As you can see this morning we are passionate about being a gateway for the gospel to goto the nations.
I want to see heaven populated with people from all nations because of what we have been partnering with the Spirit in here!
Apostle Paul had a similar passion and he had a problem in Corinth because the lifestyle of the Corinthians was undermining their gospel witness.
As we saw last week he was pretty relaxed about the world - after all sinners sin; but he was surprised that saints were sinning quite so much. They were acting out of sorts! It's not who they are.
He dealt with persistent sin - don't eat with them. Don't share the Lord's supper with them because they are seriously undermining the cross. The church really is the body of Christ - we are organically connected to Him and to each other and that hardened persistent sin was harming the body.
Important to note the difference between struggling and hardened persistent sin.
There's a world of difference between someone who struggles with temptation to look at porno and occasionally blows it and someone who doesn't care any more and is hardened in their persistence.
So in ch5:11 he talks about those hardened in some of these
Greed - accumulation of stuff
Idolatry - worshipping idols, putting other things first
Reviling/Slander - speaking evil of others
Drunkenness - because of what it produces - fighting, immorality, throwing up on someone's carpet
He moves on in chapter 6 to Christians suing each other!
Let's read it!
Excessive litigation is a US import - we are fast becoming a compensation culture. But it was worse in Ancient Greece. The Jews refused to goto secular courts to deal with other Jews, but the Greeks loved it. Nearly everyone was an amateur lawyer.
The first line was to find a private arbiter, if that didn't work a group called the forty could appoint a public arbiter - basically anyone over 30yrs old. Then you could go to a court made up of 201 jurors and there are even occasions where 6000 people tried a case! The Greeks were nuts on litigation.
Diogenes of Sinope the original cynic apparently once took his lantern and said he was going in search of an honest lawyer. The next day a friend asked him "How's it going?", "Not bad, I still have my lantern"
Sadly the Christians were sueing each other and as v8 notes doing it to defraud each other!
This passage is about civil cases not criminal stuff. paul has a high regard for lawful authorities dealing with crime. Paul does not specify any criminal cases because he teaches elsewhere that these must be handled by the state (Rom 13:3-4). We must always distinguish between sins and crimes. Sins are handled by the church while crimes are handled by the state. Both are God's governing authorities. Furthermore, when a crime has been committed, a Christian may at times be obligated to turn in a fellow Christian, and even to testify against him in court. The church does not have jurisdiction over criminal justice. That belongs to the state, according to Romans 13.
The apostle Paul is going to state clearly that Christians, of all people, ought to be able to settle their own disputes. The key in doing so is to understand our true identity in Christ. When we understand who we are in Christ, we will not have to war with other believers over material possessions or legal rights. Paul’s point is that we should live out who we are. In 1 Cor 6:1-11, Paul provides two exhortations to help us live out who we are.
Commit to settling disputes in the church
Like a lawyer, Paul asks lots of questions, eight in fact to how them they are in contempt of Christ
v1 "When one of you has a grievance against another, does he DARE go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?"
How dare you do this he says!
Courts weren't small rooms with a few people, they were public entertainments. These lawsuits were giving the church a black eye!
Moreover, when someone hauled a brother or sister into court there, they weren’t just settling a dispute; they were holding the church itself up to public scrutiny and ridicule. Paul is concerned about the selfish arrogance of God’s people. The Christians in Corinth are publicly airing their “dirty laundry” throughout the city. These lawsuit-happy Christians don’t seem to care what other people think. This flies in the face of Paul’s simple exhortation that we should live out who we are.
They have forgotten who they are! They are the saints, enriched in Christ, not lacking any gift in chapter 1. In chapter 2 they have the mind of Christ. Surely then anyone in the church can judge a civil case better than the world.
In v2-3 he continues his rant, by pointing out that at the end of the age, Christians will be ruling and reigning with Christ, judging the world and even angels, by which I guess he means the fallen ones!
In both the Old and New Testaments, we are told that believers will one day rule and reign with Christ. One element of our responsibilities will be judging the world and angels. This judgement will be delegated to us by Christ. We will then serve as His representatives in this judgment. It is still His judgement, but we are representatives who have been given authority.
So in v4 given who we are in Christ, Paul taunts them with another question - why not let the lowliest Christian judge these cases?
In 6:5-6, Paul uses an ironic taunt to berate the Corinthians. He even warns them up front that it is coming. He writes, “I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?” Throughout this book, the Corinthians have been guilty of boasting. Here, once again, Paul humbles them and cuts them down to size. He sarcastically asks, “Are you so wise that there is no one in the church to judge legal matters? Do you actually need to go outside the church? I thought you were the wise guys. Give me a break! Don’t you have at least one person who can judge legal matters?” Paul’s point is so clear: Any Christian walking with the Lord is a better option than taking a case before an unbeliever in a secular court of law. After all, we have the mind of Christ, we have (or should have) the motivation of love, the absence of revenge, and the desire to see even the guilty restored.
Then he sums up in v7-8
Even having Lawsuits among Christians is defeat - it's about revenge, getting one over the other.
Paul says why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? He asking them to choose.
The Corinthians were into their rights.
As one commentator put it "Paul says the better way is to take the loss. Paul is telling us that it is better to be a victim than a victor"
This is heady stuff, dangerous stuff, when people see they can walk over us they will walk over us.
But passages like this show us our testimony is more important than our rights. After all, God is either in control or He is not. He is either the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills or He is not (Ps 50:10).This is a powerful message that needs to be sounded loudly and clearly to a society in which we incessantly hear about “getting our rights” but rarely about being willing to suffer earthly loss in order to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven (cf. Matt 6:20). After all, we cannot take anything earthly with us when we depart from this life (cf. 1Tim 6:7-10), so why should we be so concerned about earthly rights and possessions here?
Arnold Bell, who is now with the Lord, spoke here once. He had such faith in the area of generosity and he was rigorous in his personal application of this! Survey story.
When we look after our testimony, God looks after our rights!
Of course this raises some questions
1) Is it ever right to use the courts?
Yes! Paul had a high regard for the Roman legal system and in Acts 18 benefitted from its' justice
In 1 Cor 6 Paul is dealing only with civil disputes between individuals, not criminal actions or disputes with insurance companies, or class-action suits, or other kinds of legal action. The only thing that is categorically ruled out is for a believer to sue another believer.
2) Are Christians forbidden to prosecute other Christians? Paul’s statements in 1 Cor 6 are about one context, financial disputes. The moment we press this passage beyond this context, we run into serious difficulties. Finances not crimes. Should we say that Christians may never prosecute other Christians for child-abuse, or domestic violence? That we should not contest child-custody if the other Christian parent is guilty of sexual abuse?
Paul's concern throughout this letter is that people live in the good of their new identity in Christ.
Ver9-10 - there's no inheritance for persistent sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, homosexual practice, thiving, greedy, drunkards. revilers or swindlers. Turn from those sins to God.
Paul reminds them they have come out of that stuff! They are new creations - they have been washed clean, made holy, declared righteous. He wants them to live in the good of it by stopping hardened persistence in those sins and stopping wanting to exercise their rights to sue others which is killing their testimony.
We are a gateway for the gospel to go to the nations. Sinners sin, saints are different - we occasionally sin, but we are called to shine like stars - full of love for others, joy, and peace and patience with others.
It's all about Jesus. God loves you so much that he sent Jesus who for the joy set before Him, came and lived a perfect life and then died for you on the cross. When we turn to him and trust in him for what he did for us on the cross. God does a miracle - we are born again, a new creation with a new identity - saint not sinner. And he fills us with love and joy and peace. The Spirit comes and fills us with his goodness and power to be different and power to share his good news with others.
If you have not yet trusted in Jesus - you can do so now.
If you have the Spirit wants to anoint you with power afresh, power to be different and power to be a witness.
