1 Corinthians 6:13

6:13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.” ¹  The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

1 Corinthians 6:18

6:18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body” ²  – but the immoral person sins against his own body.

1 Corinthians 6:1

Lawsuits

6:1 When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints?

1 Corinthians 4:4

4:4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord.

1 Corinthians 4:2

4:2 Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful.

1 Corinthians 2:1

2:1 When I came ³  to you, brothers and sisters, ⁴  I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony ⁵  of God.

[6:13]  ¹ tn Grk “both this [stomach] and these [foods].”

[6:18]  ² 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.

[2:1]  ³ tn Grk “and I, when I came.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, κἀγώ (kagw) has not been translated here.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[2:1]  ⁵ tc ‡ A few important mss (Ì^46vid א* A C pc as well as some versions and fathers) read μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) instead of μαρτύριον (marturion, “testimony”). But the latter has wider ms support (א² B D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï and some versions), though not quite as impressive. μαρτύριον may have been changed by scribes in anticipation of Paul’s words in 2:7, or conversely, μυστήριον may have been changed to conform to 1:6. Transcriptionally, since “the mystery of God/Christ” is a well-worn expression in the corpus Paulinum (1 Cor 2:7; 4:1; Eph 3:4; Col 2:2; 4:3), while “testimony of Christ” occurs in Paul only once (1 Cor 1:6, though “testimony of the Lord” appears in 2 Tim 1:8), and “testimony of God” never, it is likely that scribes changed the text to the more usual expression. A decision is difficult in this instance, but a slight preference should be given to μαρτύριον.