Day 2: Lawsuits and the Body as Temple

Reading: 1 Corinthians 6

Listen to: 1 Corinthians chapter 6

Historical Context

First Corinthians 6 contains two distinct but theologically connected arguments: the problem of believers suing one another in pagan courts (vv. 1-11) and a sweeping statement about sexual morality and the body (vv. 12-20). Both address the same underlying issue: the Corinthians have failed to grasp the implications of their identity in Christ for their everyday behavior.

Litigation was a prominent feature of Roman civic life. Corinth, as a Roman colony, had a well-developed court system, and legal disputes were a form of public entertainment. The bema – the judgment seat in the Corinthian forum where cases were heard – has been excavated by archaeologists, and it is the very platform before which Paul himself was brought before the proconsul Gallio (Acts 18:12-17). Lawsuits in Roman courts were heavily biased toward the wealthy; the legal system operated on patronage, and a poor person suing a rich patron would face nearly insurmountable disadvantages. It is likely that the litigation Paul addresses involved wealthier members of the congregation taking advantage of the legal system to defraud poorer brothers and sisters – an abuse of power cloaked in the respectability of Roman law.

Paul’s response is blistering: “When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?” (v. 1). The word “dare” (tolma) conveys astonishment. Paul’s argument proceeds on two levels. First, the eschatological: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? … Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” (vv. 2-3). If believers will participate in the final judgment of the cosmos, surely they can adjudicate property disputes among themselves. Second, the practical: “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?” (v. 7). This echoes Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about turning the other cheek and not resisting the evildoer (Matthew 5:38-42). Paul is not saying that justice does not matter; he is saying that the public spectacle of believers suing one another before pagan judges damages the witness of the gospel more than any financial loss could.

The vice list in verses 9-10 – “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” – serves as both a warning and a contrast. Paul catalogs behaviors that characterize the old life: sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, homosexual practice, theft, greed, drunkenness, slander, swindling. Then comes the decisive turn: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (v. 11). The three passive verbs – washed, sanctified, justified – describe baptismal transformation. The Corinthians are not who they used to be. Their new identity in Christ should produce new behavior, not because they are earning God’s favor but because they have already received it.

The second half of the chapter (vv. 12-20) addresses a Corinthian slogan that Paul quotes before correcting: “All things are lawful for me” (panta moi exestin). This phrase, which Paul will repeat in 10:23, was apparently being used by some Corinthians to justify any behavior – including visiting prostitutes. Corinth’s temple of Aphrodite, while perhaps not housing the thousand sacred prostitutes that later tradition described, was part of a broader culture in which sexual transactions were common and socially accepted. The verb kollaomenos in verse 16, “joined to,” carries the strong sense of being “glued to” or “bonded with” – it is the same word used in the Septuagint’s translation of Genesis 2:24, “and the two shall become one flesh.”

Paul’s response builds to one of the most important theological statements in the New Testament: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (vv. 19-20). The Greek word naos refers specifically to the inner sanctuary of the temple, the holy of holies – the place where God’s presence dwells. Paul has already applied the temple metaphor corporately in 3:16-17 (“you [plural] are God’s temple”), but here he applies it individually. Each believer’s physical body is the sacred dwelling place of God’s Spirit. The phrase “bought with a price” (agorazo) is commercial language from the slave market; believers have been purchased out of slavery to sin by the costly sacrifice of Christ. The implication is staggering: you do not belong to yourself, and therefore you do not have the right to use your body however you please.

This body theology stands in sharp contrast to the prevailing Greek philosophical view that the body (soma) was essentially irrelevant to the soul (psyche). Platonic dualism regarded the body as a prison from which the soul would eventually escape. The Corinthian slogan “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food – and God will destroy them both” (v. 13) reflects this dismissive attitude toward the body. Paul categorically rejects it: “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power” (vv. 13-14). The resurrection of Christ is Paul’s ultimate argument for the significance of the body. God did not discard Jesus’ body; he raised it. And he will raise ours. The body matters eternally.

Key Themes

• The body as sacred – Against Greek dualism that devalued the physical, Paul insists that the believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, purchased by Christ’s sacrifice and destined for resurrection.
• Justice within the community – Believers should resolve disputes internally rather than undermining the gospel’s witness through public litigation, even if it means accepting personal loss.
• Identity transformation – “Such were some of you, but you were washed” – the gospel does not merely forgive past behavior but creates a new identity that reshapes present conduct.

Connections

• Old Testament Roots: Genesis 2:24 (“the two shall become one flesh”) is Paul’s scriptural basis for the profound bodily union involved in sexual relationships. The temple imagery draws on the entire Old Testament theology of God’s dwelling place, from the tabernacle (Exodus 25:8) to Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:10-11) to Ezekiel’s vision of the Spirit departing and returning (Ezekiel 10:18-19, 43:1-5).
• New Testament Echoes: Paul’s body-as-temple theology is developed further in Ephesians 2:19-22 and 1 Peter 2:4-5. The command to “glorify God in your body” anticipates Romans 12:1 (“present your bodies as a living sacrifice”). The vice list in vv. 9-10 parallels Galatians 5:19-21 and Ephesians 5:5.
• Parallel Passages: Matthew 5:38-42 (willingness to be wronged), Romans 12:17-21 (overcoming evil with good), 2 Corinthians 6:16 (corporate temple imagery), Ephesians 5:30-32 (one-flesh union applied to Christ and the church).

Reflection Questions

1. Paul lists a series of behaviors and then says, “And such were some of you.” What does it mean for the gospel to change not just what you do but who you are?
2. Paul asks, “Why not rather be wronged?” In what situations might you need to choose absorbing a loss over insisting on your rights?
3. “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” How would your daily choices about your body change if you lived as though this were literally true?

Prayer

Holy Spirit, you have made your home not in buildings of stone but in bodies of flesh. We confess that we have treated our bodies carelessly, as though they were our own to use as we please. Remind us that we were bought at an unimaginable price – the blood of Christ – and that our bodies are sacred ground where you dwell. Give us the grace to honor you in what we eat, in how we rest, in whom we touch, and in every choice we make with these temples you have entrusted to us. Transform us from the inside out, that our lives may reflect the holiness of your presence. In the name of Jesus, who was raised bodily from the grave. Amen.