1 Corinthians 6 Chapter Study

The sixth chapter tackles two wounds that were draining the church’s witness: believers dragging one another before secular courts, and believers treating the body as disposable in sexual sin. Paul answers both by recovering the church’s identity and destiny. Saints will judge the world and even angels, so they should be competent to reconcile earthly disputes without parading grievances before unbelievers (1 Corinthians 6:1–3). The better path may mean absorbing loss for love’s sake rather than inflicting damage on a brother or sister, because to sue is already to lose when the family’s unity is at stake (1 Corinthians 6:7–8). The warning that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom is followed by a song of grace: that is what some were, but now they are washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).

Freedom slogans get tested next. “I have the right to do anything” meets two checks: not everything is beneficial, and nothing should master a Christian (1 Corinthians 6:12). Another slogan about food and the stomach is answered by a different truth about the body: it exists for the Lord and the Lord for the body, and God will raise our bodies as he raised Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:13–14). Because believers are joined to Christ, what they do with their bodies involves him; sexual union is not a throwaway act but a one-flesh bond, so they must flee sexual immorality and honor God with bodies that are temples of the Holy Spirit, bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:15–20).

Words: 2294 / Time to read: 12 minutes

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Historical and Cultural Background

Corinth’s courts provided public theater. Civil disputes were often tried before magistrates in open spaces where onlookers gathered, and litigants measured victory not only by verdicts but by honor gained and shame assigned. That environment rewarded sharp rhetoric and social leverage, habits the gospel aims to unlearn. Paul’s shock that believers would seek rulings from those “despised” by the church reflects the clash between a culture that prized winning and a kingdom that prizes reconciliation under Christ’s rule (1 Corinthians 6:4–6; Matthew 5:9). The church is not anti-justice; it is pro-family, called to settle household matters inside the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).

Greco-Roman moral reasoning about the body ranged from indulgent to austere. Some treated bodily appetites as natural cycles with little moral weight, captured in the slogan “food for the stomach and the stomach for food” (1 Corinthians 6:13). Others prized public virtue but tolerated private license. Into that mix Paul brings a distinct claim: God raised the Lord bodily and will raise believers bodily, so the body matters now and forever (1 Corinthians 6:14; Romans 8:11). The resurrection undercuts both casual indulgence and disdain for flesh by declaring that the Creator has a future for human bodies in his renewed world.

Corinth’s port city temptations were real. Sexual commerce was available and normalized, and the broader world often saw prostitution as a service rather than a betrayal. Paul answers not with civic scolding but with union-with-Christ theology: believers’ bodies are members of Christ, so uniting those bodies to a prostitute contradicts their new belonging and profanes the Lord who bought them (1 Corinthians 6:15–17; Ephesians 5:30–32). Scripture’s “two will become one flesh” is not an old poem; it is a present reality that shapes ethics, whether in singleness or marriage (Genesis 2:24; Hebrews 13:4).

Temple language returns with fresh force. In a city dotted with shrines, Paul locates God’s dwelling not in stone but in people: your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, a claim that flows from promises of a new covenant where God would dwell within his people and write his ways on their hearts (1 Corinthians 6:19; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:27). That shift marks a new stage in God’s plan: holy presence no longer tied to one building or nation but present in a transnational family, tasting now what will be full when Christ returns (Ephesians 2:21–22; Revelation 21:3). The purchase price—Christ’s sacrifice—sets the value.

Biblical Narrative

Paul begins by confronting believers who take one another to court before unbelievers. He asks whether the saints who will judge the world and angels are truly unable to judge ordinary matters and whether there is no one wise enough in the church to mediate disputes (1 Corinthians 6:1–5). The rebuke is sharp because the lawsuits invert the gospel: instead of absorbing wrongs for love, they inflict wrongs on family and broadcast it to the world (1 Corinthians 6:6–8; Romans 12:18–19). To be defeated already is to forget the Judge who will set all things right.

The next paragraph grounds ethics in inheritance. Wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God; Paul lists patterns that characterize life apart from the reign of Christ—sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, homosexual practice, theft, greed, drunkenness, slander, swindling—and reminds the church that grace is not permission but transformation: that is what some were, but now in Christ they are washed, sanctified, and justified by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:9–11; Titus 3:4–7). The new identity does not erase struggle; it changes direction and allegiance.

The apostle then answers slogans about liberty. “I have the right to do anything” is met with two tests: is it beneficial, and will it enslave (1 Corinthians 6:12; Galatians 5:13)? A proverb about food and stomachs is redirected by resurrection reality: the body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised Jesus and will raise us (1 Corinthians 6:13–14; Philippians 3:20–21). Christian freedom is not self-rule; it is the freedom to love God and neighbor with a body that belongs to the Lord.

Union with Christ shapes sexuality. Believers are members of Christ, so taking those members into a union that defies God’s design is unthinkable. Scripture says, “The two will become one flesh,” and spiritual union with the Lord makes believers one spirit with him, which is why the command is not negotiate but flee sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:15–18; Genesis 2:24). Sexual sin is uniquely self-harming because it violates the very body that is meant for the Lord and joined to Christ.

The closing lines crown body theology with indwelling and purchase. Bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, received from God; believers are not their own, for they were bought at a price. The apt conclusion follows: honor God with your bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19–20; Romans 12:1). Worship is not disembodied; it is lived in flesh and blood under the risen Lord.

Theological Significance

The future role of the saints informs present peacemaking. A church destined to judge the world and angels ought to cultivate the wisdom to reconcile family disputes now, signaling confidence in the King who will soon set all things right (1 Corinthians 6:2–3; Matthew 19:28). This is part of the “now and later” rhythm of God’s plan: foretastes of royal responsibility appear in humble arbitration and patient forgiveness while the fullness of judgment awaits Christ’s appearing (1 Corinthians 6:7; Romans 8:23).

Kingdom inheritance sets the stakes for holiness. The warning that habitual unrighteousness excludes from the kingdom is not a whip of despair; it is a guardrail that protects grace from being twisted into license (1 Corinthians 6:9–10; Ephesians 5:5–6). The gospel answers with identity: what we were yields to what we are—washed, sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus and by the Spirit—so obedience flows from a new heart rather than from external pressure (1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Life under the Spirit’s administration replaces the old slavery to sin with a new capacity to love God.

Christian liberty bows to the Lordship of Christ. “All things are lawful” cannot mean “everything is wise.” Freedom is tested by benefit and by mastery: does this help me love, and does this enslave me (1 Corinthians 6:12; Galatians 5:1)? The cross purchased freedom from sin’s tyranny, not freedom to negotiate with new masters. A habit that owns the heart—whether substances, screens, spending, or sex—fails both tests and calls for Spirit-enabled repentance and community help (Romans 6:12–14; James 5:16).

Resurrection gives the body dignity and direction. God raised Jesus bodily and will raise believers bodily, so the body is not a shell to be used and discarded; it is a participant in salvation (1 Corinthians 6:14; Romans 8:11). That future lifts everyday choices into worship. What seems private is actually priestly, because members of Christ carry his name into every bodily act (1 Corinthians 6:15; Colossians 3:17). Hope in bodily resurrection rejects both hedonism and contempt for flesh.

Union with Christ makes sexual ethics personal to the Lord. One-flesh union is covenantal by design; it both expresses and deepens a bond meant for marriage, which is why joining Christ’s members to illicit unions profanes the relationship with him (1 Corinthians 6:15–17; Hebrews 13:4). The command to flee acknowledges how powerful sexual desire is and calls for decisive distance rather than negotiated closeness to the line (1 Corinthians 6:18; Proverbs 5:8–9). The Spirit’s presence turns “no” into an act of love for Christ and neighbor.

Indwelling and purchase create a double claim on the body. The Spirit lives within believers as the fulfillment of promises to write God’s ways on hearts, and Christ’s blood bought them at a price; together these truths say, “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 1 Peter 1:18–19). This is not bondage; it is belonging. The temple identity grants both privilege and responsibility as the church tastes now the presence that will fill everything when the Lord returns (Ephesians 1:13–14; Revelation 21:3). Holiness becomes joyful stewardship of what God owns.

The church’s ethics are missionary. Refusing public lawsuits protects witness among unbelievers, and pursuing purity honors the Lord before a watching world, not by retreat but by living differently within it (1 Corinthians 6:6; Philippians 2:14–16). The kingdom is not a matter of talk but of power, and that power is seen when people once mastered by sin become servants of righteousness in ordinary bodily life (1 Corinthians 4:20; Romans 6:17–18). Grace shines where reconciliation and self-control grow.

Spiritual Lessons and Application

Seek reconciliation inside the family of faith. Churches can establish wise, Scripture-saturated mediation for disputes, asking seasoned saints to help brothers and sisters reconcile rather than escalating to courts that cannot see the family bond (1 Corinthians 6:1–5; Matthew 18:15–17). The willingness to be wronged rather than to wrong protects unity and proclaims trust in the Lord’s coming judgment (1 Corinthians 6:7; 1 Peter 2:23). Peacemaking is not weakness; it is spiritual maturity.

Remember what grace has made you. The list of “what you were” loses its grip when believers rehearse “what you are”: washed, sanctified, justified by Jesus and the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:5). Identity practices—confession, Scripture memory, the Lord’s Supper—re-anchor hearts in grace so that old patterns do not define the future (1 Corinthians 10:16–17; Romans 6:11). A church fluent in “were… but now” becomes a hospital of hope.

Let freedom serve love and flee what enslaves. The tests Paul gives expose habits that quietly become masters. Wise discipleship invites accountability, makes clean breaks where needed, and fills life with better loves that align with belonging to Christ (1 Corinthians 6:12; Galatians 5:16). Fleeing sexual immorality is not prudish retreat; it is joyful protection of union with Christ and of the one-flesh covenant God designed for marriage (1 Corinthians 6:18; Genesis 2:24).

Honor God with your body as temple and treasure. The Spirit’s indwelling dignifies ordinary choices—what we view, how we touch, how we rest and work—and Christ’s purchase price says those choices matter to him (1 Corinthians 6:19–20; Romans 12:1). Holiness becomes embodied gratitude, a daily “thank you” lived in flesh and blood.

Conclusion

Paul refuses to let the church carry Corinth’s instincts into the kingdom. Lawsuits among believers betray a family that will one day judge the world, so the people who will share Christ’s reign must practice peacemaking now, even at personal cost (1 Corinthians 6:1–7). The inheritance warning strips away excuses and the grace anthem restores hope: once marked by unrighteous patterns, believers are now washed, sanctified, and justified in Jesus’ name and by the Spirit’s power (1 Corinthians 6:9–11). Freedom is redefined as the capacity to love without being mastered, tested by benefit and by lordship under Christ (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Body theology brings the chapter to its heart. The body is for the Lord and will be raised; believers are members of Christ and temples of the Spirit; they were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:13–20). Those truths make sexual ethics personal to Jesus and turn daily choices into worship. The way forward is clear and hopeful: flee what profanes, embrace what builds, reconcile as royal sons and daughters, and honor God with your bodies while you await the day when resurrection makes holiness complete (1 Corinthians 6:14; Philippians 3:20–21).

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)