SERMON: “The Church at Court” (1 Cor. 6:1–8)
“The
Church at Court” (1 Cor. 6:1–8)
Series: “1 Cor: Holiness from Messes” #19 Text: 1
Corinthians 6:1–8
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: February
22, 2026
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
Introduction
This is perhaps one of the more popular passages of 1
Corinthians, but it’s widely misunderstood by modern readers. On one hand, some in the church use this
passage to shield themselves from accountability. They claim Paul grants Christians immunity
from any worldly judgment — that the church has no authority to address
wrongdoing, no right to confront sin, no responsibility to settle disputes. This reading essentially permits bad behavior
to flourish unchecked within the community, as most censures happen behind
closed doors, if at all. There are cases
of even child abuse that are essentially covered up, with the offending party
moved to other ministries without any legal consultation. This ignores the reality that some matters
require specialized expertise, criminal investigation, or mandatory reporting
to civil authorities.
On the other hand, some overcorrect by concluding that the
church is incompetent. Because there can
be examples of abuse that wasn’t handled in a satisfactory way, the assumption
is that the church can never handle grievances.
There are believers who look to secular authorities for all
circumstances. There are parachurch
advocate “ministries” that paint a picture of the church before the world as
the den of all iniquity.
Regardless of what you have seen in the past, Scripture does
address it. Paul’s actual concern lies
between these extremes. Remember that
this connects with chapter 5, meaning that the church does not judge those
outside, neither does it go outside with inside affairs for judgment. His principle establishes proper jurisdiction
— the church addresses internal disputes among believers, while secular
authorities handle matters involving unbelievers or crimes. When believers take internal disputes before
secular authorities, they bring the whole community into disrepute, and the brother
who loses the case is dishonored. This
is Paul’s core concern: not that courts are inherently evil, but that parading
Christian disputes before unbelievers contradicts the gospel itself and damages
the church’s witness.
The Corinthians themselves were selfish and self-centered,
inflated with pride, insisting on having things their way, which caused them to
be divided. It’s amazing that this
community, which was proud about not practicing church discipline in the
previous chapter, was hauling one another before secular courts to handle
disputes. But, it’s often that way —
when we refuse to do things God’s way, we lose the ability to rightly evaluate
our activities.
So, we are considering the church’s witness before a court
of law. But, we’re considering more than
that — we’re considering the fact that Christians must handle disputes within
the church. In a way, they should have
court at church.
So, this morning, we see a needed corrective about Christians
and judgment. First, Christians can and
should judge (vv. 1–3). Second, Christians
are wrong not to judge (vv. 4–6). Third,
Christians have the wrong judgement (vv. 7–8).
Let’s consider this together.
First, Christians Can and Should Judge (vv. 1–3)
Does any one of
you, when he has a case against another, dare to be tried before the
unrighteous and not before the saints? Or
do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not
worthy to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?
It may strike you as strange to hear me say that Christians may
judge, but that is the point of Paul’s rhetorical questions here.
Verse 1 in the Greek begins with the word translated “dare.”
Paul places it at the very front of the
sentence for emphasis. He’s rebuking
them for what they’re doing, and there’s a sense in which he’s using stronger
language than he did in the previous chapter. They are full of presumption and sin in their
lawsuits before secular law courts.[1]
So, it’s almost as if he begins here, “How
dare you?”
Now, of course, it’s not that they didn’t have a matter, a “grievance”
(ESV) or “legal dispute” (NET, HCSB) against one another. The context (see v. 7) and language points to
civil disputes over property or money (not necessarily criminal cases).[2] These
are lawsuits, grievances, legal disputes between brothers in Christ,[3]
and that happens even in the best of churches.
The issue is that they are going to secular courts to try
these issues. Within this context, “the
unrighteous” would not primarily mean “corrupt judges” in a moral sense,[4]
but simply a technical term for unbelievers.
This identifies those outside of Christ, contrasting them to with God’s
people, “the saints.”[5] Not only are the secular judges outside the
covenant community, they lack regeneration, the Spirit, and the Word, making
them an strange consult for Christians dealing with disputes.
Paul is not saying civil courts are always unjust or that
believers should never appear in them. Paul
is not forbidding believers from reporting crimes; elsewhere he affirms the
God-given role of government to punish evil (Rom. 13:1–7). He is saying that it’s absurd for
saints to take their internal family disagreements before those who have no
share in the life of the church.
Why is it absurd? Paul
gives two examples of judgment that God gives to the saints in the next two
verses. First, he asks rhetorically, “Or
do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” This is actually the first of six such
rhetorical questions in the chapter, reminding the Corinthians of truths Paul
had already taught them.[6]
Paul reveals that Christians will one day participate with
Christ in judging the world. This refers
to a process of considering in a judicial sense, and it can also mean “to rule.”[7] This doesn’t mean that we will take complete
control today, though Christians do have a right to urge those who rule to
follow Scripture. It also doesn’t mean
we judge the world today in the sense of final condemnation; we already read in
the previous chapter to leave outsiders to God (5:12–13).
No, this is future eschatological judgment. It’s tied to the Day of the Lord and the
millennial kingdom[8]
(see Dan. 7:18, 22, 27; Matt. 19:28; Rev. 2:26–27; 3:21). In the age to come, then, believers will share
in Christ’s rule and judgment.[9]
If we are qualified for that, Paul asks
with biting sarcasm, are we not competent even for the “smallest law courts”? Christians today can at least handle the
trivial, everyday disputes of this present life, if not more.
Paul then asks, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?”
(v. 3). Again, “judge” here likely
includes the idea of ruling or governing alongside Christ.[10] We might think of judgment here as assisting
in some mysterious way in the final judgment of fallen angels (Matt. 8:29; 2
Peter 2:4; Jude 6).[11] That maybe, and perhaps we will also have authority
over holy angels who serve as ministering spirits for the heirs of salvation
(Heb. 1:14). In any event, the logic is
from the greater to the lesser: If we are competent to judge angels and the
world in the age to come, how much more can we (under the guidance of Scripture
and the Holy Spirit) settle ordinary disagreements among ourselves today?[12]
This seems strange to Christians today. However, God’s people used to understand this:
“For centuries Jews had settled all their disputes either privately or in a
synagogue court. They refused to take
their problems before a pagan court, believing that to do so would imply that
God, through His own people using His own scriptural principles, was not
competent to solve every problem. It was
considered a form of blasphemy to go to court before Gentiles.”[13] This should be our attitude today.
I hope you understand that it isn’t arrogance for Christians
to handle disputes internally — it’s what God commanded. In fact, it’s pride in man and his abilities outside
of God that leads people to the secular.
We also testify that we lack resources in Christ, unity, and harmony when
we run to public court. That brings us
to the next point.
Second, Christians Are Wrong Not to Judge (vv. 4–6)
So if you have law
courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint those who are of no
account in the church as judges? I say this
to your shame. Is it really this way:
there is not one wise man among you who will be able to pass judgment between
his brothers? On the contrary, brother
is tried with brother, and that before unbelievers!
Paul now turns the screw tighter in these verses. His phrase “those who are of no account in
the church” is deliberately shocking for the Christians in Corinth.[14]
In the eyes of the world, these secular
judges may have high social status.
However, Paul says they have zero standing in the church because they don’t
belong to Christ. Of course, he’s not
insulting civil magistrates; he’s highlighting the spiritual incompetence of unbelievers
to arbitrate matters between saints, shaming the Corinthians for thinking
otherwise.
Now, some translations wrestle with v. 4 because of its
difficulty in translation.[15] Some see the term “appoint” as either marking
a question (like the LSB here) or a sarcastic command.[16] Either way, the overall force is clear: Paul finds
it inconceivable that believers would turn to the least qualified people on
earth to resolve Christian business. We chuckle
when an atheist declares in his pride that he knows more about Jesus and His
teachings than we do; in this case, a Christian is essentially agreeing!
So, Paul basically says in v. 5, “Shame on you!” Unlike in 4:14, where Paul said he did not
write to shame them, here he does! Why? The Corinthians prided themselves on their
wisdom (see chapters 1–4), yet apparently not one of them was wise enough to
settle a dispute between brothers.[17] As such, Paul is intentionally making their
faces red as they read this.[18]
The word translated “pass judgment” means to distinguish, to
decide between options, or to act as an arbitrator.[19] Paul, of course, is not telling the believers
they need to engage in harsh, critical judgmentalism. Yet, there’s no reason why Christians can’t
engage in wise, Spirit-led discernment on matters within the church. After all, in Matthew 18:15–20, Jesus gave the
pattern: private confrontation, then with witnesses, then before the church. The fact that the church is not using its competency
in Christ is a mark of shame.
There’s a bit of building that Paul crafts into v. 6. He begins with a strong contrast to show how
far they had fallen. He repeats “brother”
to underscore the familial bond we share in Christ and the irony of how they
are treating one another. Not only are
they dragging a brother into a courtroom, Paul climaxes with “and that before
unbelievers!”[20]
It is the worst possible testimony.
This should bring us low.
Look down to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:14–15, “Do not be
unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and
lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or
what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” Christians should not be seeking secular
courts to achieve Christian goals in the church.
When we refuse to judge righteously inside the body, we are
not being “gracious.” Instead, we are
being disobedient. We are declaring
before the world that the church has no answers and that Christ’s lordship
stops at the courtroom door. That is not
humility; that is shame. And Christians
are demonstrating that they have stopped thinking rightly, leading us to the
final point:
Third, Christians Have the Wrong Judgement (vv. 7–8)
Actually, then, it
is already a failure for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and
defraud. You do this even to your
brothers.
Now, to be clear, this is not a
command to keep silence before the shearers, as it were. Some think that this means that, if someone
brings you to court on false charges, that God disallows you to defend
yourself. Yet, remember, this is a passage
about not bring every grievance before a court of law when Christians
can judge, even if it means allowing some financial loss to yourself (such as
some money borrowed but never returned in full). This isn’t permission, then, for an
unscrupulous church member to invent an accusation against you and force you to
pay him money in court in the name of allowing yourself to be wronged. In such a case, that individual should be exposed
for the fraud he is attempting to commit before the state, as that is a
criminal act.
Christians have every right to
defend themselves when someone brings a lawsuit against them. Paul himself appealed to Roman law when
falsely arrested or mistreated to gain his freedom and affirm his rights. This biblical precedent — Paul’s own example —
provides concrete grounding for distinguishing between initiating litigation
over grievances (which Paul condemns) and responding to criminal charges or
false accusations (which is permissible).
If someone who names the name of Christ drags you into court, you have
the biblical and legal right to engage in defensive litigation, just as long as
you do so with an eye to honoring the Lord in what you do. No Christian has the right to wrong or
defraud another, nor to return evil to evil, reviling for reviling. Rather, we can give a ready answer, speaking from
a place of truth, allowing the court to make an informed decision. Christians should settle disputes with other
Christians in the church outside of court rather than suing fellow believers,
but this prohibition doesn’t extend to defending oneself against unjust
accusation or responding to non-believers who initiate action.
So, what does Paul mean here? You might remember Jesus’s parable of the
talents, where the master says, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will
put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Matt.
25:21, 23). That is what we all hope to
hear one day. Certainly, no Christian
wants to hear that they have failed in their Christian walk.
Yet, that is what is happening to
the Corinthians, so they need this warning.
The word “failure” means “defeat” (NASB95, ESV, CSB). It’s a term that’s used in the Greek games
when an athlete lost.[21] In this context, though, they are their own competitors. (Or, as the saying goes, we are our own worst
enemies.) Because of sin and a focus on
self, the existence of lawsuits among believers is already a spiritual defeat.
If there are times when a
Christian might need to go to court, why is this such a failure? These lawsuits were evidence of a deeper root
problem in the congregation — lack love and forgiveness. As Paul said in Colossians 3:13, Christians
should be “bearing with one another, and graciously forgiving each other,
whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord graciously forgave
you, so also should you.” They were
ungracious with one another.
So, Paul asks two more rhetorical
questions that cut to the heart. He
writes, “Why not rather be wronged? Why
not rather be defrauded?” He echoes
Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:39–40 about turning the other cheek and giving
more than is demanded.[22]
This is not a blanket command to apply
to every circumstance, especially criminal ones. But they were not applying it at all. In the context of civil disputes between
brothers, it is far better to suffer loss than to drag the name of Christ
through the mud of public litigation.[23]
Now, you might think that this is
not that big of a deal, but note that such an unforgiving attitude leads to other
sins. Paul brings the hammer down in v.
8: “On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brothers.” The very people initiating lawsuits were often
guilty of the same sins they were suing over, but their judgment was so clouded
by selfishness that they couldn’t see it. Talk about having a log in the eye while
removing a speck! They were acting just
like the “unrighteous” they were running to for help.
So, they weren’t just guilty of greed,
selfishness, and a lack of forgiveness.
They were also failing to see their own hypocrisy. They were so poisoned that brother was
cheating brother — and then both were willing to go public with it. This is church life at its worst.
This thought leads to the vice list in the next couple of
verses. They were acting unrighteously
and needed to know that the unrighteous do not inherit the kingdom. Thankfully, the reversal that comes through Christ,
and we all can live differently as a result of their salvation. We’ll consider those verses next time, Lord
willing.
Conclusion
What Paul establishes in these verses is a principle of
jurisdiction. The logical connection
between chapters 5 and 6 is supplied by the word “judge.” Paul insists the church is not to judge those
“outside” but must judge those “inside,” which involves both expulsion of the
incestuous man and judgment in matters of everyday life where one member has a
grievance against another. An ad hoc
court of mature believers should emerge from the church’s responsibility to
exercise internal discipline.
This only works if we are all in agreement, though. If there a grievance you are holding onto
against a brother or sister, then you must engage in and accept the Matthew 18
process. We must abide by the fact that
the church court will handle it according to God’s Word rather than running to the
secular courts. This is a call to trust
Christ enough to allow the process to play out and accept the ruling, even if
it means absorbing loss for the sake of the gospel.
At the same time, this passage does not command us to cover
up crime for the sake of “the church’s witness.” If sin rises to the level of criminal behavior
— especially abuse or fraud — the church must expose the darkness, cooperate
with authorities, and ensure a clean account before God and man. Reporting crime is not “taking a brother to
court”; it is obeying the government God has instituted.
[1] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word
Pub., 1997), 1736.
[2] J. I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Ajith Fernando, Eds., ESV Global Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL:
Crossway, 2012), 1612.
[3] John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael
S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R.
Grigoni, and David Bomar, Faithlife Study
Bible, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), 1 Co 6:1.
[4] MacArthur.
[5] Barry, et. al.
[6] David K. Lowery, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 515.
[7] F. Alan Tomlinson, CSB
Study Bible: Notes, 2017, 1819.
[8] Barry, et. al., 1 Co 6:2.
[9] MacArthur.
[10] Ibid.
[11] J. I. Packer, Concise
Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale
House, 1993), 260.
[12] John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1984), 138.
[13] MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, 136.
[14] A. T. Robertson, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), 1 Co
6:4.
[15] MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 1 Co 6:4
[16] Lowery.
[17] Barry, et. al., 1 Co 6:5.
[18] Lowery.
[19] Robertson, 1 Co 6:5.
[20] Robertson, 1 Co 6:6.
[21] Robertson, 1 Co 6:7
[22] MacArthur, 1
Corinthians, 140.
[23] Barry, et. al., 1 Co 6:7.