1 Corinthians 6:5 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 6:5

Comments

Paul was extremely concerned about these things and rightly so. He has said this to arouse them to a sense of shame. Find somebody who can help in any legitimate cause for concern or dispute. ‘Don’t you know your status?’ says the apostle Paul. ‘You have complaints about each other, which seem sometimes to be extremely serious; but you should settle them in the congregation.’ Not even necessarily by a pastor; it may be that other people may be appointed to do this, so it seems. If there is a serious problem or dispute, some trustworthy and elder statesman in the church should be selected to judge between, and to determine, ‘Yes, that was wrong’; or, ‘That was not fair.’ Of course, we must respect the courts; society depends upon them. We must respect and support the civil courts. There are also times when we need to the courts, especially when dealing with disputes with people in the world. But offences among ourselves ought to be settled between ourselves. It is our status which comes through here. We are sinful people; but we are saved, and we are one with Christ, and were destined for eternal glory, and we have a testimony before the world. Think of it – in Corinth, one member of the congregation took another before the civil magistrate or court that sat in those days. What kind of a testimony was that – these Christians squabbling and offending each other, and defrauding each other? That is the apostle’s reasoning, and he reminds us of great things that will happen in the future.

Application

If you have a dispute with another believer and it has got serious, remember that your testimony comes first. Don’t insist on your rights so that you must get justice and that becomes more important to you than anything else. Do you not believe that the Lord will judge every matter? He will see if for the sake of testimony you allow yourself to be wronged. Take it to the pastor or an elder in the church and ask them to help deal with the matter. Submit to the judgment of the church officers. They certainly ought to be just and fair and free from bias. They ought to have a better understanding of the principles of conduct that prevail in the church and who has contravened them.

Questions

Does this mean that Christians who break the law of the land should be protected by the church and not brought to justice? No. The disputes in mind here are disputes that are between individuals and are capable of being resolved between them and forgiven if appropriate. They are not contraventions of the law of the land. Every Christian is answerable to the laws of the land in which he is born. He has a higher accountability to the Lord which the state has no business to legislate on, but he is not exempt from obedience to the state as a citizen of that state.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

1 Corinthians 6:5 Commentary and Bible Study