2018.08.09 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1Corinthians 6:1-11

Read 1Corinthians 6:1-11

Questions for Littles: If we have a matter against one another, where should we “got to law” (v1)? Whom else will the saints judge (v2)? And whom else (v3)? How does the church esteem the judges of the world (v4)? What has already happened, when Christians go to court against one another (v7)? What should they rather accept and allow instead? What are they doing to one another (v8)? What kinds of people will not inherit the kingdom (v9-10)? Who had been among this group (v11)? What happened to them? In what name? By what Person?

In this week’s Epistle reading, we find out another role for church courts.

In the previous passage, we learned about the necessity of church discipline. Now, we find that church courts also help believers sort out their issues.

On the one hand, believers don’t esteem the judgment of unbelievers (v4, 6). Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Justice and righteousness are defined by His law.

On the other hand, going to unbelievers brings shame upon the name of Christ—something that is itself a defeat. We should rather be cheated than allow something so terrible.

I wonder, dear reader, do we treasure Christ’s honor more than our rights?

We do if we are on our way to inheriting the kingdom. However, if we are willing to cheat one another, we should be very alarmed. If we are unrepentant about that, then perhaps our identity is not in Christ.

It’s an either-or proposition. Either your identity is in your sin (whether covetous, slanderer, homosexual, etc.), or it is in Christ.

What an encouragement to read the list of the different kinds of former sin-identities from which one may be redeemed! And yet it’s necessary to see that this change in identity is not optional.

Don’t let anyone deceive you. That’s a command from v9. Anyone whose identity is still bound up in their sin is still outside of Christ. What’s your identity—with your enslavement or your freedom?

In what situation do you have a chance to set aside your rights for Christ?

Suggested songs: ARP32A “What Blessedness” or HB276 “There Is a Fountain”