OWR
2026-07-19 Sunday Second

  • Introduction

    In August of 2011 a Baptist church called in their music minister and told him he was no longer needed. He was handed his final paycheck, but he argued that he was owed more.
    Accounts differ of what happened next but it’s generally agreed that:
    The music minister tazed the pastor and smacked him in the head with the money box
    A deacon pulled a knife and ended up stabbing the music ministers mom
    Why these people felt the need to bring knives and tazers to church I’ll never know
    It’s embarrassing. Not just for them, but for us. Because as much as we want to say that those people have nothing to do with us we’re all called by the same name - Christian.
    And when somebody does something that shocking it reflects on all of us.

    Text Connection

    In 1 Corinthians 6 there are no knives or tazers, but the fight is just as embarrassing. Paul is shocked the brothers are fighting a legal battle against each other
    1 Corinthians 6:1 ESV
    1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?
    We don’t know the specifics, just that one has defrauded the other. Having to settle your issues with a brother in court is already bad enough, but Paul is equally shocked that they’re asking the unrighteous to judge God’s holy people.
    There’s a great irony about this fight. The Corinthians were the ones to tell you how wise and spiritual they were, that after receiving the Spirit of God things had changed for them. But, as Paul has been arguing for the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians, their pride and wisdom is coming from the world - not from God.
    1 Corinthians 6 is a direct consequence of looking to the worlds wisdom over God’s.
    Paul says you’re the saint, you should know how to work this out and shouldn’t even have situation like this in the first place. And how dare you let unrighteous pagans instruct you on right and wrong, and in front of the whole community?
    As followers of Jesus, we need to remember that we are on display. Are we displaying the wisdom of God, or that we’re just like everybody else?

    The Public Nature of the Problem

    The Corinthians were quite literally on display as they fought out this dispute.
    1 Corinthians 6:4–6 ESV
    4 So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?
    One of the busiest places in an ancient city would be the marketplace - called the agora. It was wide open space used for trade and a gathering place for the people. In this map of Corinth you can see how much space it occupied, indicating how important it was and how crowded it could get. Whenever Paul visited new towns he would often find an audience in the agora because people would go there to shop, hear the latest news, and even listen to traveling philosophers spout their thoughts.
    At the very center of the agora is what they called the bema. The bema is where officials and judges would sit as people brought their cases to them and pleaded for justice.
    This is the Corinthian bema.
    Paul was brought here by the Jews in Acts 18:12-17.
    Jesus stood before one in Jerusalem before Pilate.
    It’s where these Christians are fighting about their legal rights - for all the world to see, with the pagans literally looking down on them
    The ancient people didn’t carry out justice in separate building or behind closed doors - they were public issues that the public was more than able to participate in. It would be like going into Wal-Mart and watching your neighbor get a divorce.

    On Display

    As the Corinthians go about their daily shopping what were the Corinthians displaying?
    I heard that these Christians have a reputation for their close-knit communities. When they call someone brother or sister, it means something. But I guess that’s not right because this guy’s selling his brother out for a nickel!
    I also heard that Christians had this hope that they could live after death forever in paradise with their God, and so they don’t really care about the money and such. But it looks like they’re just as obsessed about possessions as we are.
    I heard that Christians lived life differently than the rest of us, but it looks like they need our help to figure things out.
    With this case and the man involved in incest, a practice not even tolerated among the pagans, the Corinthians are sending a strong message to wider community. We need you to tell us right from wrong, because we can’t figure it out for ourselves.

    Submitting to Pagan Righteousness

    And the reason they’re just like the pagans is because the pagans are who they listen to.
    1 Corinthians 6:5–6 ESV
    5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?
    Paul describes the pagans as
    The unrighteous in verse 1
    Those who have no standing in the church
    Unbelievers who aren’t loyal to our Lord
    And you didn’t need to be a Christian to see how unjust the Roman legal system was.
    The ancient courts were known for pandering to the rich and influential. The winner of a case was not decided by a jury trying to decide impartially but typically went to whoever had more clout. The Roman legal system didn’t reward the innocent, but the rich, the powerful, and the influential.
    A Roman governor named Verres openly admitted that a governor needed three fortunes: one to pay off debts for getting elected, one to bribe jurors, and another to live off of for the rest of his life.
    The governor Felix kept Paul in prison for two years, hoping for a bribe.
    The next governor, Festus, was said to have stolen and plundered everyone’s substance and that nobody was in prison for crime, but only because they couldn’t pay to get out.
    The Roman legal system prohibited anyone from taking their superiors to court and gave undue influence to the rich. So the legal system in Rome wasn’t for justice - it was a tool for the powerful to stay in power.
    Let’s compare that real quick with God’s righteousness.
    Deuteronomy 1:17 ESV
    17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
    Leviticus 19:15 ESV
    15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
    Which kind of court would you want to decide your case?

    Connect: We Face the Same Problem

    God sets the standards, but we, like the Corinthians, like to listen to what everybody else has to say. We don’t just present our court cases to the world, we open up our entire lives and let the culture dictate how we think.
    We live in an unprecedented time where the home is freely open to the culture. Through our shows, meme sites, podcasts, and social media we are letting the world’s influence run rampant in our lives. We subject our worldview to their judgments and decrees and conform right along with it.
    How many of our views on current issues - such as war, immigration, or abortion - dictated by the political party we follow? In 2023, the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America made plans to oppose any presidential candidate who refused to embrace a 15-week federal limit on abortion. When Trump dropped that from the party platform, they changed their principles and fully endorsed him.
    We hear a thousand hot-takes on TikTok or YouTube that overwhelm us of how the bible is backwards, hateful, and that Jesus really meant this when he said that, or that it has no relevance to our modern day and age.
    We look up to the characters we watch who seem to only be amoral anti-heroes these days. There’s actually a show called Lucifer where the Devil goes around solving crime! Or we try to emulate some of those shoot first ask question later kind of guys who are more interested in killing bad guys then redeeming their souls.
    And we listen to them. We let them pass judgment, and we submit to it. We follow their morality instead of God’s justice.
    This is why we see all of those statistics that we went over on Wednesday about the the culture shaping Christian belief.
    Homosexuality and Transgenderism: In a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 51 percent of evangelical millennials said same-sex behavior is morally acceptable.
    Pornography: About two-thirds of Christian men watch pornography at least monthly, the same rate as men who do not claim to be Christian. Women aren’t far behind in that number.
    Cohabitation: A Gallup poll found that almost half (49 percent) of teens with religious backgrounds support living together before marriage.
    Abortion: A LifeWay survey found that about 70 percent of women who had an abortion self-identify as Christians. And 43 percent said they attended a Christian church at least once a month or more at the time they aborted their baby.
    The Corinthians are often held up as the most messed up church we read of in the New Testament. And it comes as a s direct result of their relationship with the world. The world’s wisdom is not going to fix any of your problems, that’s why we came to Jesus.
    Don’t let Joe Rogan shape your views on current events. Don’t let your president tell you what’s right and wrong. Don’t let John Wayne or John Wick tell you what a real man is. They don’t know.
    Through all of our intake of the culture, right and left, we’re letting them judge God’s righteousness as insufficient. Let’s not let them be the ones to tell us what to do.

    Solution: Remember Who You Are

    As God’s people we have made a break with the old ways of life. We need to remember who we are.
    1 Corinthians 6:2–3 ESV
    2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
    To give us a proper perspective on the issues we face today, Paul wants us to consider what we face on the last day.
    On the last day we will judge the world
    On the last day we’ll be judging angels

    Judging the World and Angels

    This was a commonly accepted concept that comes from Daniel 7. In this vision Daniel sees God judging the nations, condemning them with fire. And in Daniel 7:22 judgment is given to the saints:
    Daniel 7:21–22 Brenton LXX En
    21 I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 until the Ancient of days came, and he gave judgment to the saints of the Most High; and the time came on, and the saints possessed the kingdom.
    The angels that we’re to judge could be the ones who are in rebellion against God. But also consider that there are hints throughout the bible, like in Daniel, where angels are involved in the affairs of nations - it’s implied that nations have angels watching over them and possibly influence their affairs. It’s where the idea of a guardian angel comes from.
    In any case, on the last day we have a role to play in the judgment of men and angels.

    Judgment By Example

    But I don’t think we’re going to be set up with a powdered wig and gavel as individuals present their cases to us.
    Instead I suspect we will be held up as examples that they will be compared against, similar to what we read of in Matthew 12:42
    Matthew 12:42 ESV
    42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
    The Queen of Sheba had heard of Solomon’s wisdom and traveled to hear it. Jesus is greater than Solomon but none of his contemporaries care to listen. The point is that if the Queen of Sheba came from halfway around the world to listen to Solomon, what’s your excuse for not walking down the street to hear the Son of God?
    On the last day God will condemn the pagans because they had an example of a greater righteousness - a better more godly way of life - right in front of them. They had followers of Jesus living among them. And God will ask them “You had such a clear picture of righteousness and path towards salvation. You had the gospel being lived out right in front of you by my people. Why didn’t you see it?”
    Do you think the pagans in Corinth will point to those petty and bickering Christians and ask God, puzzled, “That’s your greater righteousness?”

    Be An Example

    You’re going to judge the world and angels on the last day. You are going to be the example that God holds up on the last day, which means you have to be the example today.
    No Reading
    1 Corinthians 6:2–3 ESV
    2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
    Knowing about that last day puts today into its proper perspective.
    The Corinthians thought that money was something worth fighting over. Paul calls it something trivial. When we have the hope of heaven those things don’t matter - only our brothers and sisters do.
    1 Corinthians 6:7–8 ESV
    7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
    The Corinthian case was shouting to the world that possessions matter more than people.
    God’s righteousness shows that our brothers are above everything else.

    Keep the List

    Go home today and make a list. Write down the name of every person in this room. And keep that list.
    Don’t forget about it somewhere or throw it out.
    Don’t leave it behind when you move to a different house.
    Keep it with you as you progress through your career or life in general.
    As you grow older and start downsizing don’t sell it with any of the other knick-knacks you’ve accumulated over the years.
    Take it with you to the retirement home.
    And when they finally bury you, have them put the list in the coffin with you
    Because on the last day these people are all you can take with you into heaven.
    Don’t trade it for something trivial.
    Don’t trade that list for a promotion
    Don’t trade it for a bigger house
    Don’t trade it for your own pride or self-satisfaction
    Because none of those things are coming with us. But I fully expect that all of us are going together.
    That’s the example we set for the world.
    I’ll be wronged and defrauded
    I’ll sacrifice my personal rights and possessions so I can reconcile with my brother - even if I’m the innocent one
    I’ll be like Jesus and give it all up in the pursuit of peace
    But we can’t set that example by submitting to the standards of the unrighteous.

    Submitting to God’s Righteousness

    Instead of submitting to the judgment of pagans we need to remember that we will all stand under God’s judgment
    1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ESV
    9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
    Do not be deceived. This is the standard. And those pagans and unrighteous that we submit too won’t inherit the kingdom of God. If they can’t tell us how to live in the kingdom then there’s no point in listening to them about living in the here and now.
    Listening to them will not make you righteous, it will not take away your problems, it will not solve the existential questions of life. Listening to the unrighteous will make you just like them.
    True righteousness is not something we will find out there - it’s something we already have.
    After that long list of people that won’t inherit the kingdom of God, Paul reminds us:
    1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV
    11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
    That’s what you are now. Because God in his righteousness:
    Didn’t demand you pay for what we broke
    Doesn’t hold our sins against us
    Never insisted on his own rights against us
    But died so that we could be transformed into someone like him.
    So take the influence from God
    Everything else is what you were. Now it’s time to be what you are.

    Conclusion

    Who are you taking your cues from? Who are you letting dictate the standards of your life?

      • 1 Corinthians 6:1NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:4–6NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:5–6NIV2011

      • Deuteronomy 1:17NIV2011

      • Leviticus 19:15NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:2–3NIV2011

      • Daniel 7:21–22NIV2011

      • Matthew 12:42NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:2–3NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:2–3NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:7–8NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:9–10NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 6:11NIV2011

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