Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Corinthians
Chapter 6: Glorify God in Your Body
1 Corinthians 6 rebukes two failures that dishonor the Lord. First, believers were dragging one another 'to law before the unjust,' before pagan courts, when 'the saints shall judge the world'; better, Paul says, to 'take wrong' than to defraud a brother. Then he warns that 'the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God,' names the sins that shut men out, and answers with the gospel: 'and such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' Finally he confronts sexual immorality with the highest truth about the body: 'the body is... for the Lord,' 'your bodies are the members of Christ,' and 'your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you.' Bought with a price, the believer must 'glorify God' in body and spirit. The chapter shows us the shame of believers at war, the washing that changes everything, and the body as God's own temple.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians chapter 6. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Paul rebukes lawsuits among believers, declares the washing and justification that come in the name of the Lord Jesus, and calls the church to honor the body as the temple of the Holy Ghost. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Brother Goeth to Law with Brother
Believers were suing one another before pagan courts, to the church's disgrace.
In the Name of the Lord Jesus
Washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus and by the Spirit of God.
The Temple of the Holy Ghost
The believer's body belongs to the Lord and houses His Spirit.
Ye Are Bought with a Price
Redeemed at great cost, we must glorify God in body and spirit.
The Saints Shall Judge the World (1 Corinthians 6:1-8)
Paul is ashamed that believers sue one another before pagan courts, when they are destined to judge the world and angels.
Why Do Ye Not Rather Take Wrong?
"Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. 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."
Word Study
"saints," Greek hagioi (ἅγιοι). The word means holy ones, those set apart to God. It is the common New Testament name for believers, not a special class of the extraordinarily pious, but all who belong to Christ, made holy by His blood and Spirit. Paul says, "the saints shall judge the world," and even "we shall judge angels." The people the world despises, and whom the Corinthians were dragging before pagan judges, are the very ones appointed to share in Christ's judgment of all things. This is the believer's high destiny in Christ: to reign and judge with Him (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:4). How absurd, then, to run to "the unjust", the unbelieving courts, to settle petty disputes, as though the holy ones of God could not judge "the smallest matters." Paul's point is not that believers are better people in themselves, but that their identity as hagioi, saints of the living God, is so high that squabbling before the world is a contradiction of who they are.
Explanation
Paul is astonished that believers "go to law" against one another "before the unjust" — dragging church disputes before pagan courts. "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" he asks; those destined to judge angels should surely settle trivial matters among themselves. The lawsuits are already "utterly a fault" — a public defeat. Better, he says, to absorb the loss: "why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" A Christian's rights are worth surrendering to spare the church's witness.
Gospel Focus
Paul is astonished: "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?" Believers were taking their disputes to pagan courts, airing the church's dirty laundry before unbelievers. He reminds them of their dignity: "the saints shall judge the world," and "we shall judge angels." If they will share in the final judgment of the world and even of angels, surely they can settle "things that pertain to this life" among themselves. To go to unbelievers for judgment "I speak to your shame", it shames the church and dishonors the Lord. Was there truly not one wise believer able to "judge between his brethren"? But Paul goes deeper than procedure. The very existence of the lawsuits is the real failure: "there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another." Then he lifts them to the way of Christ: "Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" The follower of a crucified Lord is called not to grasp for every right but to be willing to absorb wrong for the sake of peace and the Lord's honor, as Christ absorbed the wrong of the whole world. Instead, the Corinthians were on the other side of that: "ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren." A church where members cheat and sue one another has forgotten the cross. Better to lose a case, and even suffer loss, than to win at the price of the gospel's reputation and a brother's soul.
But Ye Are Washed, in the Name of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom; but the gospel washes, sanctifies, and justifies the worst of sinners in the name of Jesus.
Ye Are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
Word Study
"washed," Greek apelousasthe, from apolouo (ἀπολούω). The word means to wash off, to wash away completely. Paul says, "ye are washed... in the name of the Lord Jesus." It is the very word the Lord's messenger spoke to Saul of Tarsus: "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16). This is the Apostolic new birth: sins washed away in baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus, joined to the sanctifying, justifying work of God's Spirit. Notice all three, "washed... sanctified... justified", come "in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." The name of Jesus and the Spirit of God are not two separate persons cooperating, but the one God saving us: the name we call upon and are baptized into is the name of the one Lord, Jesus, who is God manifest in flesh, and the Spirit is that same God's own Spirit poured out within us. To be washed in the name of the Lord Jesus and filled with the Spirit of God is to be born again of water and Spirit (John 3:5; Acts 2:38). The worst sinner, washed in that name, is made clean.
Explanation
Paul warns plainly that "the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God," and lists the sins — sexual, idolatrous, greedy — that mark those outside it. Then comes one of the sweetest turns in all his letters: "and such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." The past tense is deliberate — were. Grace had cleansed the very people who once practiced those things. No one is beyond the reach of the washing, sanctifying, justifying power of the gospel.
Gospel Focus
Paul sounds a solemn warning: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived." Then he names the sins that, unrepented, shut a person out of God's kingdom: "fornicators... idolaters... adulterers... effeminate... abusers of themselves with mankind... thieves... covetous... drunkards... revilers... extortioners." It is a searching list, sexual sins, greed, and sins of the tongue side by side, and Paul insists no one should be "deceived" into thinking such a life is compatible with inheriting the kingdom. But then comes one of the most beautiful "buts" in all of Scripture: "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Such were some of you, that is what you used to be, but grace made a total change. Three things are said, each introduced by that triumphant "but." They were "washed," their sins cleansed away in the name of the Lord Jesus; "sanctified," set apart as holy to God; "justified," declared righteous, the guilt gone. And all of it came "in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God", the Apostolic gospel of the new birth, sins washed away in that saving name and the Spirit of God poured out within. No one is beyond this washing. The vilest sinner named in that list can be made clean, holy, and righteous in the name of Jesus. That is the power of the gospel: not merely to forgive the past but to remake the person. Never despair of anyone, or of yourself; the name of the Lord Jesus still washes sinners white.
Your Body Is the Temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
Because the body belongs to the Lord and houses His Spirit, the believer must flee immorality and glorify God in the body.
Ye Are Bought with a Price
"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
Word Study
"bought with a price," Greek egorasthete, from agorazo (ἀγοράζω). The word means to buy in the marketplace, to purchase; it was used of buying a slave out of the market. "Ye are bought with a price", the price being the precious blood of Christ, "not... with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). The believer is no longer his own; he has been purchased by God at the cost of the cross and now belongs entirely to the Lord who bought him. This is the ground of Paul's whole argument about the body: "ye are not your own... therefore glorify God in your body." Because Christ paid so dear a price, the body is not ours to defile as we please; it is His, redeemed property, and even more, "the temple of the Holy Ghost." The One who bought us is the LORD Himself, God manifest in flesh, and He purchased us to dwell in us by His Spirit and to be glorified in our bodies and spirits, "which are God's."
Explanation
Against a slogan the Corinthians abused — "all things are lawful unto me" — Paul insists liberty is not license, especially with the body. "The body is... for the Lord," "the members of Christ," and to join Christ's member to a harlot is unthinkable. Deeper still: "your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you." Sexual sin is not morally neutral; it defiles a dwelling of God. And the clinching reason is redemption: "ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." The body is not our own to misuse; it is God's, purchased and indwelt.
Gospel Focus
Some Corinthians twisted their freedom into a slogan: "All things are lawful unto me." Paul answers with two limits: "all things are not expedient" (not everything helps), and "I will not be brought under the power of any" (freedom that enslaves is no freedom). Appetite for food is passing, "meats for the belly... but God shall destroy both it and them", but the body is not in that category. "The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body." The body has an eternal destiny, for "God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power." God raised the Lord Jesus bodily, and will raise us; the body matters to God. Then Paul unfolds why sexual sin is so grievous. "Your bodies are the members of Christ", to join the body of a believer to a harlot is to drag Christ's own member into that union, unthinkable, "God forbid." Sexual union makes "one flesh," so immorality forges a bond it was never meant to make; but "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit", the believer's deepest union is a spiritual one with the Lord Himself. Therefore, "Flee fornication." It is a sin uniquely against one's own body, the very temple of God. And here Paul gives the crowning reason for purity: "know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" The Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the one God, dwells in the believer's body as in a temple; He is not a third person beside God but God's own Spirit within us, "which ye have of God." To defile the body is to defile God's sanctuary. And we are "not our own," for "ye are bought with a price." The conclusion is the goal of the whole redeemed life: "therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Body and spirit alike belong to God, purchased by the blood of Christ and indwelt by His Spirit; so let the whole person, inside and out, be given to the glory of God.
Chapter 6 in Review
1 Corinthians 6 addresses two ways the Corinthians dishonored the Lord. First, believers were suing one another "before the unjust," a shame to the church, when "the saints shall judge the world" and even "angels"; far better to "take wrong" than to defraud a brother and disgrace the gospel. Then Paul warns that "the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God," lists the sins that shut men out, and answers with the gospel of total change: "and such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Finally he confronts immorality with the truth of the redeemed body: it is "for the Lord," its members are "the members of Christ," it is "the temple of the Holy Ghost," and it was "bought with a price," so the believer must "glorify God" in body and spirit.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter joins high doctrine to daily holiness. The believer's identity as a saint, washed and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and filled with the Spirit of God, is the very reason to live at peace and in purity. The washing of the new birth is done in that one saving name, for Jesus is the LORD, God manifest in flesh, and the Spirit within is His own Spirit, not a third person beside Him but the one God dwelling in His people. Because the body is His temple and His purchased possession, sexual sin is not a small thing but a defiling of God's own sanctuary. The gospel that washed the worst of sinners also claims the whole person for God. So flee immorality, treasure the body as the temple of the Holy Ghost, and glorify God in body and spirit, which are His.
- Believers are saints destined to judge the world; lawsuits before unbelievers shame the church (6:1-6).
- Better to "take wrong" than to defraud a brother and dishonor the gospel (6:7).
- The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom; unrepented sin is deadly serious (6:9-10).
- The worst sinner is "washed... sanctified... justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (6:11).
- The body is "for the Lord" and is "the temple of the Holy Ghost" (6:13, 19).
- "Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body" (6:20).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you handle conflict with fellow believers in a way that honors Christ, or that shames the church?
- Have you been "washed... in the name of the Lord Jesus" and filled with the Spirit of God?
- Do you treat your body as the temple of the Holy Ghost, or as your own to do with as you please?
- What would change if you truly lived as one "bought with a price," belonging wholly to God?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The saints judging the world; suffering wrong: 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; Daniel 7:22; Matthew 19:28; Revelation 20:4; Romans 12:17-19. The unrighteous and the kingdom; washed in the name of the Lord Jesus: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Acts 22:16; Acts 2:38; Titus 3:5. The body for the Lord; the resurrection of the body: 1 Corinthians 6:13-14; Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:20. The body as the temple of the Holy Ghost; bought with a price: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Peter 1:18-19; John 3:5. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The saints shall judge the world; take wrong rather than defraud: 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; Matthew 19:28; Romans 12:17-19.
- Washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Acts 22:16; Acts 2:38.
- The body, the temple of the Holy Ghost, bought with a price: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19; John 3:5.