COMMENTARY BY JOHN W. GREGSON

INJUNCTION AGAINST GOING TO LAW BEFORE HEATHEN COURTS

I Corinthians 6:1 - 11

In the Old Testament Moses accepted the advice of his father-in-law, Jethro, and appointed capable and honorable men to serve the people as judges; these men took care of the trivial cases and Moses decided the difficult ones. Exodus 18:21 - 26, indicates that Moses appointed, "heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons; the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves (25,26)." Kistemaker quotes John Calvin who wrote, "If a Christian therefore wants to prosecute his rights in a court of law, without going against God, he must take special care not to come into court with any desire for revenge, any bad feeling, any anger, or in a word any poisonous thing. In all this love will be the best guide" (p. 183).

3 - 6 Furthermore, the saints will judge angels. How much more could the saints not judge in the things that pertain to life? Evidently the angels will be judged for their faithfulness and stewardship by the children of God. According to Galatians 1:8 it is possible for angels to distort the gospel message. If the saints are going to judge angels who kept not their first estate (Jude 6), could not the saints settle matters between two brethren? Shame on you Corinthians, Paul writes, do you not have a wise man in your congregation who can judge and settle conflicts in property lines or some other conflict between brethren? "Paul hits shrewdly in this question asking these wise Corinthians if they had not a man among them wise enough to decide matters between brethren" (Gould, p. 51). The Corinthians should let the Holy Spirit lead men to make the correct decisions rather than going before a pagan judge and let him decide what he thought was the correct decision.

7, 8 In fact Paul writes, "Why are brethren suing brethren at any time? Goodspeed translates this verse, "Having lawsuits with one another at all means your utter failure to begin with." If the two litigants are brethren, they should be able to settle matters themselves rather than going to court. Any time anyone goes to court in modern lawsuits the attorneys' fees and court costs are so exorbitant that no one wins except the attorneys. Why not be men enough to suffer some loss or injustice. Paul forbids retaliation; Peter says about the same thing in I Peter 2:19, 20. Many a brother has been wounded by another brother for suing him in a heathen court. Paul writes that they were doing wrong or were perpetrating an injustice; he uses the word defraud (apostereite) or cheat another brother. Of course the Christians learned later what Jesus said in Matthew 6:19 - 34. Paul wrote to the Romans (12:17, 19) "Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men...Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but, rather, give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord." "A very learned judge was once asked what he would do if a man owed him ten pounds and refused to pay. His reply was worth remembering. He said, 'Rather than bring an action against him, with its cost and uncertainty, I would give him a receipt in full of all demands; yes, and I would send him five pounds over, to cover all possible expenses" (B. I. Vol., XLVII, p. 407).

9, 10 The key statement of the entire chapter could be know ye, which is mentioned four times in the chapter (9, 15, 16, 19). Paul states in these verses that unrighteous people will not inherit the kingdom of God; don't be deceived. The unrighteous, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate (malakoi), voluptuary or soft man; that is, one who is homosexually inclined, and abuses of himself with mankind (arsenokoitai) sodomites or homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous persons, not reviler, nor extortioners will be in the kingdom of God. What Paul thought about homosexuals and their judgment is found in Romans 1:27, 32, "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was fitting...they who commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them." The Old Testament forbids such ungodly acts; Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 reads, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination...If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." The spirit of the kingdom of God is contrasted with the ways and kingdoms of this world.

11 Some of the Corinthian Christians were formerly identified by these sins; they were degenerates. BUT the Corinthians have been washed (apelousasthe), sanctified (egiasthete) and justified (edikaiothete) in the name of the Lord and by the Holy Spirit. All of these words washed, sanctified and justified are in the passive voice and in the aorist tense. This indicates that Someone else has washed them. Someone else has sanctified them. Someone else has justified them. They have been washed or cleansed; they have been sanctified, made holy or set apart; they have been justified or made righteous. All of this has been done in the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. All that has been done in these transactions happened in the past and the kind of action is punctiliar; that is, instantaneously. These are all divine culminative acts of the Trinity. Kistemaker writes, "The three verbs (washed, sanctified, justified) are grammatically related. In the Greek, they are in the aorist tense, which describes a single instantaneous action. Paul is saying that at a given moment God declared the Corinthians both holy and righteous. In this context, he is not explaining the distinction between sanctification and justification but is writing a discourse against unrighteousness" (p. 190). The washing that took place is a result of the cleansing power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:5), that may be symbolized by baptism. The sanctifying of the believer is based on the redeeming work of the Lord. The justification appears in connection with the power of the Holy Spirit.

"A minister was speaking to fishermen on an English seashore. His subject was 'Justification.' He was trying to make it plain to the men what Christ's work on the cross really was. Presently he said: 'Now will one of you men tell me, in your own words, what the Lord Jesus did there on the cross?' An old seaman looked up and, with tears on his weather-beaten face: 'He swapped with me.' How gloriously true! 'His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree" (Sunday School Times, September 28, 1963).

INJUNCTIONS AGAINST FORNICATION

I Corinthians 6:12 - 20

Probably this verse (13) was an expression used by the gluttonous to justify their gluttony, and it then was extended to excuse immorality. Esau discovered that to give oneself over to any fleshly appetite is to lose God's blessing. Keeping in mind that the body is holy, Paul writes that God can and will destroy the stomach (koilia) and all that goes into it. God can destroy the stomach and meats ingested into the body. The human body (somati), however, is not for fornication or immorality, but for those who are saved our bodies belongs to the Lord. "The body can be used for sex, and within the Christian framework, sex glorifies God, but the body is not for sex in the sense that the stomach is for food. The body is for the Lord, and reciprocally, the Lord is for the body. The body is the temple of God and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. God will terminate the function of the alimentary canal, but He will never terminate the function of the body of the Christian. It is scheduled for resurrection (Romans 8:11)...Indeed, the body of sin will be destroyed, but the resurrected body will be like Christ's resurrected body (I John 3:1, 2; Philippians 3:21)" (Yeager, p. 444).

15 - 17 The sin of fornication shown here, in taking the body that belongs to the Lord, and making it one flesh with a harlot. To take the body and profane it by prostituting one's sex life is contrary to all forms of life; "the best teachers of biology show that in the higher animals monogamy is the rule" (Robertson, p. 121). Paul says, "May it never be so," or "May it not happen." The glorified body will one day house the child of God; just as God raised up the Lord Jesus Christ, He will also raise our bodies; however, they will be glorified bodies. See Romans 8:11 for Paul instructions to the Romans concerning a glorified body which is of eternal significance.

In verse 16 Paul reminds the Corinthians that the members of our bodies as God's children are members of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our members are not to be yielded to uncleanness but rather for holiness. To commit fornication is to join members of the body to an harlot. Paul says, "Never should a child of God make his members the members of a prostitute." "One's body is the very shrine for the Holy Spirit. In Corinth was the temple to Aphrodite in which fornication was regarded as consecration instead of desecration. Prostitutes were there as priestesses of Aphrodite, to help men worship the goddess by fornication" (Robertson, p. 123). The fact that our bodies are the temple of the Spirit dignifies the body; Christians believe in giving the body a holy burial. The Christian's body will resemble the bodies we have now, however, they will be glorified. Just as our Lord sits at the Father's right hand in a physical body resembling the one He possessed here on the earth, so our bodies will be transformed and glorified but will resemble those we have on earth. This is mysterious - how can God gather together the elements of bodies which have perished in the graves or perished in the seas over thousands of years? When we remember that Jehovah God created the universe out of nothing and the human body out of the dust of the ground, is anything too difficult for God to accomplish (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; 18:27)?

When the Christian is united (kollomenos) or joined to God in faith, the two become one spirit. With the physical union of the Christian with a harlot joins two fleshly bodies are joined into one (Genesis 2:24); the spiritual union of the Christian with Christ joins two spirits into one.

18, 19 Paul says, "Make it your habit to flee fornication." Fornication is a sin against the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Christian is to flee (pheugete) or escape from fornication and immorality. To commit fornication is to sin against the human body. All sins are against God (some are within the body and some are without the body); fornication and immorality is against God and the human body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. "The sex drive is imperious. Great moral character is required to resist it. Paul advises flight from it. Thus he emphasizes the grave consequences that follow when the Christian commits it. It is different from others sins, which if committed do not necessarily compromise the body. But fornication (porneia) does" (Yeager, p. 449). The body is for Christ's service (Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:10; II Timothy 4:6 - 8). "The 'stolen water' of sexual relations outside of marriage 'is sweet; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant'; but 'the dead are there' (Proverbs 9:17, 18). Sexual sin is a 'no win' situation. It is never profitable and always harmful" (MacArthur, p. 148).

Paul emphasizes in verse 19 that the child of God is not his own; He has a Master who is the Lord Jesus Christ. "Mendelssohn, once visited the cathedral at Frieburg, and, having heard the great organ, went into the organ loft and asked to be allowed to play it. The old organist, in jealousy for his instrument, at first refused, but was afterward prevailed upon to allow the great composer to try the colossal 'thunder' of the cathedral. After standing by for a few moments in an ecstasy of delight and amazement, the old organist suddenly laid his hands on the shoulders of the inspired musician and exclaimed, 'Who are you? What is your name?' 'Mendelssohn,' replied the player. 'And can it be that I so nearly refused to let Mendelssohn touch this organ!' How little the Lord's people know what they are doing when they refuse to let Christ have full possession of their entire lives and evoke the full melody and harmony possible" (Prophetic News, Sunday School Times, September 28, 1963).

20 Fornication is violation of the right which God has acquired over them by purchase. The price paid for our salvation is of greatest value; it cost God His Son, and it cost our Lord Jesus Christ His life on Calvary. "The terms 'bought with a price' calls to mind the marketplace where slaves were bought and sold. If this is what Paul means, he alludes to Christians whom Christ has bought as slaves to serve him. Christ now owns them and is their master" (Kistemaker, pp. 202, 203). The Apostle Peter speaks out vividly in I Peter 1:18, 19, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot..." Because of salvation's great value, we should glorify God in our bodies, which really belong to our Master. "A professor of biology was explaining to a young man how human life is handed on from generation to generation, and how the conduct of a man or a woman can, before a child is born, determine whether that child will be physically sound or not. The young man listened reverently, and then said, with great determination, 'With the help of God, I will never, by any sort of immoral living, be a rotten link in that chain'" (Sunday School Times, September 28, 1963).

J. Lyth writes, "Fornication is an awful crime. It robs God of His property. (It) dishonors the members of Christ's body. (It) makes a man one flesh with the harlot. (It) degrades a man's own body. (It) profanes the temple of God. (It) sins against the sacrifice of God. (It) devotes body and soul, which are God's to the Devil" (B. I., Volume XLVII, p. 423).

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