Paul brings correction, first reminding believers of their position with God in Christ in 1 Corinthians 6:2 “do you not know that the saints will judge the world?”. Even more than that, in 1 Corinthians 6:3 “Do you not know that we will judge angels”. The challenge is, that our bodies are the connection between the kingdom of God and his will in the earth so he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 6:20 “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God with your body”. Our demonstration of this glory of God in our bodies happens in the most common event, the joining of a man and a woman together. But our culture, as did theirs, has perverted this relationship from the simplicity of Gods design that the Lord presented in Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh”. This is where we begin to learn to have harmonious and even vitalized relationships because here, we must also face ourselves and learn to love ourselves so that we can, as Jesus said in Matthew 22:39 ‘… love your neighbor as yourself.’
The Saints Will Judge the World
1 Corinthians 6:1–11
Paul has presented to the believers “the hidden wisdom of God” in 1 Corinthians 2:7 and has said “all things are yours” in 1 Corinthians 3:22. And, now he asks them three times in this section, “do you not know”, beginning in
1 Corinthians 6:2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if by you the world is judged, are you unworthy of the most insignificant courts?
This is a reminder of the position we have in Christ. So, then why would we “go to court before the unrighteous” in 1 Corinthians 6:1.
Then again he asks in
1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention ordinary matters?
so why would you bring your issue before them? None of these will have part in God’s kingdom and he asks again in
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither sexually immoral people, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive homosexual partners, nor dominant homosexual partners, 10 nor thieves, nor greedy persons, not drunkards, not abusive persons, not swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Glorify God With Your Body
1 Corinthians 6:12–20
He has told them that “all things are yours” and he has said “the saints will judge the world”, now he says in
1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are permitted for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be controlled by anything.
If God has made me to be above in Christ Jesus, why would I yield myself to the base things of the world? This may mess with your religious thinking, but he did just say “all things are permitted”, I have free will, there is no condemnation to me, yet he goes on now, and again asks three times “do you not know?” in
1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Therefore, shall I take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
Our body is “for the Lord” in 1 Corinthians 6:13. Our body is the connection between the spirit realm where God and his kingdom are and the things of this world and he asks again in
1 Corinthians 6:16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For it says, “The two will become one flesh.”
We are not to join ourselves to the things of the world, but we are to bring the will of God, the kingdom of God into the world by who he has made us to be and again he asks in
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
So, I am free, I am permitted, but with a purpose, to show forth the glory of God in my life, to glorify God through my actions, through my body in
1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God with your body.
Let Each Have Their Own Spouse
1 Corinthians 7:1–11
There is a natural order in God’s creation for a man and a woman to join together, yet this relationship has been misunderstood, perverted, and not just in our age. Paul states what seems obvious in
1 Corinthians 7:2 “let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband”.
but he has put a qualifier in front of this statement, “But because of sexual immorality”. He wouldn’t need to clarify “his own wife” and “her own husband” if they had understood the simple grace that God designed. Then he goes on talking about obligation and authority in
1 Corinthians 7:3–4 The husband must fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. And likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife does.
but wouldn’t this be understood in a loving and caring relationship? Yes, but in their day, in their culture, the relationship between husband and wife was misunderstood. In God’s eyes, it is one man and one woman, that become “one flesh” in
Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.
The Unbelieving Is Sanctified
1 Corinthians 7:12–24
I Want You to be Free From Care
1 Corinthians 7:25–32
One Who is Married Cares for the Things of the World
1 Corinthians 7:33–40
Study Verses
- 1 Corinthians 6:1–11 The Saints Will Judge the World
- 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 Glorify God With Your Body
- 1 Corinthians 7:1–11 Let Each Have Their Own Spouse
Today’s Reading
- 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
- 1 Corinthians 7:1-40
