1 Corinthians 6:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But you yourselves wrong and defraud — even your own brothers!

NIV: Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.

NASB: On the contrary, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And this to your brothers and sisters!

CSB: Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and you do this to brothers and sisters!

NLT: Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.

KJV: Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

NKJV: No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

Paul has been painfully clear about the balance between "winning" and "doing the right thing." It is far better to lose—to suffer wrong, to be cheated by a brother in Christ—than to take that brother to a secular court over a minor dispute. To engage in such a lawsuit means abdicating judgment to those who don't understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14–15). Christians involved in civil lawsuits against each other have already lost before the case is even heard. The fact that neither of them followed Jesus' example of humility and self-sacrifice and suffering for the sake of their brother or sister in Christ is the real defeat.

It's even worse than that, though. It's not just that one or the other was willing to suffer loss in this minor dispute for the greater good of Christ, the church, and the other person. The truth is that one of them was willing to do wrong to and cheat their brother in Christ in the first place.

It's important to remember Paul is describing a civil issue, not a criminal case. He referred to inappropriate disputes as "trivial cases" (1 Corinthians 6:2). This passage does not teach Christians to reject legitimate use of secular courts. Paul believed the opposite was true (Romans 13:1). Christians guilty of harming each other in violation of criminal law are accountable to secular judgment. So are those who commit serious violations or acts of malice. That was not the issue here, in the situations Paul describes.

In many ways, the Christians in Corinth were living like pagans and not as Christians. The standards of Greek and Roman culture in Corinth allowed for cheating others in business, if you could get away with it. It meant dragging them to civil court and employing personal attacks and unfair influence if you didn't get away with it. This was especially true if you were wealthy and powerful and your opponent was not.

Paul expresses his deep frustration that the Christians in Corinth were not living out the truth of the gospel of Jesus that they had sincerely believed.

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.