1 CORINTHIANS LESSON 8


     We will begin this lesson with I Corinthians 6:1 "Dare any of
you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and
not before the saints?"

     This is speaking of a problem between two Christians. The worldly
court is no place to settle a dispute between two Christians. It is a
sad situation that they had a dispute serious enough to have to be
decided by someone else other than the two of them. It is unthinkable
to turn it over to a world court. The fear of the Lord would not be
part of the decision in a world court.

     I Corinthians 6:2 "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the
world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to
judge the smallest matters?"

     Jesus will be like what we think of the supreme court today, and
we Christians will be like the lower court under His jurisdiction. We
must learn to get along with our brothers and sisters in Christ. If
there is something that seemingly is difficult to decide, then other
impartial Christians should decide the matter with the Bible as the
basis of the verdict. The Bible says that we will reign with Jesus.
Those ruling have to judge. You can, also, see how a brother or sister
in Christ who is familiar with God's teaching would be better able to
come to a satisfactory Biblical verdict.

     I Corinthians 6:3 "Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how
much more things that pertain to this life?"

     Angels, in the verse above, means messenger, so this could be
anyone who God sent with a message. It could be ministers, or pastors,
or angels that carry messages. This is a different word than the usual
use of angels which means ministering spirits. We, also, know that
ministers of churches are sometimes called angels. I would not go
further into speculation about believers judging them. It does appear
that this judgement is after this life. It does make it seem silly
that we would not be able to judge things in this life, as well.

     I Corinthians 6:4 "If then ye have judgments of things pertaining
to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church."

     This is such a minor judgement compared to the one that we read
about in the previous verse. It appears that even the lesser
Christians [those who have not been truly grounded in the Word} should
be able to judge this earthly matter between two Christians.

     I Corinthians 6:5 "I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is
not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge
between his brethren?"

     Now Paul is saying, can't you see how silly this is? What he is
trying to make them realize, is that Christians should sit down
together and talk it out, with a third party, if necessary. Pray
together and let God decide the outcome.

     I Corinthians 6:6 "But brother goeth to law with brother, and
that before the unbelievers."

     Paul is saying that to go before a civil court to settle an
argument between two Christians, gives Christianity a black eye. If
Jesus Christ is King of Peace, why is there this problem too difficult
to settle?

     I Corinthians 6:7 "Now therefore there is utterly a fault among
you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take
wrong? why do ye not rather [suffer yourselves to] be defrauded?"

     Jesus taught if someone sued you for your coat, give them your
cloke, also. He, also, said to turn the other cheek, if someone
slapped you on one cheek. He taught give to him that asks of you.
Where have they sidetracked His teaching "forgive him that asks of
you"? We know that Jesus taught that vengeance was His. We are to
return good for the evil done unto us. These things are what makes us
a Christian. We are to kill them with kindness. What if you are the
loser? It will just store up forgiveness for you in heaven, if you
forgive the wrong he has done unto you.

     I Corinthians 6:8 "Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that [your]
brethren."

     Paul is shaming them here. It is bad to do wrong to someone of
the world, but it is terrible to do wrong to a brother in Christ.

     I Corinthians 6:9 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves
with mankind,"

     Paul is saying here, you are wrong if you think that just being
baptized into Jesus will save you. You cannot go back into sin, and
commit the sins the world is guilty of, and not be judged. He is
saying, if you were really saved, you would not have the desire in
your heart to commit these sins that the world is guilty of. Paul
speaks of the unrighteous as a whole, he does not separate out those
who are pretending to be Christians for special privileges. In the
book of James, it says faith without works is dead. We see in the 6th
chapter of Hebrews the consequences of getting back into these sins
after you have made a commitment to God. Fornicators, in the verse
above, means male prostitute. It, also, means homosexual. A servant of
an image is what idolater means here. This includes all false worship.
Effeminate has to do with men who are acting like women. Abusers of
themselves with mankind has to do with perversion. I am sure these
types of sins are mentioned here, because of the worship of Aphrodite
in this area, and also because most of the false worship was of a
sensual nature.

     I Corinthians 6:10 "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

     One thing we must note here, is that the sins mentioned in verse
9 were sins of the body and seemed to be classed together. The sins in
verse 10 are, also, bad sins, but sins that happen outside the body.
They are not sex sins. These are still sins, but do not include the
Holy Spirit {which dwells inside of us} in their act of sin.

     I Corinthians 6:11 "And such were some of you: but ye are washed,
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

     Everyone who ever lived has sinned and come short of the glory of
God. Praise God, if we repent, He is faithful and just to forgive us
of our sin and wash us in His precious blood. We are saved by the
grace of God. We are washed in his blood and set aside for his
purpose. We are justified {just as if we had never sinned}. The
Christians standing around God's throne in heaven are clothed in white
robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb. When He saves us, we become a
new creature in Christ.

































                      1 Corinthians 8 Questions


1.  Who should Christians go before to settle a matter?
2.  Do ye know that the saints shall judge the _______?
3.  If we are to be a judge for Jesus, what will He be like?
4.  What should be the basis for the verdict of a dispute between
    Christians?
5.  In verse 3, it says the Christians will judge whom?
6.  What does the word angel mean in this particular verse?
7.  When will this judgement happen?
8.  Who was to judge in verse 4?
9.  Who are the brothers arguing their case before in verse 6?
10. What is a better solution to the problem?
11. If someone wants your coat, what are you to give him, also?
12. The unrighteous shall not inherit the __________.
13. What is a fornicater?
14. Faith without _________ is dead?
15. What does idolater mean?
16. Who are effeminate?
17. Who was the object of worship in this area?
18. What is the separation in the sins in verse 9 and verse 10?
19. In verse 11, they had these sins before, but why do they not have
    them now?
20. What are the Christians in heaven dressed in?