In 1 Cor 6, Paul deals with 2 other issues that are consequences of the church not having the Cross. However, while the problem of incest in Ch 5 was more of an internal matter, the issue of lawsuits among believers in secular courts (6:1-11) extends beyond the walls of the church. While the incestuous couple in Ch 5 was only one, the issue of prostitution (6:12-20) spread throughout the entire community. These are obvious indications that the church is of no difference to the world, and has lost the dignity of being God’s people. …Read More
To Paul, the Church of God is vested with the greatest dignity, because it is purchased by the blood of the Son (6:20). It is the Temple of the Holy Spirit and God’s centre of government (3:16; 6:19), empowered to judge even angels (6:3). Through the wisdom God bestows, the Church is able to provide all answers & solutions to the world. Now, however, the order is reversed. Instead of brothers going to the Church for settlement of disputes, they go to the world which they are supposed to judge (6:2). Likewise, if we seek answers from the world instead of from the Church, we nullify the essence of the Church – for to Paul, a church that has lost its dignity is not a Church.
So why do the Corinthians take each other to court? Firstly, because they could no longer submit to the authority of the Church, thus not acknowledging God as Judge. Secondly, because they did not recognise that their relationships with one another are eternal. Brothers (and sisters) are supposed to love one another & bear one another’s failings. As such, even the slightest quarrel is intolerable, not to mention lawsuit. Thus, suing each other is tantamount to treating each other (and themselves) as pagans, as if they were unsaved.
This matter is a clear “defeat” (6:7) of the Church: it has no testimony to bear before the world, nor can it minister anymore. A Church like this is one that does not realise its backyard is on fire, and is still emphasising on outreach all the time. How can the Church preach about loving the world when they cannot even love one another?
To Paul, their disputes are only “trivial” (6:2). One may ask, “How can it be a small matter if it is taken to court?” But in Paul’s perspective, any material or physical loss is minute in comparison to the measureless glory of God. Even when it seems we suffer a great loss or disadvantage, God can fill all things & heal all things. But when we try to get revenge for how we have been wronged, that is a greater evil than the evil that has been done to us (6:7-8).
Since the Church is the Kingdom of God, if one cannot live in harmony with the community (Kingdom on earth), how can he/she expect to live in the Kingdom in heaven? Thus, members of the Church are not supposed to live as individuals; they must confirm the life of the community. Doing wrong to another is as good as not being able to inherit God’s Kingdom (6:9). Any inkling that one can still be ‘saved’ without having a life of community is a deception (6:9).
Paul then addresses the issue of prostitution by refuting the ideology of dualism, which suggests that as long as the spirit is saved, the body is free to sin. This ‘freedom’ that the Corinthians are enjoying is not freedom, but indulgence and, in fact, bondage (6:12). Paul’s point that we should not commit sexual immorality with our body (‘soma’ in Greek) is that what we do with our ‘soma’ will affect our resurrection (6:14). Because ‘soma’ does not simply mean our bodily flesh, but also our soul, intellect, emotion & will, so the sin we commit with our ‘soma’ will remain in our resurrected body.
Paul also states that our bodies are the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’ (6:19) and ‘members of Christ’ (6:15), just like the whole Church. Thus what we do with our bodies affects the whole community. In this case, uniting with a prostitute is as good as uniting the whole Church with her – entirely defiling the Church. Therefore, we should not live as individuals in the Church, thinking that whatever life we live has no part with the community. We should at all costs ‘flee from sexual immorality’ (6:18), ‘honour God with (our) body’ (6:20), and not lose the dignity we have as God’s Temple, as Kings, as the Body of Christ.
