When the Church Goes to Court: Paul’s Radical Vision for Community
What’s 1 Corinthians 6 about?
Paul tackles two explosive issues that were tearing the Corinthian church apart: believers taking each other to court instead of handling disputes within the community, and sexual immorality that treated the body as irrelevant to spiritual life. His response reveals a stunning vision of what it means to be God’s holy people.
The Full Context
First-century Corinth was the Las Vegas of the ancient world – a bustling commercial hub where every vice was available and lawsuits were as common as morning coffee. The Corinthian Christians, coming from this hyper-litigious culture, naturally turned to the Roman court system when conflicts arose. Meanwhile, the city’s sexual permissiveness had infiltrated the church, with some members apparently visiting prostitutes and justifying it through twisted theology that separated body from spirit.
Paul wrote this section around 55 AD as part of his response to reports from “Chloe’s people” about divisions in the church (1 Corinthians 1:11) and a letter the Corinthians had sent him with questions. Chapter 6 fits within Paul’s broader argument about living as God’s holy people – it bridges his discussion of church discipline in chapter 5 and marriage issues in chapter 7. The passage addresses fundamental questions about Christian identity: How should believers relate to secular institutions? What does it mean that our bodies matter to God? Paul’s answers would have been shocking to both Jewish and Gentile ears.
What the Ancient Words Tell Us
The Greek word Paul uses for lawsuits in verse 1 is pragma, which literally means “a thing” or “matter” – but in legal contexts, it specifically referred to civil disputes over money, property, or business dealings. These weren’t criminal cases but the kind of commercial conflicts that filled Roman courts daily.
Grammar Geeks
When Paul asks “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” in verse 2, he uses the future tense of krino (to judge). This isn’t metaphorical – Paul believed Christians would literally participate in God’s final judgment, making present-day civil disputes seem absurdly trivial by comparison.
What’s fascinating is Paul’s use of adikos (“unrighteous” or “unjust”) in verse 1 to describe secular judges. This isn’t necessarily a moral judgment on individual judges but a theological statement: apart from Christ, even the most ethical human systems operate outside God’s righteousness.
The shift to sexual ethics in verse 12 might seem abrupt, but Paul connects both issues through the theme of inappropriate relationships – whether with secular courts or with prostitutes, the Corinthians were joining themselves to things that contradicted their identity in Christ.
What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?
To Roman ears, Paul’s suggestion that internal church arbitration could replace civil courts would have sounded revolutionary, even dangerous. Roman law was the empire’s great achievement, bringing order to diverse peoples. Suggesting that a small religious community could handle justice better than Roman magistrates bordered on sedition.
Did You Know?
Corinth had a particular reputation for litigation. The city was rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 44 BC as a Roman colony, attracting merchants, freedmen, and fortune-seekers who brought a highly competitive, lawsuit-happy culture. Archaeological evidence shows Corinth had multiple basilicas (court buildings) to handle the constant flow of legal disputes.
Jewish listeners would have been equally shocked, but for different reasons. While Jews had their own court systems, they also recognized the legitimacy of Gentile authorities when necessary. Paul’s claim that Christians shouldn’t need external courts at all would have seemed unrealistic.
The section on sexual ethics (verses 12-20) directly challenged prevailing philosophies. Many Greeks believed the body was irrelevant to spiritual life – what you did physically couldn’t touch your soul. Paul’s insistence that soma (body) mattered eternally was countercultural theology.
Wrestling with the Text
The most puzzling aspect of this chapter might be Paul’s apparent inconsistency. He forbids Christians from using secular courts, yet later appeals to Roman law for protection (Acts 25:11). He also seems to establish two different standards – internal arbitration for civil disputes but presumably external law enforcement for serious crimes (which he doesn’t address here).
Wait, That’s Strange…
Paul quotes what appears to be a Corinthian slogan in verse 12: “All things are lawful for me.” But then he immediately qualifies it twice. Some scholars think the Corinthians were misusing Paul’s own teaching about Christian freedom, turning liberty into license.
The connection between the two halves of the chapter initially seems tenuous. Why jump from lawsuits to sexual ethics? But Paul’s underlying concern is consistent: both represent the Corinthians’ failure to understand their new identity. Taking fellow believers to court shows they don’t grasp their unity in Christ. Sexual immorality shows they don’t understand that their bodies belong to Christ.
Paul’s solution for disputes – “Why not rather suffer wrong?” (verse 7) – sounds naive to modern ears. Doesn’t this encourage abuse? But Paul isn’t establishing a universal principle for all conflicts. He’s addressing civil disputes between believers who should be able to find wise arbitrators within their community.
How This Changes Everything
Paul’s vision here is breathtaking in scope. He’s not just giving practical advice about conflict resolution – he’s describing what human community could look like when transformed by the gospel. The church becomes a preview of God’s kingdom, where justice flows from love rather than legal manipulation.
The lawsuit issue reveals something profound about Christian community. Paul assumes believers should be able to find people wise enough to mediate disputes (verse 5). This isn’t anti-intellectualism – it’s confidence that the Spirit produces wisdom for navigating complex human conflicts.
“Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” – not a cage for your soul, but the sacred space where God chooses to dwell.
The sexual ethics section explodes Greek dualism completely. Paul argues that what we do with our bodies matters eternally because our soma will be raised (verse 14). Physical actions have spiritual consequences because we are integrated beings, not souls trapped in flesh.
This has massive implications beyond sexual ethics. If our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (verse 19), then how we eat, rest, work, and care for our physical selves becomes worship. Paul isn’t just addressing prostitution – he’s establishing a theology of embodied discipleship.
Key Takeaway
Christian community should be so transformed by the gospel that it becomes a compelling alternative to the world’s systems of justice and satisfaction – not because we’re perfect, but because we’re learning to prioritize relationships over rights and eternal identity over temporary pleasure.
Further Reading
Internal Links:
External Scholarly Resources:
- The First Epistle to the Corinthians by Gordon Fee
- Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians by Richard Hays
- Ancient Corinth: An Archaeological Guide
Tags
1 Corinthians 6:1-11, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 1 Corinthians 6:19, church discipline, conflict resolution, sexual ethics, body theology, Christian community, lawsuits, justice, holiness, temple of the Holy Spirit, resurrection, Christian identity
