Two more sins of Corinthians plaguing the Church: (chap.6)
The topic of judgment continued as Paul shifted to another disorder afflicting the Corinthian church. The testimony of the church is getting tarnished again and again.
The lawsuits before the heathen: (6:1-11):
Paul was charging the Corinthians that some brothers are taking the fellow believers to court for the judgement of petty matters. This is causing again divisions in the church and becoming a stumbling for the furtherance of the Gospel. They are not growing in the Lord and day by day becoming immature causing fights and losing their testimony before others and in the society. The law courts are controlled by worldly people. Every Greek city had law-courts and it was quite common among the Greek to have lawsuits in the city. Here is Paul uses the word “dare” which means beware if you go to law courts for any petty matter arising among the brethrens. Here Paul puts 3-accouts:
- It is illogical: (6:2-5): Paul is not condemning courts of law (Rom.13), for the government is instituted by God for our benefit. But matters between believers must not be exposed before unbelievers, and certainly an unsaved judge lacks the spiritual understanding to deal with spiritual matters (2:14-16). By dragging one another to court, the church members at Corinth were ruining the testimony of the church and disgracing the name of the Lord. How mean it is that personal matters becoming stumbling blocks for our growth. We must understand that the church is going to judge the world and the angels! This realization makes worldly disputes rather insignificant. Too many Christians have lost their spiritual lives because of personal matters in the courts.
- It is illegal: (6:7-8): The believers in Corinth are using the court system to defraud each other. Paul says that they have been completely defeated already. They cheat themselves, and if someone cheats them, they go to the law-suits. The very fact that you have law-suits among you speak that you don’t have even one wise person. Paul says that even a brother loses something materially; it is ok that they should not go to the court otherwise their spiritual loss cannot not be compared and it would be enormous.
- It is inexcusable: (6:9-11): Paul emphatically says that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. He further adds on it and says: that sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Once the Corinthians were like this. But now they have been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ and they have become a new creation (2 cor. 5:17). When they have some petty problems why should they go to such magistrates or judges who are worldly and who cannot understand the spiritual things of the church.
Matters between Christians should be settled quietly according to the principles of (Matt 18:15-17). If the two parties cannot reach an agreement, then they should invite some spiritual believers to meet with them and help and come to a conclusion. If the matter becomes known to the church (or outside the church), the members should appoint a group to examine the matter and give spiritual counsel. Far better that a Christian should lose money than lose his spiritual stature and bring shame to Christ’s name! Paul says that you were born again, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Those who are truly born again will go to heaven in spite of their many failings; but the new birth brings a new nature, and a new nature means a new appetite. The Christian still has the ability to sin, but not the desire. Any teaching that makes it easy to sin is not a Bible doctrine. Those who sin and persist in the practices of sin and call themselves Christians or believers will not inherit the kingdom of God. So it is time that every believer must re-evaluate their lives and live in the will of God.