1 Corinthians 6:1
Τολμᾷ τις ὑμῶν πρᾶγμα ἔχων πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον κρίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδίκων, καὶ οὐχὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἁγίων;
1 Corinthians 6:2
ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἅγιοι τὸν κόσμον κρινοῦσιν; καὶ εἰ ἐν ὑμῖν κρίνεται ὁ κόσμος, ἀνάξιοί ἐστε κριτηρίων ἐλαχίστων;
1 Corinthians 6:3
οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἀγγέλους κρινοῦμεν, μήτιγε βιωτικά;
1 Corinthians 6:4
βιωτικὰ μὲν οὖν κριτήρια ἐὰν ἔχητε, τοὺς ἐξουθενημένους ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, τούτους καθίζετε;
1 Corinthians 6:5
πρὸς ἐντροπὴν ὑμῖν λέγω. οὕτως οὐκ ἔνι ἐν ὑμῖν οὐδεὶς σοφὸς ὃς δυνήσεται διακρῖναι ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ,
1 Corinthians 6:6
ἀλλὰ ἀδελφὸς μετὰ ἀδελφοῦ κρίνεται, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ ἀπίστων;
1 Corinthians 6:7
ἤδη μὲν οὖν ὅλως ἥττημα ὑμῖν ἐστιν ὅτι κρίματα ἔχετε μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν· διὰ τί οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἀδικεῖσθε; διὰ τί οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἀποστερεῖσθε;
1 Corinthians 6:8
ἀλλὰ ὑμεῖς ἀδικεῖτε καὶ ἀποστερεῖτε, καὶ τοῦτο ἀδελφούς.
1 Corinthians 6:9
Ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἄδικοι θεοῦ βασιλείαν οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν; μὴ πλανᾶσθε· οὔτε πόρνοι οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι οὔτε μοιχοὶ οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται
1 Corinthians 6:10
οὔτε κλέπται οὔτε πλεονέκται, οὐ μέθυσοι, οὐ λοίδοροι, οὐχ ἅρπαγες βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομήσουσιν.
1 Corinthians 6:11
καὶ ταῦτά τινες ἦτε· ἀλλὰ ἀπελούσασθε, ἀλλὰ ἡγιάσθητε, ἀλλὰ ἐδικαιώθητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν.
1 Corinthians 6:12
Πάντα μοι ἔξεστιν· ἀλλ’ οὐ πάντα συμφέρει. πάντα μοι ἔξεστιν· ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐγὼ ἐξουσιασθήσομαι ὑπό τινος.
Everything for me is lawful, but not everything is edifying. Everything for me is lawful, but I will not be brought under anything’s power.
Paraphrase: Now, at this point, some might recall the things I taught you about our relationship to the law. You might say, “I am a Christian; and therefore, I am free from the law. I am living under grace and have nothing to do with the old rules. (Colossians 2:20-22; Romans 6:15) I have been brought into the liberty of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17) and of Christ. (Galatians 5:1) I can do whatever I please. Now this kind of thinking is dangerous because there is some truth to it. It is true that we are not “under law” in terms of how we get right with God. Our justification is entirely in Christ; our works contribute nothing to it. Out of this new relationship, however, flows a new life and a new joyful obedience to the law of God. (Galatians 5:14) Without this change of lifestyle, our faith is no faith; it’s just a fraud. (James 2:14) Now it is also true that in our walk of faith, there are a large number of issues which are not inherently sinful. Christians choose to act differently in these things and that’s fine. These are called “things indifferent” or “matters of Christian liberty.” Let’s be clear; sexual immorality is not one of these. Sexual immorality, along with all the other things I listed above, are always sinful. Do note, however, that even in these matters of Christian liberty there can still be good reasons to lay aside a certain practice even if this practice is not in itself sinful. Let me give you two such examples:
First, we can be engaged in a certain practice, which we know to be a matter of Christian liberty, and it may come to our attention that such a practice is disrupting the peace, comfort, or edification of other Christians. Now, here is a case where something, that is not in itself sinful, should be laid aside for the sake of our brother or sister. We should be big enough to stop such a practice in order that we not offend or distress one of our brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. (Romans 14:1, 13; 15:2)
Second, consider one more reason which should lead you to stop a certain practice, not in itself sinful. Sometimes, we find ourselves in the practice of something indifferent, and it is becoming increasingly clear to us that this practice is gaining mastery over us. We are in danger of becoming a slave to it, even addicted. Now this too is a reason to lay aside such a practice. We should never let a given practice or behavior rule us like a tyrant. Let us retain our reason and our own sense of discernment and not bring ourselves into such bondage.
Comments:
1 Corinthians 6:13
τὰ βρώματα τῇ κοιλίᾳ, καὶ ἡ κοιλία τοῖς βρώμασιν· ὁ δὲ θεὸς καὶ ταύτην καὶ ταῦτα καταργήσει. τὸ δὲ σῶμα οὐ τῇ πορνείᾳ ἀλλὰ τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ ὁ κύριος τῷ σώματι·
Foods for the belly and the belly for foods, but God, even this and these will abolish, but the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.
Paraphrase: Others of you will ask why God gave us our sexual organs if He didn’t mean for us to enjoy the pleasures they bring us. After all, God gave us our sense of taste and smell so that we could enjoy good cuisine; isn’t it the same with regards to sex? Christians don’t need to abide by the limits of the seventh command since we are free to find pleasure in our sexual organs in a wide variety of ways and with a variety of different partners just as we are free to find pleasure in eating a wide variety of foods and drink. This, however, is a terrible error. Such thinking overlooks the fact that our eating and drinking is temporary; our bodies, however, are permanent. When Christ returns on the clouds of heaven, He will take away our constant need for food. We will no longer need to renew our bodies by eating and sleeping. Our bodies, including our sexual organs, however, are not temporary. They will not be removed when Christ returns. They are permanently with us. In fact, Christ gave us our bodies (Colossians 1:16), He came to deliver our bodies from death (John 10:10; Romans 8:11, 23), and one day He will bring our bodies to a land where there is no death. (Revelation 21:4) This teaches us that our bodies were not given us so that we could recklessly satisfy its every desire, including sexual desires. On the contrary, God has placed limits on our enjoyment of sexual pleasure; and if we have been saved by Christ and are now His disciples, then we should honor these limits and give them all our respect. (Romans 12:1)
Comments:
1 Corinthians 6:14
ὁ δὲ θεὸς καὶ τὸν κύριον ἤγειρεν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐξεγερεῖ διὰ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ.
Now God also raised the Lord, and He will raise us through His power.
Paraphrase: Now at this point, you might object. How can I say that our bodies are permanent when everyone knows that people die and are buried? Our bodies don’t seem to be permanent. Again, we need to think like Christians on this topic. We know that if we are joined to Christ by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), then God will raise up our bodies just as He raised Jesus from the grave. The burial of Christians is not permanent; a day is coming when the Spirit of God will give new life to these dead bodies (Romans 8:11, 23), bring them out of the grave, and give them new bodies that are not subject to death and decay. (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
Comments:
1 Corinthians 6:15
οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν μέλη Χριστοῦ ἐστιν; ἄρας οὖν τὰ μέλη τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποιήσω πόρνης μέλη; μὴ γένοιτο.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Therefore, taking the members of Christ, would I make members of a prostitute? May it never be.
Paraphrase: Furthermore, dear friends, think about your union with Christ. By the Spirit’s baptism, we have been joined to Jesus in such a way that we receive from Him all the blessings of salvation. This means that each of us is a part of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31), and we know that our body is also included in this union with Christ. Does it not horrify you to think, my friends, that you would take your body, which is in union with the holy Jesus, and join it to someone who is so wicked and has no respect at all for the holiness to which we are called? My dear friends, such a practice must fill us with disgust and revulsion.
Comments:
For ἐστιν, see principle 5.
1 Corinthians 6:16
ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ὁ κολλώμενος τῇ πόρνῃ ἓν σῶμά ἐστιν; Ἔσονται γάρ, φησίν, οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν.
Do you not know that the one being joined to a prostitute is one flesh? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.”
Paraphrase: “It’s nothing!” some people protest. “It’s just sex, nothing more. Just some innocent fun between two people. It’s no different than enjoying good food or scratching an itch.” On the contrary, my friends. Remember what God said when He first created the sexual relationship.
So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:21-25)
Notice that God describes the sexual relationship as two people becoming “one flesh.” So it’s not true to say that sex is just something trifling and no different than scratching an itch. God teaches us that when we have sex with someone, we became “one flesh” with that person. The sexual relationship is the way we express the deepest level of intimacy we share with another person. There is no higher expression of intimacy than this. That is why it is so utterly abhorrent for someone who is one with the holy Jesus to have sex with a prostitute. They take a member of Christ’s body and join it, in the most intimate way possible, to someone who is the opposite of holiness.
Comments:
1 Corinthians 6:17
ὁ δὲ κολλώμενος τῷ κυρίῳ ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστιν.
Now the one being joined to the Lord is one spirit.
Paraphrase: If you have sex with a prostitute, you become “one flesh” with her. What then becomes of the union you have with Christ? We believe that Christians are joined to the holy Jesus in a union so close that we come to have the same mind which is in Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) We share the same attitude, character, and spirit as He. It is a mind committed to holiness and purity in thought and life. (Galatians 2:20) But one cannot be joined to both Christ and to a prostitute. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light be in union with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)
Comments:
1 Corinthians 6:18
φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν· πᾶν ἁμάρτημα ὃ ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ πορνεύων εἰς τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα ἁμαρτάνει.
Flee sexual immorality; every sin, which when a man might do, is outside his body, but the one practicing sexual immorality sins against his own body.
Paraphrase: For these reasons, brothers and sisters, stay as far away from sexual sin as possible. Allow me one further comment on this. There is something especially pernicious about these kind of sins. Most sins that people commit have their effects on something or someone else. If we kill or steal or disrespect authority, we bring pain and harm on others. With sexual sins, however, the effect is primarily on ourselves. In the physical realm, it is well known that sexual promiscuity is the leading cause of sexually transmitted disease. And who can possibly measure the psychological damage done to those who do not guard their purity? Young women especially do untold damage to themselves by these sins. Trauma, guilt, shame, and every other kind of psychological distress follows the young woman who gives herself away to multiple men. Each time, she gives away part of her soul to a thoughtless, greedy, and wicked man. Is it any wonder that, over time, she becomes soulless? The light seems to go out in her life.
Comments:
For τοῦ σώματός, see principle 18.
1 Corinthians 6:19
ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι τὸ σῶμα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν ἁγίου πνεύματός ἐστιν, οὗ ἔχετε ἀπὸ θεοῦ; καὶ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἑαυτῶν,
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you which you have from God? and you are not your own.
Paraphrase: Don’t be intimate with something that is so offensive to God. Remember that the Holy Spirit lives in you (Romans 8:9-11); that’s why I taught you to think of your body as a temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:21-22; 1 Peter 2:5) It is God’s dwelling place. Why would you take the Holy Spirit’s house and allow such evil and perversion into it? What must the Spirit of God, who we call the Holy Spirit, think of such a practice? Surely, it grieves Him terribly. (Ephesians 4:30) Do you remember what I taught you about your redemption?
Comments:
1 Corinthians 6:20
ἠγοράσθητε γὰρ τιμῆς· δοξάσατε δὴ τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν.
For you were bought for a price. Glorify, therefore, God with your body.
Paraphrase: Remember, when I was with you, how I taught you that God chose His people in eternity past and sent His only begotten Son (John 3:16) to deliver them from all the power of the devil (1 John 3:8) by paying the price for their liberation? (Galatians 5:1) Now I want you to think about this reality. I want you to think about the price which Jesus gave in exchange for our being set free. What a price! It was the very life of the Son of God which was given in exchange for your freedom. (Matthew 20:28; Revelation 5:9) As a result of this, you are no longer under the devil’s tyranny, but you have come into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21) Now should those who have been liberated at such a price give themselves to sexual immorality and thus return to the tyranny of the devil and the bondage from which Jesus set them free?
Comments:
For τιμῆς, §1133. On the concept of redemption, see Warfield (p201).