Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

1 Corinthians 6:1-4: "Which of you, when he has a dispute with another, will bring it before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you not worthy to judge even the smallest matters? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more, then, matters of the world (biotica)? Why then do you appoint those who are despised in the church when there is a matter of the world (biotica)?"

"Others" refers to unrighteous people within the church. The message is that when there is a dispute with the unrighteous, do not take it to court by filing an accusation, but resolve it before the saints. Biotica (βιωτικὰ) refers to worldly matters that are currently occurring.

The meaning is that if the saints become perfect and will even judge angels, why would the saints not be able to resolve matters that are currently happening? However, the point is that they appoint those who are incapable of judging as judges and make them judge. Those who are treated with contempt refer to people who have no connection with God.

The question is whether they are committing shameful acts by dragging matters outside the church instead of resolving internal issues within the Corinthian church itself. How often do church matters get dragged to secular courts even today? It is truly a shameful thing.

The very act of filing a complaint regarding church matters under secular law is a transgression. It implies that the church should resolve the issues internally, and if that fails, it is better to be deceived by the unrighteous within the church. Paul emphasizes that it is that important for the church to resolve its problems within itself.

Paul states that those who act unrighteously within the church will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The unrighteous are those dominated by greed. Greed is idolatry. It is the evil heart that desires to become like God.

The consequences of this are what Paul enumerates in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Paul says that those who commit sexual immorality, idolaters, adulterers, those who are lustful (malakos) or homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Although *malakos* is translated as "those who lust," referring to those who engage in lustful acts, it is expressed as "soft" in Luke 7:25. It says, "What, then, did you go out to see? Men clothed in soft (malakos) garments? Behold, in the royal palaces, those dressed in fine clothes and living in luxury." The English NIV translates *malakos* as "fine," while the KJV translates it as "soft."

The things Paul enumerates and speaks of fundamentally refer to those whose hearts are corrupted by greed. Greed originates from the desire to become like God, but ultimately, it signifies that the idol of the self has taken root in the heart. That greed has manifested itself in actions in various situations. This indicates that such matters within the church ultimately destroy families and lead to legal battles.

The greed of believers within the church will manifest in countless forms beyond those enumerated by Paul. It is said that because greed opposes God, one ultimately cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Regarding this mindset, Paul states in Romans 6:7-8 that we must become like the dead. "For the dead have been freed from sin and justified. If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him."

Within the church community, believers must guide those tainted by such greed to the right path and the truth. Since believers possess the ability to make sound judgments, they should not treat them according to worldly standards, but rather allow them to escape the wrong path on their own through the Word of God.

Even today, there can be plenty of those within the church community who are tainted by such greed. If viewed through the eyes of the flesh, anyone is bound to fall into it. Romans 8:6-8: "For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

1 Corinthians 6:11: "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."

Those who repent and die with Jesus Christ on the cross are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit and are cleansed by the blood shed by Jesus Christ. That is why God declares them holy and grants them the baptism of the Holy Spirit. People of the Spirit do not rely on the laws of the world. This means that those guided by the Holy Spirit are not sanctioned by the words of others.

Paul used the example of food to compare it to sexual immorality. He argued that it is meaningless to quarrel over whether food exists for the stomach or the stomach exists for food. No believer worries about what food to eat.

 However, giving one's body to sexual immorality is a different matter. The body of a believer exists to establish a relationship with the Lord. Although the body of a believer appears physical to the eye, it is a spiritual body born of heaven. Therefore, the Lord enters into the spiritual body of the believer.

Those united with Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, will resurrect with Him. The body mentioned here refers to the spiritual body of a born-again believer. Although one looks with the eyes at the flesh received from one's parents, the believer must look through the spiritual body. Even Paul states in 1 Corinthians 6:16-17, "Do you not know that he who unites himself to a prostitute becomes one body (soma) with her? For it is said, 'The two shall become one (mian) flesh (sarki).' He who unites himself to the Lord becomes one spirit (hen pneuma)."

Soma refers to the body received from one's parents. While uniting with a prostitute involves the body, the body in the subsequent "one flesh" is sarka (σάρκα). Sarka signifies the fleshly body, the body of sin. Mian (μίαν) means "one." The phrase "one flesh (sarki mian)" implies that a man and a woman become one, but it implies that one who has turned away from God (symbolizing the woman) and Christ (symbolizing the man) become one. This implies that such a thing is impossible.

Paul uses the example of a prostitute to speak against church leaders mixing strange doctrines with the gospel of the cross. Although Paul cited sexual immorality as an example, he was speaking to church leaders and believers who speak falsehoods driven by greed. Falsehood leads believers to destruction and causes the church to collapse. Today, falsehood refers to contaminating the church community with doctrines other than the Bible, or ministers mixing in their own thoughts to speak unbiblically as if they were the truth.