New Testament Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 6 Brethern should not go to law with each other—The unrighteous shall not be saved—True saints are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
1 DARE any of you, having a ^amatter against another, go to ^blaw before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2 Do ye not know that the saints shall ^ajudge the ^bworld? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 5 I speak to your ^ashame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take ^awrong? why do ye not rather ^bsuffer yourselves to be ^cdefrauded? 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and ^adefraud, and that your brethren.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
Unrighteous Shall NOT Inherit the Kingdom of God When one thinks that Paul teaches that the works of righteousness are not requiste to being saved in the Kingdom of God, and that by merely confessing Jesus one is so saved, they ought to reconsidered. For Paul truely teaches that works of righteousness are required to obtain the Kingdom of God. It is one thing to repent and be forgiven one's sins through the ordinances of God and the atonement of Christ. It is quite another to contintue in sin, thinking that merely by faith and confession alone without continued righteousness that one may be saved. This never was nor is the true plan of Christ. One MUST live righteously in Christ after having their sins removed and being sanctified. And for those of us who slip or come to further light and understanding as to what is sin, there is the renewal covenant process of being sanctified by the ordinance of the sacrement and the renewed promise of the Holy Spirit's attendance which may be used even after one's initial washing in the waters of baptism.
9 Know ye not that the ^aunrighteous shall not ^binherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither ^cfornicators, nor idolaters, nor ^dadulterers, nor ^eeffeminate, nor ^fabusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor ^athieves, nor covetous, nor ^bdrunkards, nor ^crevilers, nor ^dextortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are ^awashed, but ye are ^bsanctified, but ye are justified in the ^cname of the Lord Jesus, and by the ^dSpirit of our God.
Paul Switches to Matters of 'The Law' He Leaves Off Speaking As to Sin Only those versed in the 'Law of Moses' can appreciate that Paul has moved the conversation from matters of 'sin' to matters of the 'Law of Moses' when he says 'All things are lawful unto me.' He is speaking of such matters of the Law of Moses such as what to eat and not to eat and also concerning the matter of circumcision and the matter of abiding by the Law of Moses, which had been fulfilled in Christ and no longer applicable as to the Covenant of God. Christ is the New Covenant, the Law of Moses, not the righteous commandments of God is what Paul speaks of. And all that had bound the Jews under the strick Law of Moses was loosed, all things becoming 'Lawful' to eat, to associate and the such traditions of the Jews as to distinction between Jew and Gentile had ended. A Jew could marry and eat with a Gentile. All such things which were not 'lawful' under the traditions of the Jews and the Law of Moses are now 'Lawful' unto Paul and those of the New Covenant. Not that moral 'sin' is included, for Paul just spoke concerning that. But such matters other than that which are of the traditions of the Jews and the Law of Moses, the Law of Animal sacrifice, are done away and men of Christ are no longer under that 'Law', all things now being 'lawful' which once were not. Paul even so qualifies himself by quickly restating that such as 'fornication' 'IS NOT' for the Lord and those who are members of the 'Body of Christ'.
12 ^aAll things are lawful unto me, but all things are not ^bexpedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for ^afornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. 14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also ^araise up us by his own power.
When 'In the Covnenant', Your Bodies Are of the 'Body of Christ' When one is 'JOINED' to Christ 'In the Covenant', then one becomes joined in 'one body' in Christ. Not that one looses their individuality, but that by the Covenant, Christ imputes righteousness unto men who have been sinful by the work of the gospel of the atonement. And the 'oneness of body' is in that of the 'SPIRIT'. That the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, is now a functioning part with in man, 'always to be with them', leading them in ways of truth and light. The whole purpose is unto righteousness in God in the bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. In this we become joint heirs in and through Christ, by way of Christ's atonement and the workings of the sanctification of the Spirit from within us. It is a shame that the false heretical doctrine of the Oneness of God being but one being in the Holy Trinity of Three has so deluted men's understanding that they have passed by the simpleness of so being one with God 'In Spirit and Truth' by way of the Covenant, Christ's atonement and the workings of the Spirit within the soul of man. Indeed, as Christ so prayed, in this we may become one even as He and His Father are one, 'One in Truth, Light, Righteousness and Spirit'. And in 'purpose and intent', 'NOT' is becoming emmased into one single soletary being, but all united in the unity of the faith unto the righteousness of the Kingdom of God.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the ^amembers of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be ^aone flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is ^aone spirit^a. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.	17^a he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit When one enters into the Everlasting Covenant by the birth of the waters of baptism and of the spirit, one becomes as it were sons and daughters of Christ and of the same spirit of righteousness which did guide and lead Christ throughout his earthly life. That Spirit is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Revelation, the Spirit of Righteousness and Light and Truth. And one is empowered to then have that spirit always in attendance with them from thence on if they live according to the covenant in righteousness. One then worships the Lord in Spirit and in Truth and throught he workings of the Spirit within them, they may become sanctified unto Eternal Life and achieve the Kingdom of God. But if one foresakes that spirit in committing sin, then that Spirit withdraws from them until through a return unto righteousness and truth, that Spirit might again enter in. And thus is the means and process of the ordiance and renewal of the covenant with God by way of the sacrement. Thus weekly the ordiannce and covenant with God may be renewed by man.
Know Ye Not That Your Body Is the Temple of the Holy Ghost
19 What? know ye not that your ^abody is the ^btemple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your ^cown? 20 For ye are ^abought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.