Catholic Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Lawsuits and the Saints

Paul is astonished that Corinthian believers are taking their disputes to pagan courts. Do they not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by them, are they not competent to judge trivial cases? He is not saying Christians never need legal recourse, but that disputes between believers about property and money should be resolved within the community rather than paraded before unbelievers. The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead you wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. The willingness to absorb injustice rather than litigate it is itself a form of the Gospel: the one who was wronged by everyone and litigated nothing.

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

The closing argument of the chapter addresses sexual immorality directly. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? The sexual union of the body is not merely a physical act; it is a union of persons, and the Christian's body is already united to Christ. To join a member of Christ to a prostitute is unthinkable. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against their own body. Then the definitive statement: Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies. The Catechism grounds the theology of chastity precisely here: the body of the baptised person is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and the virtue of chastity is the honouring of that temple (CCC 2519).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, you were bought at a price. Your body is not your own. The culture insists that your body is entirely your own to do with as you choose. Paul insists the opposite: your body has been redeemed at the cost of Christ's blood and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The moral consequence is not restriction but dignity: honour God with your body, because it is the temple of the Spirit and the member of Christ.

Prayer

Lord God, our bodies are temples of your Holy Spirit. We were bought at a price. Teach us to honour you with our bodies: in how we treat them, in what we do with them, in what we refuse to do with them. Let every choice we make about our physical lives be a form of worship. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

6
Lawsuits among Believers
1 If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
 
4 So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? 6 Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers!
 
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers!* 6:8 Literally do wrong, and this to brothers!
Members of Christ
 
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. 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.
 
12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.
 
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”† 6:16 Genesis 2:24 (see also LXX) 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.
The Temple of the Holy Spirit
(Romans 12:1–8; 1 Corinthians 3:16–23)
 
18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.‡ 6:20 BYZ and TR include and with your spirit, which belong to God.

*6:8 6:8 Literally do wrong, and this to brothers!

†6:16 6:16 Genesis 2:24 (see also LXX)

‡6:20 6:20 BYZ and TR include and with your spirit, which belong to God.

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