Qualified To Decide-3 Series

QUALIFIED To DECIDE-III—1Corinthians 6:1-11

OR Qualified To Rectify

Attention:

Shoe Cover-Up:

One day a man found himself in a pickle because he had to drive his secretary home after she fell quite ill at work.

He felt ill at ease about the situation, even though it was an innocent gesture. But he decided not to mention it to his wife, because he didn’t want her to think anything was inappropriate.

Later, that night the man & his wife were driving to a restaurant.

Suddenly he looked down & spotted a high-heel shoe half hidden under the passenger seat.

Not wanting to be conspicuous, he waited until his wife was looking out her window before he scooped up the shoe & tossed it out of the car. With a sigh of relief, he pulled into the restaurant parking lot...

That's when he noticed his wife squirming around in her seat.

She asked, “Honey, have you seen my other shoe?"

That husband was not the most Qualified to Decide because he did not recognize his own wife’s shoe!

Paul rebuked the Corinthian Christians because they sought out & trusted secular sources to rectify personal grievances among themselves.

‘Grievance’—‘A real or imagined wrong or other cause for complaint or protest, especially unfair treatment.’

‘Rectify’—‘To put(something) right; To correct.’

The Church & Christians are uniquely fitted for properly rectifying personal grievances among themselves.

How/When are Christians fit to rectifying personal grievances?

6 confirmations that Christians are uniquely qualified to properly rectify personal grievances.

We have already found that Christians are qualified to rectify grievances thru Their...

1. DARING/Boldness(:1)

2. DESTINY(:2a & :3a)

3—Christians are qualified to rectify grievances thru Their...

INFERENCE(s)(:2b & :3b-4)

Explanation:(:2b & :3b-4)Extrapolation/Application/Deduction/Conclusion

:2—“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”

:3—“Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?”

Inference—“a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence & reasoning.”

--What’s the evidence?—That we will judge “the world & angels”(:2a, 3a).

--What’s the inference?—That we are competent/qualified to judge earthy matters—“things that pertain to this life”--even to “the smallest matters.”

*Because the true church is obviously competent to make official & decisive decisions that carry eternal weight regarding right vs. wrong in “matters” of our/this earthy life...therefore Christians likewise are uniquely qualified to righteously “judge” among their own.

*Given that “saints” will one day be involved in “judging” the ultimate ends of eternal matters(:2a, 3a), therefore “saints” are surely competent enough for any decisions among themselves at the smallest, finite, & earthly level.

Since there is a grand scheme that is ordained of God, And one of which Christians are an integral part, then that scheme obviously holds true in all matters of life...in both temporal & eternal matters...even of those matters that we deem of smallest or least importance.

*By trusting their grievances to the secular courtroom & secular judgment, the Corinthian Christians were openly but unwittingly declaring that they were “unworthy” judges!

Seeing that saint’s are destined to one day declare &/or render official decisiveness in the spiritual realm, it is vital that the church take to heart such a God-ordained privilege in “this life.”

Paul’s argument highlights the pivotal role which personal submission to God plays in a person’s fulfilling God’s will.

Jesus voiced this principle about the all-encompassing importance of earthy & spiritual matters:

Lk. 16:10—“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; & he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”

Judas was unfaithful in little(God’s kingdom here on earth), & would also be unfaithful in much(God’s kingdom in fullness).

Jn. 12:2-6—“There they made Him a supper; & Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, & wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii & given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, & had the money box; & he used to take what was put in it.”

The so-called ‘official’ decisions by Christians & by the church in “this life” are to deal more with personal opportunity for moment-by-moment repentance & obedience, rather than a concern with obtaining reward & avoiding punishment or meting out punishment on others.

Every seemingly “small” thing you are involved in as a Christian— every step, every decision, every thought you entertain & employ, is of vital importance to every second of the present & future! There are eternal, spiritual ramifications to our every thought & action!