1 Corinthians 6 explained: Disputes, Sex, and Belonging to God

Suing each other in court (vv. 1-8)

Church members were suing one another before outside judges over everyday matters, and some were cheating fellow members. Paul says people who will one day share in judging the world and even angels (he does not explain how) can settle such things among themselves, or else simply accept the loss.

Who misses God's kingdom (vv. 9-10)

Paul lists ways of living that have no share in God's kingdom, meaning life under God's rule. These range from sexual wrongs and idol worship to theft, greed and drunkenness. Two rare Greek words in verse 9 are translated very differently: Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestant churches read them as ruling out sex between men, while some scholars think Paul meant specific exploitative practices of his day.

Washed and made new (v. 11)

Some of them had once lived these very ways, but they had been washed clean, set apart for God and put right with him in Jesus' name and by God's Spirit. Many read 'washed' as pointing to baptism, though not everyone does.

Slogans about freedom (vv. 12-14)

Paul probably quotes sayings some Corinthians used, roughly that everything is permitted and that food and stomach are made for each other, to claim the body does not matter spiritually; some translations mark these as quotes and others do not. He answers that not everything is helpful, that he will not be ruled by any appetite, and that the body matters because God will raise it as he raised Jesus.

Joined to Christ, not a prostitute (vv. 15-17)

Paul says believers' bodies are part of Christ, so joining them to a prostitute is unthinkable to him. He quotes Genesis about two becoming one flesh to argue that sex unites two people bodily, and he sets that against being joined to the Lord in spirit.

A temple bought and paid for (vv. 18-20)

Paul tells them to run from sexual wrongdoing, which he says sins against one's own body, though exactly what he means by that is debated. He calls the body a temple where God's Spirit lives and says they were bought and paid for, a slave market image Christians have long read as pointing to Jesus' death, so their bodies belong to God.

Key verse: 1 Corinthians 6:19

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether verses 1 to 8 forbid believers from ever suing one another in public courts, as some traditions hold, or mainly rebuke petty lawsuits and cheating in Corinth while leaving room for the courts in serious wrongs.

Something to think about

Do you think of your body as something you own, something you are, or something else entirely?