"And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by His own power."
1 Corinthians 6:14
Part 1
Today: God’s Authority over Lawsuits and Immorality in the Church
Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, had the churches’ daily care throughout Achaia, Asia, and Galatia on his heart. In Corinth, this immature church had many needs. Any of the problems found in churches today could be found in the church at Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul addresses two areas of need for believers.
First, Paul has written the Lord’s instructions to believers about lawsuits (vv. 1-11).
“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?” (1 Corinthians 6:1).
A believer does not take another believer to court in a lawsuit. He/she lets the church settle the issue. If believers are to be judging the world and angels, surely we ought to be able to help other believers settle their quarrels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). Paul explains how both parties in the lawsuit are wrong. The one who has been wronged is wrong in wanting to take the other believer to court (v. 7). The one who has done the wrong against his brother is wrong and needs to make it right (vv. 8-11). Suppose a “Christian” can wrong his or her brother or sister without their conscience being awakened. In that case, we might question whether that person has genuinely been born again. Their life does not back up their claim to be saved (v. 9). This is not how believers treat one another.
Secondly, in the last half of chapter six, Paul speaks to the believers’ relationship with immorality and purity (vv. 12-20). He teaches us the principle that believers’ bodies are members of Christ. Our bodies are never to be used for immorality (v. 13). To be sexually promiscuous is making our body a member of a harlot (vv. 15-16). Our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and we no longer belong to ourselves, but to God! (vv. 17-19). We must glorify Him with our bodies and spirits! (v. 20).
God’s child is expected to live, think, and act differently from the world. He or she asks the church to help with interpersonal issues, rather than going to the lost world for help. And the child of God lives above past immorality because of their new relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are now members of Christ!
The verse that shows God’s power is tucked into the middle of this teaching about immorality. Our “body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body (v. 13). Here we find this declaration about His power,
“And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power” (1 Corinthians 6:14).
Tomorrow we will look at these glorious words as they relate to the Lord. Please come back and see God’s power in the resurrection of Jesus.
Quote: “Optimism is a wish without warrant; Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as to whether good things will ever actually come. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God’s own commitment, that the best is yet to come” [1] (J.I. Packer).
[1] Packer’s quote Downloaded: Thursday, November 19, 2020. From: https://www.communicatejesus.com/40-quotes-life-changing-power-resurrection/.