1 Corinthians 6:8

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

Here the apostle reproves them for going to law with one another before heathen judges for little matters; and therein blames all vexatious law-suits. In the previous chapter he had directed them to punish heinous sins among themselves by church-censures. Here he directs them to determine controversies with one another by church-counsel and advice, concerning which observe, I. The fault he blames them for: it was going to law. Not but that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully. But, 1.... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

6:1-8 When any of you has a ground of complaint against his fellow, does he dare to go to law before unrighteous men, and not before God's dedicated people? Are you not aware that God's dedicated people will one day judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unfit to deal with the smallest matters of judgment? Are you not aware that we will judge angels--let alone things which have to do with ordinary everyday life? If then you have questions of judgment which have to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6:8

Nay, you do wrong and defraud ,.... So far were they from taking and acting up to the advice given, that instead of taking wrong, they did wrong; and instead of suffering themselves to be defrauded, they defrauded others: and that your brethren ; that were of the same faith, of the same religion, and in the same church and family: in short, neither party, not the plaintiff, nor the defendant, sought anything more or less than to wrong, trick, and defraud each other; such a sad corruption... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 6:8

Nay, ye do wrong - Far from suffering, ye are the aggressors; and defraud your pious, long-suffering brethren, who submit to this wrong rather than take those methods of redressing their grievances which the spirit of Christianity forbids. Probably the apostle refers to him who had taken his father's wife. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 6:8

Verse 8 8.But ye do injury. Hence we see for what reason he has inveighed against them with so much bitterness — because there prevailed among them such a base desire of gain, that they did not even refrain from injuring one another. He premised a little before, with the view of exposing the magnitude of the evil, that those are not Christians who know not to endure injuries. There is, then, an amplification here, founded on a comparison: for if it is wrong not to bear injuries patiently, how... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

The ideal Church a tribunal. "Dare any of you, having a matter against another," etc.? In our sketch on the preceding verses we looked on the true Church as a feast. Here we have to look on it as a tribunal, a court of judicature, where disputes are to be settled and grievances redressed. It would appear that questions arose among the Corinthian Christians that required settlement—questions of wrong done to persons or to property, and that too the litigious spirit was so rife in their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

Litigation; or, How shall Christians settle their differences and disputes? Remarkable is the insight which this Epistle affords us into the interior life of a Church of the first age. We seem to be brought into the presence of remarkable virtues and of remarkable faults, and are impressed with the incongruity of the picture. One thing is certain, that human nature was then what it is now, and that Christianity offers the one Divine remedy for individual and for social ills. I. IT ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

Christians and the law courts. How far are Paul's exhortations applicable to believers in the present day? Amongst the ancients, laws were often unjust, judges venal, and frequently certain objectionable formalities, such as adjuration by false deities, had to be observed. In our own land and time these things happily are not as of old. Yet even amongst us there are laws tainted with injustice, and there is not a little in our modes of legal procedure which is objectionable. Legal... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

On going to law. Among other evils at Corinth calling for correction, a litigious spirit had begun to show itself, fostered doubtless by the unpleasant friction of parties. Brother went to law with brother before the heathen tribunals, and the Christian name was thereby brought into ill repute. For this the apostle rebukes them, and assigns weighty reasons why they should settle their disputes otherwise. I. THE JUDICIAL FUNCTION OF THE SAINTS . All judgment has been... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

The relations of Christians to public law. The apostle here deals with a fresh mistake made by the Corinthian Christians. In view of the extensive commercial interests of Corinth, we can well understand that disputes constantly arose which could only be settled by the common law courts. St. Paul does not intend us to infer that these law courts were unjustly conducted, or that, in ordinary matters and under ordinary circumstances, recourse may not be had to them. He only points out that... read more

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