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1 Corinthians 6

KJV · Chapter 6/16

1Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

3Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

4If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

5I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

6But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

7Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

8Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

12All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

13Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

14And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

15Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

16What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

17But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul rebukes the Corinthian Christians for taking disputes between brothers to pagan courts instead of resolving them among themselves. He also warns against sexual immorality, reminding them that the believer's body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Explanation

Two practical issues appear here: lawsuits between believers and sexual ethics. On the matter of lawsuits, Paul argues that it is shameful for brothers in the faith, who will one day judge the world alongside Christ, to be unable to settle simple disputes among themselves without resorting to unbelieving judges. On sexuality, he teaches that the physical body is not indifferent to faith: it is a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit, so sexual union outside of God's purpose carries real spiritual weight. Today's application is twofold: seek reconciliation and mediation within the faith community itself whenever possible, and treat the body with the respect of someone who knows it belongs to God.

Fun facts

  • Civil courts in Corinth were known for favoring citizens of higher social status and wealth, which made it even more serious for a poor Christian to be dragged into court by a wealthier brother.
  • The phrase 'you were bought with a price' (v.20) uses language from the slave market of the time, evoking the idea that Christ paid the ransom to set the believer free, a metaphor repeated also in 1 Corinthians 7:23.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Corinthians 6:1In Corinth, citizens sued one another before Roman judges, often over money or public honor. Paul finds it absurd that brothers in the faith would take their quarrels to these pagan courts instead of settling them among themselves.
  2. 1 Corinthians 6:2Paul recalls a common Jewish idea: the saints will take part in the final judgment of the world alongside God. If that is so, the Corinthians should be able to settle small disputes among themselves without resorting to pagan courts.
  3. 1 Corinthians 6:3He goes further: if even angels will be judged by believers (another idea of the time), how much more should they be able to settle simple everyday matters among brothers.
  4. 1 Corinthians 6:4Ironically, Paul suggests that even the least respected members of the church would be more fit to judge these internal matters than taking everything to outside pagan judges.
  5. 1 Corinthians 6:5A direct rebuke: is there really no one wise enough in the church to mediate a dispute between brothers, without having to air everything publicly in a Roman court?
  6. 1 Corinthians 6:6The concrete problem: brother suing brother, and before judges who do not even share the faith — a public scandal that exposes the Corinthian church.
  7. 1 Corinthians 6:7Having lawsuits among themselves is already a spiritual defeat; Paul suggests it would be better to suffer a loss or an injustice than to drag a brother into a public legal fight.
  8. 1 Corinthians 6:8But in practice the problem was worse: the Corinthians themselves were committing the injustice and causing the harm to one another, not just passively suffering it.
  9. 1 Corinthians 6:9The list of who “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” includes terms that translators still understand differently today, especially the words rendered here as “effeminate” and “abusers of themselves with mankind” — the exact meaning of the original Greek words is debated among scholars, and this is a reading that divides interpreters.
  10. 1 Corinthians 6:10The list from the previous verse continues about who “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” — it includes thieves, the covetous, drunkards, and those who sue and defraud their brothers, tying the theme back to the lawsuits.
  11. 1 Corinthians 6:11Most of the church had already lived that kind of life before believing — what matters now is the real change Christ made: washed, sanctified, justified. This is no time to go back to that old behavior.
  12. 1 Corinthians 6:12“All things are lawful unto me” seems to be a phrase the Corinthians themselves had been repeating to justify their excesses. Paul repeats their saying and immediately corrects it: not everything permitted is good, and he refuses to be enslaved by anything, not even by his own freedom.
  13. 1 Corinthians 6:13Paul answers another Corinthian saying (“meats for the belly, and the belly for meats”) by comparing food and sex: food is temporary, but the body was not made for sexual immorality — it was made to belong to the Lord.
  14. 1 Corinthians 6:14He reminds them that the same power that raised Jesus will also raise the bodies of believers — an argument that the physical body matters to God, not something disposable, as they seemed to think in Corinth.
  15. 1 Corinthians 6:15A shocking question: since the believer’s body is a “member of Christ,” would it make sense to join that same body to a prostitute, common in the port city of Corinth? Paul answers emphatically that it would not.
  16. 1 Corinthians 6:16He quotes Genesis to explain why sexual union, even with a prostitute, creates a real bond (“one flesh”) — it is not a neutral act, as they seemed to think in Corinth.
  17. 1 Corinthians 6:17He contrasts this physical union with the spiritual union of the believer with the Lord — both kinds of bond are real, but of very different natures.
  18. 1 Corinthians 6:18A direct command: flee sexual immorality. Unlike other sins, this one affects the person’s own body in a unique way, according to Paul’s argument.
  19. 1 Corinthians 6:19Unlike the collective temple in chapter 3, here “the temple of the Holy Ghost” is the body of each individual believer. “Bought with a price” uses the language of the slave market — someone paid to set this person free, so she is no longer her own to do whatever she wants with her own body.
  20. 1 Corinthians 6:20He closes the chapter: believers were “bought with a price” (the death of Christ), so the body is no longer the person’s exclusive property — it must be used to glorify God.

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