1 Corinthians 6-7

Confronting lawsuits in the church

6 When someone in your assembly has a legal case against another member, do they dare to take it to court to be judged by people who aren’t just, instead of by God’s people? ² Or don’t you know that God’s people will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to judge trivial cases? ³ Don’t you know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary things? ⁴ So then if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint people as judges who aren’t respected by the church? ⁵ I’m saying this because you should be ashamed of yourselves! Isn’t there one person among you who is wise enough to pass judgment between believers? ⁶ But instead, does a brother or sister have a lawsuit against another brother or sister, and do they do this in front of unbelievers? ⁷ The fact that you have lawsuits against each other means that you’ve already lost your case. Why not be wronged instead? Why not be cheated? ⁸ But instead you are doing wrong and cheating—and you’re doing it to your own brothers and sisters.

⁹ Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, ¹⁰ thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom. ¹¹ That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Avoid sexual immorality

¹² I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful. I have the freedom to do anything, but I won’t be controlled by anything. ¹³ Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, and yet God will do away with both. The body isn’t for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ God has raised the Lord and will raise us through his power. ¹⁵ Don’t you know that your bodies are parts of Christ? So then, should I take parts of Christ and make them a part of someone who is sleeping around? No way! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that anyone who is joined to someone who is sleeping around is one body with that person? The scripture says, The two will become one flesh. ¹⁷ The one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. ¹⁸ Avoid sexual immorality! Every sin that a person can do is committed outside the body, except those who engage in sexual immorality commit sin against their own bodies. ¹⁹ Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Don’t you know that you have the Holy Spirit from God, and you don’t belong to yourselves? ²⁰ You have been bought and paid for, so honor God with your body.

Marriage and celibacy

7 Now, about what you wrote: “It’s good for a man not to have sex with a woman.” ² Each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband because of sexual immorality. ³ The husband should meet his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should do the same for her husband. ⁴ The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵ Don’t refuse to meet each other’s needs unless you both agree for a short period of time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come back together again so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ I’m saying this to give you permission; it’s not a command. ⁷ I wish all people were like me, but each has a particular gift from God: one has this gift, and another has that one.

⁸ I’m telling those who are single and widows that it’s good for them to stay single like me. ⁹ But if they can’t control themselves, they should get married, because it’s better to marry than to burn with passion. ¹⁰ I’m passing on the Lord’s command to those who are married: A wife shouldn’t leave her husband, ¹¹ but if she does leave him, then she should stay single or be reconciled to her husband. And a man shouldn’t divorce his wife.

¹² I’m telling everyone else (the Lord didn’t say this specifically): If a believer has a wife who doesn’t believe, and she agrees to live with him, then he shouldn’t divorce her. ¹³ If a woman has a husband who doesn’t believe and he agrees to live with her, then she shouldn’t divorce him. ¹⁴ The husband who doesn’t believe belongs to God because of his wife, and the wife who doesn’t believe belongs to God because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be contaminated by the world, but now they are spiritually set apart. ¹⁵ But if a spouse who doesn’t believe chooses to leave, then let them leave. The brother or sister isn’t tied down in these circumstances. God has called you to peace. ¹⁶ How do you know as a wife if you will save your husband? Or how do you know as a husband if you will save your wife?

¹⁷ Nevertheless, each person should live the kind of life that the Lord assigned when he called each one. This is what I teach in all the churches. ¹⁸ If someone was circumcised when called, he shouldn’t try to reverse it. If someone wasn’t circumcised when he was called, he shouldn’t be circumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing; not being circumcised is nothing. What matters is keeping God’s commandments. ²⁰ Each person should stay in the situation they were in when they were called. ²¹ If you were a slave when you were called, don’t let it bother you. But if you are actually able to be free, take advantage of the opportunity. ²² Anyone who was a slave when they were called by the Lord has the status of being the Lord’s free person. In the same way, anyone who was a free person when they were called is Christ’s slave. ²³ You were bought and paid for. Don’t become slaves of people. ²⁴ So then, brothers and sisters, each of you should stay with God in the situation you were in when you were called.

²⁵ I don’t have a command from the Lord about people who have never been married, but I’ll give you my opinion as someone you can trust because of the Lord’s mercy. ²⁶ So I think this advice is good because of the present crisis: Stay as you are. ²⁷ If you are married, don’t get a divorce. If you are divorced, don’t try to find a spouse. ²⁸ But if you do marry, you haven’t sinned; and if someone who hasn’t been married gets married, they haven’t sinned. But married people will have a hard time, and I’m trying to spare you that. ²⁹ This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: The time has drawn short. From now on, those who have wives should be like people who don’t have them. ³⁰ Those who are sad should be like people who aren’t crying. Those who are happy should be like people who aren’t happy. Those who buy something should be like people who don’t have possessions. ³¹ Those who use the world should be like people who aren’t preoccupied with it, because this world in its present form is passing away.

³² I want you to be free from concerns. A man who isn’t married is concerned about the Lord’s concerns—how he can please the Lord. ³³ But a married man is concerned about the world’s concerns—how he can please his wife. ³⁴ His attention is divided. A woman who isn’t married or who is a virgin is concerned about the Lord’s concerns so that she can be dedicated to God in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the world’s concerns—how she can please her husband. ³⁵ I’m saying this for your own advantage. It’s not to restrict you but rather to promote effective and consistent service to the Lord without distraction.

³⁶ If someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward an unmarried woman whom he knows, and if he has strong feelings and it seems like the right thing to do, he should do what he wants—he’s not sinning—they should get married. ³⁷ But if a man stands firm in his decision, and doesn’t feel the pressure, but has his own will under control, he does right if he decides in his own heart not to marry the woman. ³⁸ Therefore, the one who marries the unmarried woman does right, and the one who doesn’t get married will do even better. ³⁹ A woman is obligated to stay in her marriage as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wants, only it should be a believer in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But in my opinion, she will be happier if she stays the way she is. And I think that I have God’s Spirit too.