 5:30).

shall I then--such being the case.

take--spontaneously alienating them from Christ. For they cannot be

at the same time "the members of an harlot," and "of Christ"

[BENGEL].

It is a fact no less certain than mysterious, that moral and spiritual

ruin is caused by such sins; which human wisdom (when untaught by

revelation) held to be actions as blameless as eating and drinking

[CONYBEARE and

HOWSON].

16. Justification of his having called fornicators "members of an

harlot"

(1Co 6:15).

joined--by carnal intercourse; literally, "cemented to": cleaving to.

one body--with her.

saith he--God speaking by Adam

(Ge 2:24;

Mt 19:5).

"He which made them at the beginning said," &c.

(Eph 5:31).

17. one spirit--with Him. In the case of union with a harlot, the

fornicator becomes one "body" with her (not one "spirit," for the spirit

which is normally the organ of the Holy Spirit in man, is in the carnal

so overlaid with what is sensual that it is ignored altogether). But the

believer not only has his body sanctified by union with Christ's body,

but also becomes "one spirit" with Him

(Joh 15:1-7; 17:21;

2Pe 1:4;

compare

Eph 5:23-32;

Joh 3:6).

18. Flee--The only safety in such temptations is flight

(Ge 39:12;

Job 31:1).

Every sin--The Greek is forcible. "Every sin

whatsoever that a man doeth." Every other sin; even

gluttony, drunkenness, and self-murder are "without," that is,

comparatively external to the body

(Mr 7:18;

compare

Pr 6:30-32).

He certainly injures, but he does not alienate the body itself; the

sin is not terminated in the body; he rather sins against the perishing

accidents of the body (as the "belly," and the body's present temporary

organization), and against the soul than against the body in its

permanent essence, designed "for the Lord." "But" the fornicator

alienates that body which is the Lord's, and makes it one with a

harlot's body, and so "sinneth against his own body," that is, against

the verity and nature of his body; not a mere

effect on the body from without, but a contradiction of

the truth of the body, wrought within itself [ALFORD].

19. What? know ye not? &c.--Proof that "he that fornicates sinneth

against his own body"

(1Co 6:18).

your body--not "bodies." As in

1Co 3:17,

he represented the whole company of believers (souls and bodies), that

is, the Church, as "the temple of God," the Spirit; so here, the

body of each individual of the Church is viewed as the ideal

"temple of the Holy Ghost." So

Joh 17:23,

which proves that not only the Church, but also each member of it, is

"the temple of the Holy Ghost." Still though many the several members

form one temple, the whole collectively being that which each is in

miniature individually. Just as the Jews had one temple only, so in the

fullest sense all Christian churches and individual believers form one

temple only. Thus "YOUR [plural] body" is

distinguished here from "HIS OWN

[particular or individual] body"

(1Co 6:18).

In sinning against the latter, the fornicator sins against "your

(ideal) body," that of "Christ," whose "members your bodies" are

(1Co 6:15).

In this consists the sin of fornication, that it is a sacrilegious

desecration of God's temple to profane uses. The unseen, but much more

efficient, Spirit of God in the spiritual temple now takes the place of

the visible Shekinah in the old material temple. The whole man is the

temple; the soul is the inmost shrine; the understanding and heart, the

holy place; and the body, the porch and exterior of the edifice.

Chastity is the guardian of the temple to prevent anything unclean

entering which might provoke the indwelling God to abandon it as

defiled [TERTULLIAN, On the Apparel of

Women]. None but God can claim a temple; here the Holy Ghost is

assigned one; therefore the Holy Ghost is God.

not your own--The fornicator treats his body as if it were "his own,"

to give to a harlot if he pleases

(1Co 6:18;

compare

1Co 6:20).

But we have no right to alienate our body which is the Lord's. In

ancient servitude the person of the servant was wholly the property of

the master, not his own. Purchase was one of the ways of

acquiring a slave. Man has sold himself to sin

(1Ki 21:20;

Ro 7:14).

Christ buys him to Himself, to serve Him

(Ro 6:16-22).

20. bought with a price--Therefore Christ's blood is strictly a ransom

paid to God's justice by the love of God in Christ for our redemption

(Mt 20:28;

Ac 20:28;

Ga 3:13;

Heb 9:12;

1Pe 1:18, 19;

2Pe 2:1;

Re 5:9).

While He thus took off our obligation to punishment, He laid upon us a

new obligation to obedience

(1Co 7:22, 23).

If we accept Him as our Prophet to reveal God to us, and our Priest to

atone for us, we must also accept Him as our King to rule over us as

wholly His, presenting every token of our fealty

(Isa 26:13).

in your body--as "in" a temple (compare

Joh 13:32;

Ro 12:1;

Php 1:20).

and in your spirit, which are God's--not in the oldest manuscripts and

versions, and not needed for the sense, as the context refers mainly to

the "body"

(1Co 6:16, 18, 19).

The "spirit" is incidentally mentioned in

1Co 6:17,

which perhaps gave rise to the interpolation, at first written in the

Margin, afterwards inserted in the text.