1 Corinthians 6:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?

NIV: But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!

NASB: but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?

CSB: Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers!

NLT: But instead, one believer sues another — right in front of unbelievers!

KJV: But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

NKJV: But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

Starting in verse 5, Paul seems bewildered that the problem at hand is even happening. He is dismayed that brothers in Christ would choose to take a minor dispute before a secular court, rather than be judged among those who are in Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14–15; 6:1–4).

He doesn't say it outright, but perhaps Paul is also concerned for what such lawsuits will do to Christ's reputation in the culture (1 Peter 2:12). What message does it send to unbelievers, when Christ appears to have made little impact on those who follow Him? How degrading is it to the Holy Spirit to suggest that born-again believers can't resolve a minor dispute among themselves? What kind of ammunition does this give to those who are opposed to the gospel of Jesus to slander the church?

Instead of focusing on that angle, Paul seems most concerned with the hard and indifferent hearts of the Christians in Corinth. By taking each other to court over a trivial matter, they fail to treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. In this and other ways, the Corinthians live as those belonging to their culture, more than those who belong to Christ.

The teaching here is not that Christians should not submit to the authority of a secular court. Romans 13:1 teaches believers to submit to the authority of human governments. Also, the concerning event here is not a criminal case or an instance of some gross misconduct. Earlier verses characterized what Paul criticizes as "trivial cases." In civil and minor disagreements, it's shameful for Christians to voluntarily be judged by unbelievers over a minor dispute. Rather, such matters should always be mutually resolved within the church.

First Corinthians 6:1–11 details Paul's objections to Christians taking another to secular court over a minor issue. Believers will one day judge the world and angels. They should be able to judge small disputes amongst themselves. It would be better for a believer to be defrauded than to ask unbelievers to settle an argument between brothers in Christ. After all, unbelievers will not inherit God's kingdom. They are known by all the sins they do. Christians, though, have been cleansed from those sins and are now known only as belonging to Christ. This passage includes a passionate, powerful reminder that no person's sins are beyond Christ's power to forgive.

First Corinthians 6 continues Paul's confrontations of the Corinthian Christians over issues in the church. Earlier passages discussed problems of division into factions, and tolerance of heinous sexual sin. Paul is also outraged that they would take one another to court in a lawsuit over minor issues. Instead of suing each other before unbelievers, they should settle trivial issues in the church. Second, Paul urges them to live up to their new identities in Christ instead of living down to the sexually immoral standards of the culture. This sets up discussions of marriage in chapter 7.

Paul confronts two major issues happening in the church at Corinth. First, he is outraged that one of them has brought a lawsuit against a brother in Christ over a minor dispute. It is absurd to think that Christians—those who will judge the world and angels—cannot even judge a small matter between themselves. Second, Paul warns his readers to run from sexual immorality. Sex creates a powerful bond intended only for marriage. Since our bodies belong to and are part of Christ, we have no right to bring Him into a one-body union with someone to whom we're not married.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.