God's Courthouse and God's Kingdom Text: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
Introduction: A Scandal in Corinth
The church at Corinth was a mess. It was a chaotic assembly of gifted, carnal, and confused Christians. They had divisions, arrogance, and gross sexual immorality that would make a pagan blush. And here, in chapter six, Paul confronts yet another scandal that strikes at the very heart of their identity as the people of God. They were suing one another. Brother was taking brother to court, and they were doing it before unbelievers.
Now, our modern sensibilities might tempt us to downplay this. We live in a litigious age where suing someone is as common as ordering a pizza. We think of it as a civilized way to resolve disputes. But Paul sees it as an utter spiritual disaster, a public relations catastrophe for the gospel, and a fundamental denial of what the church is. He doesn't just offer some friendly advice on conflict resolution. He brings the hammer down. He tells them their behavior is shameful, a sign of total defeat, and evidence that they have forgotten who they are and what they are destined for.
This passage is a direct assault on the privatization of the Christian faith. The Corinthians were acting as though their spiritual lives were one thing, and their business disputes were another. They were happy to be saints on Sunday morning, but when it came to a financial disagreement on Monday, they ran straight to the pagan courthouse to have Caesar's man sort it out. Paul's response is to declare that the church is its own jurisdiction. It is God's embassy on earth, God's courthouse for God's people. To appeal to a lower, unrighteous court is an act of treason against the kingdom of heaven. It is to publicly declare that the wisdom of the world is superior to the wisdom of God, and that the saints of God are incompetent to handle their own affairs.
This is not a small matter. This is about the authority of Jesus Christ over His people. It is about the competence of the Holy Spirit to grant wisdom. And it is about the public testimony of the church before a watching world. What the Corinthians were doing was not just unwise; it was a profound theological error with devastating practical consequences.
The Text
Does any one of you, when he has a case against another, dare to be tried before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not worthy to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint those who are of no account in the church as judges? I say this to your shame. Is it really this way: there is not one wise man among you who will be able to pass judgment between his brothers? On the contrary, brother is tried with brother, and that before unbelievers! Actually, then, it is already a failure for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brothers. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
(1 Corinthians 6:1-11 LSB)
The Scandal of the Secular Court (vv. 1-6)
Paul begins with a blistering, incredulous question.
"Does any one of you, when he has a case against another, dare to be tried before the unrighteous and not before the saints?" (1 Corinthians 6:1)
The key word here is "dare." It communicates a sense of audacity, of outrageous presumption. How could you even think of doing this? To take a dispute with a fellow believer and lay it before the "unrighteous" is an act of spiritual rebellion. Notice the stark contrast Paul draws: the unrighteous versus the saints. The world's courts are staffed by the unrighteous, not because every judge is personally corrupt, but because they operate apart from Christ, according to a standard other than God's law. The church, on the other hand, is composed of the saints, the holy ones, set apart by God.
To appeal to the secular court is to appeal to a lower authority. It is like two princes of a great kingdom having a squabble over some inheritance and, instead of going to their father the king, they take their dispute to a peasant tribunal in a foreign land. It is an insult to the king and a denial of their own royal standing. This is precisely what the Corinthians were doing. They were shaming the name of Christ by telling the world that His church is incompetent to handle even the most basic matters of justice.
Paul then drives his point home with a stunning reminder of our eschatological destiny.
"Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not worthy to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)
This is not pie-in-the-sky sentimentality. This is robust, postmillennial realism. The saints will judge the world. In Christ, we are destined to inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). We will sit with Christ on His throne, sharing in His rule and reign (Rev. 3:21). This is not just a future reality; it is a present reality breaking into history. The church is the leading edge of the kingdom of God. If our ultimate destiny is to preside over the judgment of nations and even of fallen angels, how utterly absurd is it that we would consider ourselves incompetent to decide a petty financial dispute between two church members? Paul's logic is from the greater to the lesser. If you are training to be a brain surgeon, you ought to be able to put on a band-aid. If you are destined to judge the cosmos, you ought to be able to figure out who owes whom a hundred bucks.
The failure of the Corinthians was a failure of eschatology. They had a shrunken view of their own identity and destiny in Christ. They were living like paupers when they were princes. Paul's shaming here is medicinal. He wants to shock them into realizing the glory of their calling. He is saying, "Is there not one wise man among you?" In a church bursting with spiritual gifts, a church that prided itself on its wisdom and knowledge, could they not find a single person capable of adjudicating a simple dispute? The question is dripping with sarcasm. The problem was not a lack of competence, but a lack of will, a lack of faith in the authority and sufficiency of Christ's body, the church.
The Higher Principle: Defeat in Victory (vv. 7-8)
Paul then goes deeper. The problem is not just where they are taking their lawsuits, but that they are having them at all.
"Actually, then, it is already a failure for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?" (1 Corinthians 6:7)
This is a radical, kingdom-oriented principle that cuts directly across the grain of our fallen, self-centered nature. Paul says that the very existence of these lawsuits is an "utter defeat." Even if you go to the pagan court and win your case, you have already lost. You have lost your witness. You have lost your fellowship. You have lost an opportunity to display the grace of Christ. You have prioritized your money, your property, your "rights," over the unity of the church and the glory of God.
"Why not rather be wronged?" This is the logic of the cross. Jesus did not stand on His rights. He was wronged for our sake. He was defrauded for our salvation. As His followers, we are called to have the same mind. This does not mean we become doormats for abuse or that there is no place for justice. Remember, Paul has just argued that the church itself should be the place where justice is administered. But it does mean that our first instinct should not be to demand our rights, but to preserve the unity and testimony of the body. Sometimes, the most powerful gospel witness we can give is to absorb a financial loss for the sake of a brother and for the sake of peace.
But the Corinthians were not only failing to do this; they were doing the exact opposite.
"On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brothers." (1 Corinthians 6:8)
They were not the victims; they were the perpetrators. They were the ones initiating the injustice, and they were doing it to their own family in Christ. This is the world's way of doing business, the dog-eat-dog mentality of the unrighteous. But for it to be found in the church is a profound contradiction of the gospel they claimed to believe.
The Moral Foundation of the Kingdom (vv. 9-11)
This behavior reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of God's kingdom. So Paul issues a stark warning.
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Paul connects their litigious, defrauding spirit to a whole catalog of sins that characterize those outside the kingdom. This is not an exhaustive list, but a representative one. These are the lifestyles, the patterns of unrepentant sin, that mark the unrighteous. The key is the pattern. This is not talking about a Christian who stumbles into sin and repents. It is describing those whose lives are defined by these things. The greedy and the swindlers who defraud their brothers are in the same boat as the sexually immoral and the idolaters. To live this way is to provide evidence that you have no part in the inheritance of the saints.
The terms "effeminate" (malakoi) and "homosexuals" (arsenokoitai) refer to the passive and active partners in homosexual acts, respectively. In our sexually confused generation, it is essential that we are clear where the Bible is clear. The Word of God does not stutter here. These behaviors are contrary to sound doctrine and are listed as characteristic of those who are outside the kingdom. We must not soften this warning, and we must not be deceived by the empty words of a culture that calls evil good and good evil.
But this stark warning is not the final word. The final word is the gospel, and it is a glorious one.
"And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:11)
This is one of the most powerful statements of gospel transformation in all of Scripture. "And such were some of you." Note the past tense: were. This is your old address. This is what you used to be. The gospel does not just give you a new legal status; it gives you a new identity. Your identity is not found in your past sins or your lingering temptations. Your identity is found in Christ. The modern heresy of the "gay Christian" is a direct assault on this verse. The Bible's category is not "gay Christian" but "former homosexual." Your sin is what you did, not who you are. Who you are is a new creation in Christ.
And how did this transformation happen? Paul gives us a glorious Trinitarian torrent of grace. You were washed. This speaks of the cleansing regeneration of the Holy Spirit, the removal of the filth of sin. You were sanctified. This means you were set apart, consecrated as holy to God. You were made a saint. You were justified. This is the great legal declaration. You were declared righteous in the courtroom of God, not based on your own performance, but based entirely on the finished work of Jesus Christ. All of this is done "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," the basis of our salvation, and "in the Spirit of our God," the agent of our salvation. Justification is the root, and sanctification is the fruit. God does not justify those whom He does not also sanctify. The indicative (what God has done) is the foundation for the imperative (what we must do).
The Corinthians were suing each other because they had forgotten verse 11. They had forgotten that they were a washed, sanctified, and justified people. They were living out of their old, unrighteous identities instead of their new, glorious identity in Christ. The solution to their ethical failure was not more rules, but a more robust grasp of the gospel. The same is true for us. When we are tempted to act like the world, to demand our rights, to defraud a brother, or to return to the sins that once defined us, the remedy is to preach this verse to ourselves. We must remember who we once were, and rejoice in who we now are in Christ.