The first 11 verses of 1 Corinthians 6 deal with Christians suing each other. In verse one Paul asks the question, would the just (saints) dare to go to the unjust for judgment? He asks it very emphatically as though he can’t believe they would do such a thing. In verse 2 Paul basically says, you are going to sit on the bench of the Supreme Court and you can’t even handle a small matter amongst yourselves? Certainly in America this is the case today. It seems as though if you can think it, there is a lawyer ready to sue about it. Paul says that problem is that the Corinthians are worried about themselves rather than others and the Gospel. They didn’t care how it looked to the lost world around them, they just wanted to get what was theirs. We see it in verses 7 and 8, “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another: Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.” Paul says you don’t want to suffer wrong or be defrauded, but you go and wrong and defraud your brother in Christ.
We as Christians must always be aware of how our actions are perceived by a watching world. If we identify ourselves as Christians, then we must certainly have the actions to back it up. Therefore, whether you are a church or a Christian running a business, you must always conduct yourself and your business above reproach. In verses 9-10 Paul lists several different types of sin. It is obviously not an exhaustive list, but it demonstrates and represents all sinners. Then Paul says in the beginning of verse 11, “and such were some of you.” Why would Paul lump lawsuits and sins together in speaking to the Corinthian Christians? He was telling them that these lawsuits amongst themselves is displaying their old way of life. He is not saying they are not genuinely saved, rather he is pointing out that they are not living like it. Christians are not to be a doormat, but neither are they to be vindictive, hateful, or harmful. Again the main point here is that a lost world is watching and we are giving them the wrong idea about God and how Christians should live with some of our behavior. Be on guard and careful, because someone is always watching!
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him