1 Corinthians 6:1-11, Called to Discernment

Theological Proposition/Focus: The Call of a Christian is a call to help others by discerning what is just.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: Make sure that your actions reflect your God-given status as saints of the Most High.

Introduction:

Image: Évariste Galois surely he could have solved his problems better

On May 31, 1832 a promising promising young man died after having been shot in a duel. Évariste Galois at 20 years of age solved one of the most significant math problems of his day. The problem had been openly worked on for more than 350 years and is really pretty simple to state. Is there a version of the quadratic formula for bigger equations. What was most significant was that the solution provided by Galois was so profound that it gave rise to an entire new area of mathematics that later became known as Galois theory. Even today, every graduate student in mathematics studies the work done by Galois. So, why did such a profound thinker die at age 20? We don't really know, there are theories and the most prominent theory is that he got involved with a girl and a series of events led him to challenge an unknown man to a duel. Galois was shot in the stomach and died the next day. Historians are left to wonder, shouldn't such a brilliant mind have been able to solve his problem in a better way?

Today we are going to ask a similar question, shouldn't Christians be able to solve their problems in a different way?

Setting the Stage:

In First Corinthians chapter 5 we saw a critical reality. The church is called to deal with sin. We saw in chapter 1-4 that their church was struggling with unity and part of this struggle seems rooted in their focus on worldly wisdom instead of their common focus on Christ. The church prided itself on wisdom and giftedness but was not succeeding in the basics. Moreover, this church that prided itself in wisdom was not able to wisely deal with issues arising in the church.

Body

Christians need to ensure their actions reflect a theology of regeneration (1-6).

Our NIV translation of verse one hides the shock that is present in the Greek. Paul starts with the word "Τολμᾷ" do you dare? It is very much, I can't believe what I heard... you claim to be wise but what I am hearing is that you are taking each other to civil court and cannot even settle simple matters among yourselves.

Paul is pointing out that

God's people are especially equipped with divine wisdom (1-3).

In verse one Paul reminds the Corinthians Christians that they themselves are Saints.

The Corinthian Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The only status of any real significance is their status before God.

We tend to contrast unrighteous (NIV ungodly) with the righteous but Paul instead contrasts the unrighteous with the Saints.

Nothing that Corinthians Christians have done is of significance, what is of significance is their position as Saints of God.

Arguing from the greater to the lesser Paul argues that judging issues we face in the present life should be a walk in the park.

Now before I go too far into this let me first deal with two major questions you might be asking.

So ultimately, the argument is that the Christian is equipped with the very Spirit of God, the wisdom of the ages, surely the Christian can settle trivial matters of this age.

And it is not just the wisdom that we have but also the fact that the world lacks any of this wisdom. In verse 4 Paul argues that

The world is especially unequipped with divine wisdom (4).

Using fairly colorful language Paul asks a pretty simple question "do you really think that you are going to get justice from those who know nothing of justice?" Paul literally calls those who enact the worlds justice "despised (NIV: scorned) by the church." In other words, why are you going to people whose life hardly reflects holiness to solve your problems?