1 Corinthians 6:10-20

6:10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, ¹  and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 6:11 Some of you once lived this way. ²  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ ³  and by the Spirit of our God.

Flee Sexual Immorality

6:12 “All things are lawful for me” ⁴  – but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me” – but I will not be controlled by anything. 6:13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.” ⁵  The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 6:14 Now God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power. 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 6:16 Or do you not know that anyone who is united with ⁶  a prostitute is one body with her? ⁷  For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” ⁸  6:17 But the one united with ⁹  the Lord is one spirit with him. ¹⁰  6:18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body” ¹¹  – but the immoral person sins against his own body. 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, ¹²  whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 6:20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

[6:10]  ¹ tn Or “revilers”; BDAG 602 s.v. λοίδορος defines the term as “reviler, abusive person.” Because the term “abusive” without further qualification has become associated in contemporary English with both physical and sexual abuse, the qualifier “verbally” has been supplied in the translation.

[6:11]  ² tn Grk “and some [of you] were these.”

[6:11]  ³ tc The external evidence in support of the reading ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ihsou Cristou, “Jesus Christ”) is quite impressive: Ì^11vid,46 א B C^vid D* P 33 81 104 365 629 630 1739 1881 2464 al lat bo as well as several fathers, while the reading with merely ᾿Ιησοῦ has significantly poorer support (A D² Ψ Ï sa). Although the wording of the original could certainly have been expanded, it is also possible that Χριστοῦ as a nomen sacrum could have accidentally dropped out. Although the latter is not as likely under normal circumstances, in light of the early and widespread witnesses for the fuller expression, the original wording seems to have been ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

[6:12]  ⁴ sn All things are lawful for me. In the expressions in vv. 12-13 within quotation marks, Paul cites certain slogans the Corinthians apparently used to justify their behavior. Paul agrees with the slogans in part, but corrects them to show how the Corinthians have misused these ideas.

[6:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “both this [stomach] and these [foods].”

[6:16]  ⁶ tn Or “is in relationship with.”

[6:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “is one body,” implying the association “with her.”

[6:16]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.

[6:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “in relationship with.”

[6:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “is one spirit,” implying the association “with him.”

[6:18]  ¹¹ sn It is debated whether this is a Corinthian slogan. If it is not, then Paul is essentially arguing that there are two types of sin, nonsexual sins which take place outside the body and sexual sins which are against a person’s very own body. If it is a Corinthian slogan, then it is a slogan used by the Corinthians to justify their immoral behavior. With it they are claiming that anything done in the body or through the body had no moral relevance. A decision here is very difficult, but the latter is to be preferred for two main reasons. (1) This is the most natural understanding of the statement as it is written. To construe it as a statement by Paul requires a substantial clarification in the sense (e.g., “All other sins…” [NIV]). (2) Theologically the former is more difficult: Why would Paul single out sexual sins as more intrinsically related to the body than other sins, such as gluttony or drunkenness? For these reasons, it is more likely that the phrase in quotation marks is indeed a Corinthian slogan which Paul turns against them in the course of his argument, although the decision must be regarded as tentative.

[6:19]  ¹² tn Grk “the ‘in you’ Holy Spirit.” The position of the prepositional phrase ἐν ὑμῖν (en Jumin, “in you”) between the article and the adjective effectively places the prepositional phrase in first attributive position. Such constructions are generally translated into English as relative clauses.