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1 Corinthians 6:1. How dare anyone among you, when dealing with another, sue the wicked and not the saints? Many were sued in monetary litigation before Hellenic judges, as lawyers. Therefore, he tries to correct this evil, which presented itself to his mind by chance. For, having mentioned the covetous, he suddenly became inflamed with zealous concern for those infected with such sin. And look what indignation he shows from the very beginning, calling this matter insolence and lawlessness. He did not say: among the infidels, but: “among the wicked”; for every litigant usually seeks justice, therefore the apostle shows that they will not find it, because they are unrighteous, he says, the Hellenic judges, how will they judge you fairly? He calls the faithful saints, showing by their very names the difference between the first and the last; for some are wicked, and others are holy. 1 Corinthians 6:2. Do you not know that the saints will judge (κρινοΰσι) the world? Since the faithful, as unlearned people, seemed unable to sort out litigation, he gives them weight and importance: first, he called them saints, then he said that they would judge the world. Not so, however, it should represent that they will take the places of judges and pronounce sentences (the Lord will judge); no, they will only condemn (κατακρινοΰσιν). Indeed, if they, being like everyone else, turned out to believe, and these did not believe, then is this not a condemnation for the unbelievers? 1 Corinthians 6:2. If the world is to be judged by you, are you really unworthy to judge unimportant matters? Look, he didn’t say: the court will take it from you, but “you will be judged”; because you who believed were an example to the world. The saying “they are not worthy to judge unimportant matters” has this meaning: it seems that the Corinthians were ashamed to be judged by internal ones; therefore he says: on the contrary, it is a shame for you when you are sued by outsiders; for these judgments are evil, and not such as are internal. 1 Corinthians 6:3. Do you not know that we will judge angels, much less the deeds of this life? Calls demons angels. So, we will condemn demons if, despite the fact that we are clothed in flesh, we turn out to be more perfect than them, who do not have flesh. 1 Corinthians 6:4–5. And you, when you have everyday disputes, appoint as your judges those who mean nothing in the church. To your shame I say: is there really not a single reasonable person among you who could judge between his brothers? (ανά μέσον του αδελφού αυτού) Wanting to reject them from external courts, he says: perhaps someone will say that in the Church there is no one wise who could sort out litigation. But if, in your opinion, there is not a single wise person in the Church, then it is better to appoint the humble as judges rather than the infidels. However, I said this to your shame, if in fact you have so few wise people that judgment should be carried out by simple and uneducated people. I added the words “between my brothers” in order to show that in this case, if there is a dispute with a brother, a lot of different information is not needed, because brotherly disposition most of all contributes to ending the dispute. 1 Cor.6:6. But brother and brother are suing, and, moreover, before the infidels. The worst evil: one is that it is done with a brother, the other is that it is done before the infidels. 1 Cor.6:7. And it is already very humiliating for you that you have litigation among yourself. Previously he forbade suing infidels, but now the court itself prohibits it, saying: “and this is already very humiliating for you,” that is, it is reprehensible and shameful, “that you have litigation,” that is, controversial matters, with each other (this is what the words “among each other” mean). The Apostle said this with particular emphasis, for we Christians must consider each other brothers. 1 Corinthians 6:7–8. Why would you rather not remain offended? Why would you rather not endure hardship? But you yourself offend and take away, and from your brothers. Lots of accusations. The first is that they do not know how to bear insults; the second is that, on the contrary, they themselves offend; the third is that they offend the brothers. It would be good, he says, not to offend and not to endure insults; but if one of the two must be chosen, then it is better to endure insults. 1 Corinthians 6:9. Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Concludes the exhortation with a threat, strengthening the speech and asking them about a subject known to everyone. 1 Corinthians 6:9. Don't be fooled. Here it alludes to those of the Corinthians who said that God loves mankind and will not punish, but will bring him into the Kingdom. Therefore, he says: “do not be deceived”: for it is indeed obvious self-deception and delusion to expect all sorts of benefits here, and then be executed. He puts the one who has already been convicted in first place. 1 Corinthians 6:9. Neither idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malakis. Malachi names those over whom shameful things are committed, and then lists those who commit shameful things. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10. Neither homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God. Many people ask why he put drunkards and slanderers along with idolaters and those who commit indecent acts? Because Christ also declared the one guilty of Gehenna who says to his brother: “You are a fool” (Matthew 5:22), and again because the Jews went from drunkenness to idolatry. Further, now we are talking not about punishment, but about deprivation of the Kingdom; All such sinners are equally deprived of the kingdom, and whether there will be a difference in their punishments is not the place to discuss this. 1 Corinthians 6:11. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Consider, he says, what evils God has freed you from and what blessings God has given you. And you were subject to all the above-mentioned vices, but He cleansed you from them, and not only cleansed you, but also sanctified you. How? Having acquitted you; first he washed you, then, having justified you, he sanctified you, not in the name of this or that teacher, but in the name of Christ and the Holy Spirit. That is, the Trinity has given you these benefits; for by saying that God sanctified in the name of Christ and the Holy Spirit, he does not express anything else, but precisely the Trinity. 1 Corinthians 6:12. Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Since he previously spoke about the one who committed fornication and will soon speak about him again, he introduces the topic of gluttony: for the passion for fornication primarily comes from gluttony. So, he says: it is permissible for me to eat and drink, but it is harmful for me to eat and drink in excess. 1 Corinthians 6:12. Everything is permitted to me, but nothing should possess me. I, he says, am lord over food and drink; but if I use them beyond measure, then instead of a master I will become their slave. For whoever uses them as they should is master over them; on the contrary, whoever falls into immoderation is no longer a master, but a slave, because in this case satiety becomes his tyrant. Do you see how the apostle showed the one who considered himself a ruler to be a subject? Look: each of the Corinthians said: I can indulge in pleasures; and the apostle says: you surrender to them not because you have power over them, but because you yourself are subject to their power. For as long as you remain intemperate, it is not you who has power over the belly, but the belly over you. 1 Corinthians 6:13. Food is for the belly, and the belly is for food. Gluttony is called the womb, not a member of our body; food - excessive consumption of food. So, the meaning of the words is this: excessive consumption of food is in friendship and kinship with gluttony, and vice versa. Both cannot lead us to Christ; on the contrary, those who are devoted to themselves are sent one to the other - immoderation to gluttony, and gluttony to immoderation. 1 Corinthians 6:13. But God will destroy both. Not the belly, but gluttony, and not food, but excess in food. In the word “destroy” some see a prediction about the state of the next century, that is, that there will be no need for either food or drink. If moderate consumption of food does not take place there, then all the more will it abolish immoderation and gluttony. Having said that along with the abolition of food, the womb will also be abolished, he expressed the idea that along with satiation, the desire for more ceases. According to others, he sealed his admonition with a prayer that both immoderation and gluttony would be abolished, that is, stopped. 1 Corinthians 6:13. The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. From these words it is clear that the apostle is talking about gluttony in connection with the speech about fornication. For it should be said this way: the body is not for the meat and not for the belly. But that’s not what he said, but how? “not for fornication,” showing what happens as a consequence of bodily pleasures, namely fornication. And the meaning of his words is this: the body, he says, was not created to drown in pleasures and fall into fornication, but in order to obey Christ as its head, and the Lord rules it as its head. 1 Corinthians 6:14. God raised the Lord, and He will also resurrect us by His power. Do not be dismayed when you hear that God has raised up the Lord; for the apostle speaks thus, condescending to them as to infants. And since everyone unanimously had the highest concepts about the Father as the source; then the apostle attributes the resurrection to the Father, and declares that He will resurrect us too. For just as He raised up our head, I mean Christ, so He will also raise up the other parts of the body, that is, us. Further, in support of his words, he added: “by His power,” as if to say: do not doubt what I say, for the power of God, which accomplishes great things, will accomplish this too. And that the resurrection of Christ refers to the Father as the culprit is clear from what the Lord said about Himself: “destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). And it is also written about Him that He revealed Himself alive (Acts 1:3). So, although He raised Himself, this deed is attributed to the Father as the culprit. 1 Corinthians 6:15. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Again he turns to the previously offered admonition regarding fornication. Meanwhile, he arms his word with great horrors. 1 Corinthians 6:15. Shall I, then, take away the members of Christ to make them members of a harlot? He did not say: unite with a harlot, but, what is more terrible, “make members of a harlot.” In fact, who would not be horrified to hear these words, that is, to tear off members from Christ and make them members of a harlot? 1 Corinthians 6:15–16. It won't happen! Or don’t you know that he who has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her? for it is said: the two will become one flesh. It shows what has been said, that is, how the members of Christ become members of the harlot. Through communication, he says, a man becomes one with a harlot; therefore his members, who were members of Christ, become members of the harlot. 1 Corinthians 6:17. And he who is united with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord. Look how the very names of the harlot and Christ continue and strengthen the accusation. He says that “he who unites with the Lord” becomes nothing other than “spirit,” since he does not do anything carnal, that is, he becomes spiritual. For unity with the Lord gives him the sanctification of the Spirit. In these words he also showed how the faithful become members of Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:18. Flee fornication. It instructs us to avoid fornication, as if it were some kind of persecutor, from which we cannot be safe for a single minute, and to strain all our strength to refrain from it. 1 Corinthians 6:18. Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. Fornication, he says, defiles the whole body, which is why those who commit fornication usually go to baths, testifying that their body is defiled. So, the fornicator sins against the body itself, desecrating and dirtying it. Although murder seems to be committed by the body, it does not defile the entire body; for you can throw a stone, or a tree, or some other substance, but it is impossible to commit fornication without the body: therefore it is always defiled. However, the apostle had the intention of presenting the severity of this sin in an enlarged form, since the present exhortation concerns it; for fornication is by no means a vice worse than all other vices. I know other solutions on this subject. This is the following decision: the fornicator sins against his own body in that he does not mix with the desire to produce children, as when he has intercourse with a lawful wife, but in vain he spoils it by pouring out semen and thereby weakens it. Another solution: the fornicator sins against the woman with whom he mixes, since through this she becomes his body; why, if he mixes with her illegally, then he sins against her. However, the solution of the great John Chrysostom is the best: I mean, the first solution. Further, some, expressing doubt, ask: what? Doesn't envy dry out bodies? and again this question is resolved this way: envy is a passion, not an action. The Apostle now speaks of action (for these are his words: “every sin that a man commits”), and not of passion. In fact, envy is not produced by us, but happens in us. 1 Corinthians 6:19. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, which you have from God? It frightens even more - both by the greatness of the gift, that is, the Spirit, and by the dignity of the one who imparted the gift, that is, God. You, he says, are a church, and a holy one at that: for you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not desecrate the holy church and do not make the gift of God useless; For from God you have the gift and the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. And you are not your own. For you were bought at a price. You, he says, are under the Lord and have nothing of your own; the body itself is not yours. “For you were bought with a price,” that is, the Blood of Christ. Therefore, your members are subject to another Master, and to whatever He pleases, their activity should be directed to. Saying this does not destroy free will, but shows that God, by whom we have been redeemed, rightfully requires us to serve Himself. 1 Corinthians 6:20. Therefore glorify God in your bodies. Therefore, since you are bought, he says, glorify God in your body, that is, by doing good works with your body and keeping it holy and pure. For the glorification of God consists in when people see your good deeds and, as a result, glorify Him. 1 Corinthians 6:20. And in your souls. He shows that it is not only the body that must avoid fornication, but also the soul, so as not to be defiled mentally (for he called thought the soul). The Gospel (Matthew 5:2) also prohibits that adultery that remains only in the heart. 1 Corinthians 6:20. Which are God's. Constantly reminds us that we do not belong to ourselves, but are under the dominion of God, who has redeemed both our soul and body. You might be interested in: