The Church’s Court Case

It is quite obvious to every observer that we live in an orderly universe. While there may be occasions of unusual circumstances like the weather, yet the universe is orderly. So too the human family is to be orderly.

In the days of Noah, God established human government. He said man is responsible for man’s conduct. Government is intended by the Lord God to restrain the natural tendency of the human heart. The Bible tells us in Genesis 6:5 that the imagination of man’s heart is “only evil continually.”

The Lord is holy and therefore He established human government to restrain the natural tendency of man. Government is required wherever there are people. Even in the primitive societies in the world, people have standards by which they operate.

Interpersonal relations are next to God. You see, the Lord said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37 39). So God expects that in the interpersonal relationships among us, we should be able to relate with decency.

The legal profession has received much bashing in recent years because of its greed. If you are hurt, injured, or in some way mistreated, let a lawyer know and he will help you get your share. What actually happens is that the lawyers get their share.

The apostle Paul approaches this from a different standpoint. He looks at it from the standpoint of the church. What should church members do in a legal situation? It is true that being a church member does not eradicate the depraved human nature. I know some people teach that you can be completely sanctified on this earth, but if you watch them closely, you will find that they themselves are not really completely sanctified. The depraved human nature expresses itself in various ways. Conflict is sure to come because we are individuals, and when individuals get together, there can be conflict.

So notice how Paul deals with this situation in I Corinthians 6:1-11:

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? 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.

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 shame. 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.

7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather [suffer yourselves to] be defrauded?

8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that [your] brethren.

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

In such a controversy Paul lays out several essential DIRECTIONS for the solution of these controversies.

The first direction is:

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? 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.

4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

Avoid going before an unbelieving judge. Paul criticizes the Corinthians rather sharply by calling attention to the fact that some of them apparently had done it. They had gone to law before the unjust and not before the saved. I believe this points out to us that there is a divine standard. It is implied here, certainly. Unbelievers, however, operate apart from that standard. They only deal with what seems to be appropriate or what has already been done. I believe this points out that there is a divine standard that should be adhered to.

There was a certain law aspect to the first communication God had concerning man after He created him, when He said, “Be fruitful and have dominion” (Genesis 1:29). This was a statement God laid down as a principle to work on. When He gave man and woman the right to eat of every tree of the Garden except the trees of life and of knowledge of good and evil, again it was a restriction. Laws point out the areas beyond which man should not go.

The apostle Paul was concerned about how it was happening in Corinth that the people of the church were submitting their cases to unbelieving judges for arbitration. He said, “Arise to your potential because you are going to judge the world and angels. And certainly, if you have that potential, you should be able to solve the little problems in your congregation without going to unbelievers. Appoint those who are least esteemed.”

Now I know from the commentaries there is a lot of conflict about this. I want to tell you something though; many times it is not the most intelligent people, the most educated people who have the best insight. Sometimes just plain, good common sense will outline a procedure that the intelligence of the educated does not comprehend.

A saint on his knees can see farther than the philosopher on his tiptoes. You see, the saint has his mind open for divine wisdom, godly wisdom. The highly intelligent, and the highly educated may not.

Now let me share with you a portion from Barnes’s commentary on Corinthians:

That the heathen magistrates were in general very corrupt there can be no doubt. Many of them were men of abandoned character, of dissipated lives, men who were easily bribed, and men, therefore, in whose judgment Christians could repose little confidence. Paul reproves the Corinthians for going before them with their disputes when they could better settle them themselves.

The second direction the apostle gives to the Corinthian Church and to us is:

5 I speak to your shame. 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.

7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather [suffer yourselves to] be defrauded?

8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that [your] brethren.

Avoid disruption. Peace is certainly preferable to disruption. Paul says it is a shame that there is not a wise man among you, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren. So brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers. Avoid disruptions. Evaluate the situation, take into account all the factors, and don’t be cantankerous. Broke n relationships are too costly. Instead of agitating for all that might be coming to you, suffer wrong. Don’t insist on all or more than is your due, and anyway did not Jesus say when you suffer wrong and are smitten on one cheek, turn the other also?

So the apostle Paul is following right in that same vein. Each case is unique and needs wisdom. The attorneys go back and study the history of law and have in their offices great tomes of books of court decisions they can go to, but the apostle Paul says the situation deserves your personal attention to the immediate need between brother and brother.

Jesus spoke about this too in Matthew 18:15-17, when He said that if your brother has something against you, go to him between you and him alone. If he hears you, fine, you have gained your brother. If he does not hear you, then take two or three along and try it again. If he still does not hear you, then tell it to the church, and the church is to deal with it. If he doesn’t hear the church, then he should be treated as a publican and a sinner.

In other words, you can only make peace with a person who wants to make peace. The apostle Paul in the Roman letter said, “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). Sometimes it is impossible to get the situation reconciled. But that should not be true in the church, in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes it is. So the apostle Paul says rather than do wrong,
receive wrong. Why not rather take wrong?

But no, these Corinthians were so insistent that they would rather do wrong and defraud, and that their brethren. It is a pity, isn’t it? If a person has a congenial spirit, then this situation would hardly arise. You see, to be congenial means you are not aggressively demanding your own rights here or there; you are trying to be kind, loving, and tenderhearted to everybody. Notice again what Barnes says:

Probably no lawsuit was ever engaged in by a Christian that did not do some injury to the cause of Christ. Perhaps no lawsuit was ever conducted between Christians that ever did any good to the cause of Christ. A contentious spirit, a fondness for the agitation, the excitement, and strife of courts, is inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel. Religion is retiring, peaceful, and calm. It seeks the peace of all and it never rejoices in contention.

Do you understand what I am saying? Be congenial. Avoid disruption. Peace is far more desirable than even having your own way.

The third direction is:

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Pay close attention to what the apostle Paul wrote in verses 9 through 11. Acknowledge the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians. The apostle says there are certain kinds of persons who will never make the kingdom of God. Notice very carefully what he said, “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners.”

Please observe that the first group, except for idolaters, has to do with sex relationships: fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind. Isn’t it odd that we have people, theologians, all over the country who are trying to tell us that homosexuality and lesbianism are favored by God? The Bible is absolutely clear here. There is no question that the apostle Paul puts that lifestyle outside the church. They will never inherit the kingdom of God. Now if they won’t inherit the kingdom of God, how is it that they can claim membership in the Christian church while on earth?

Be cleansed. Acknowledge the dividing line. No dialogue is necessary. Perhaps the most important action is the announcement. Announce to these people, as I am doing to you right now. Announce to the world that these kinds of people will never inherit the kingdom of God.

Then Paul goes on to the other categories: “Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners.” They will not inherit the kingdom of God. There is a dividing line between those who inherit the kingdom of God and those who do not.

Then, praise God, Paul said, “And such were some of you.” What happened to them? They had been that way, but they were no longer that way. What happened to them? He tells us right here. “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.” There is only one bath that will do the work, friend. It is to be washed in the precious blood of Jesus. Wash your garments in the precious blood of Jesus. He shed His blood on Calvary’s cross that your sins might be washed away. The prophet Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ, put it this way: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Praise God.

Then Paul said, “Ye are sanctified,” which means the Holy Spirit has come into your life and changed your whole manner of living. Again the apostle Paul in II Corinthians 5:17 makes it very clear: “If anybody is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.” Yes, praise God.

And then Paul said, “Ye are justified.” That means you now stand before God uncondemned. It does not mean you are acquitted. No. I must make that very clear to you. Acquittal means not guilty, but justified means you admit your guilt and God forgives you. That is what Jesus came to make possible. We can receive from God all He has for us when we come the right way, and the right way is to come by Jesus Christ. That is what Paul says.

Notice the last part of that verse: “in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” That means a whole new mode of living, a whole new lifestyle. Be cleansed. Now when that happens, then the situation of the Church’s Court Case will be greatly relieved.

Hear again from Barnes:

What a place would heaven be if the drunkard, the adulterer, and the idolater were there. How impure and unholy would it be! How would it destroy all our hopes, dim all our prospects, mar all our joys, if we were told that they should sit down with the just in heaven! Is it not one of our fondest hopes that heaven will be pure, and that all its inhabitants shall be holy? And can God admit to his eternal embrace, and treat as his eternal friend, the man who is unholy; whose life is stained with abomination; who loves to corrupt others; and whose happiness is found in the sorrows, and the wretchedness, and vices of others? No; religion is pure, and heaven is pure; and whatever men may think, of one thing they may be assured, that the fornicator, and the drunkard, and the reviler shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Oh, my friend, the Church’s Court Case is to be resolved by the church members. These several directions for solution will be most helpful. Let me go over them again:

Washed, sanctified, justified in the Name of Jesus.
Let the peace of Christ possess your heart and soul. Amen.