1 Corinthians 6: Lawsuits, Bodies, and Belonging to God

Two very different problems open this chapter — lawsuits and sexual conduct — and Paul refuses to treat them as unrelated. Church members were dragging each other before secular judges over disputes they should have been able to settle among themselves (6:1-8), while others reasoned that what the body does with itself is a private, almost spiritual non-issue (6:12-20). Paul’s answer to both is the same move: you belong to something larger than your own preferences, so “my business” isn’t always the whole story.

Read it in the terminal: bible 1corinthians 6

Small enough to settle, big enough to matter

Paul’s exasperation in verses 1-8 isn’t about the size of the disputes — it’s about the audience. Airing internal grievances before outsiders undercuts the very reconciliation the gospel claims to offer. “Why not rather be wronged?” he asks, which is less a legal strategy than a diagnosis: something has gone wrong if winning the case matters more than the witness of the church.

The slogan and its limit

“All things are lawful for me” (6:12) sounds like a Corinthian catchphrase Paul is quoting back at them — and he doesn’t deny it outright. He qualifies it twice: not everything is profitable, and he won’t be mastered by anything he’s technically allowed to do. Freedom that becomes a new form of slavery isn’t freedom.

Bought, not just born

“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.” — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The logic here is economic and personal at once. A body that has been purchased isn’t disposed of at will — it’s stewarded.

Questions for study

1. Where do you default to “my right” when the better question is “what actually builds up”?
2. What would it look like to settle a grievance quietly rather than win it publicly?
3. How does “bought with a price” change how you think about ordinary bodily choices — sleep, food, rest, desire?

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