Passage: 1 Corinthians 6

The Big Idea

When you see your identity through grace, it changes how you treat people, your stuff and your body. The Corinthians were suing each other and treating sex like a snack, because they didn’t know who they were. Paul keeps asking, “Don’t you know?” You were washed, sanctified and justified. You’re joined to the Lord as one spirit. Your body is His temple. And the path to real joy isn’t doing what we want; it’s trusting Jesus with all our heart.

Monkey Business

A while back, a woman was arrested at the border for trying to smuggle baby spider monkeys. (Yes, really.)

When you see your identity through grace, it changes how you treat others. It’s no longer about what you can get from people, because Jesus has already given you everything you need. And it’s no longer about protecting yourself from people, because Jesus has promised to be with you through everything.

But this life of grace is something we have to learn. We’ll naturally keep living the way we always have until we discover how grace has transformed our identity and changed our hearts. Then we can walk in that new identity, and it will actually make us happy. That’s called joy.

The Holy Spirit in us rejoices in holy choices. He’s a big fan!

Does God want you to be happy? Yes. So He shows us the path that leads there. Then we usually tell Him to go pound sand and do our own thing anyway, until we discover the pain of the consequences. Then, hopefully, we come sulking back and find out that, as His child, He always knew what was best, even when it didn’t make sense to our hearts or minds.

The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came so we could have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10).

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, a result of living by the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Paul prays that the God of hope would fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him, so we overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

So the path to happiness isn’t doing what we want. It’s trusting Jesus and His Spirit, revealed to us in His Word.

The path is clearly given to us.
It’s the path of faith and humility.
As opposed to pride and self-sufficiency.

(Happiness is like wetting your pants: everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.)

Suing Each Other (1 Corinthians 6:1)

How dare any of them, with a dispute against another believer, take it before unbelieving judges instead of before the saints?

This church wasn’t happy.
They had their eyes on each other’s stuff and were always figuring out how to get more.
They were literally suing each other to take each other’s things. Not because of a real accident or injury, but just to grab more.
That’s the height of pride and self-focused living.

Remember: love is always giving. Satan’s counterfeit of love is all about what I can get.

“Don’t You Know?” (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)

Don’t they know that the saints will judge the world?

Here’s another of Paul’s “Don’t you know?” questions. They’re always about identity.
He’s pointing them to their union with Christ.
Jesus is the Savior of the world, and He’s also the Judge of all who reject His free gift of salvation (John 5:22). He’s perfectly qualified, because He’s righteous.

Why does God have to judge the world? Because it would be unjust to let any sin go unjudged. Would you really want someone like Hitler to just get away with it? Deep down, we all want God to judge evil. We just don’t realize that His standard is so high that we would face judgment too, if we didn’t accept the grace of Jesus.

Because of our union with Christ, we’ll stand with Him on that day. We’ll see how good and perfect He is, and we’ll agree with everything He does. We’ll have a part in it.

“And if the world will be judged by you, are you not competent to judge the smallest matters?” They were running to the world to help them get what they wanted, because they believed themselves unworthy. They didn’t know their identity. They didn’t know their union with Christ. He is their life, and they already had everything they needed for an abundant life. That truth helps us make every decision, even the small ones.

“Don’t you know we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life?” Angels? Fallen angels, like Satan himself. We’ll be there for their final judgment. That’s why Satan hates you so much and wants to ruin your life. God loves you so much, and he’s jealous.

The Path of Life (1 Corinthians 6:4-8)

So if they have disputes about everyday matters, why appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? Paul says this to shame them. Is there really no one wise enough among them to settle a dispute between believers? Instead, brother sues brother, and in front of unbelievers! The very fact that they have lawsuits against each other is already a total defeat. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, they themselves were doing wrong and cheating, and to their own family!

The path of life and grace is humility.

Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself.
It’s not thinking of yourself at all.
Think about others.
That’s where you’ll find life, joy and happiness.

They weren’t happy because they were walking the path of the self-life, the flesh-life. They were wronging and cheating their own family!

Brothers and sisters are family. Spend time with your family. That’s one of the beautiful things about a healthy church.

Who You Were, and Who You Are (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Don’t they know that the unrighteous won’t inherit the kingdom of God? Don’t be deceived. The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom.

“Don’t you know?” Identity again. You are righteous. Don’t you know who you are?

Paul is telling them their identity as children of God is more true than any other identity they could claim. They’re kingdom kids. Chosen children. Transformed tots. Righteous rugrats. Awesome ankle-biters. And this new, Jesus-given identity is their only life now. His life is their life. Union with Christ.

And that’s what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Our identity changed the moment we believed.
The old identity we used to believe in was crucified with Jesus on the cross. That’s why sin and self-focused living can’t make us happy anymore.
Our only problem is that we try to carry that old dead corpse around and live by its dead life. It’s like trying to ride a horse that’s already dead. Yee-haw! It never works.
Yes, the old way used to “work.” It met our needs for affection, value and numbing the pain. But it was never the abundant, healthy, joyful life God intended.
So He did what had to be done. He put that old, broken, miserable life to death and replaced it with His Spirit, offering us everything we could ever need for free through His Son.
And it’s all received as we simply believe this wonderful gospel. When you believe it, you’ll see it’s true.
If you keep living by the old corpse, your life will smell like one. Not the abundant life.

Three words describe our new identity:

Washed: made clean, healed and valuable.
Sanctified: set apart to serve God.
Justified: declared righteous. You never need to be ashamed again. All shame is gone. You’re a legitimate child of God and an heir of His kingdom.

Even when you sin, you’re still free from shame. God doesn’t use shame to change you. He uses the love and Spirit of His Son.

Free, but Not Enslaved (1 Corinthians 6:12)

“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I won’t be mastered by anything.

The Corinthians had misunderstood their identity. They thought, “I’m free from sin’s penalty, so it doesn’t matter what I do now.”

Paul gives the principle:

Yes, you’re free.
You’re not under the Law.
You’ll always be forgiven.
But you can still choose to sin.
And if you do, it will hurt you and others.
And you’ll become a slave to the very sin you chose. You’re free, but you willingly let it tie you up.
A slave is under someone else’s power.

And in our world, as in theirs, this is felt most powerfully through sexual sin.

Made for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13-14)

“Food is for the stomach, and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both. But the body isn’t meant for sexual immorality. It’s for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

The world’s slogan was: eat when you’re hungry. Satisfy your appetite. It doesn’t matter.
So the culture said the same thing about sex. When you feel like it, do it. It doesn’t matter.
But Paul tells them the truth: your body is made for the Lord.
It’s not made for sinning. The purpose of your life is to be joined to the Lord. Union with Christ! You’re one with Him.
Whatever you do, He’s with you. He’ll never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). His love is so perfect He’ll endure all your mess.
We’re made for each other, us and Jesus.

God raised the Lord, and He’ll raise us too by His power.

Jesus’ body has already been raised. He’s in heaven with a glorified body, pure, holy and beautiful beyond measure.
We’re in Christ now, and His life is our identity.
One day we’ll receive bodies that match what’s already true about us: pure, holy and beautiful. He shares His life with us.
Your body will be transformed. It will still be you, like a seed that becomes a flower (1 Corinthians 15:35-44). So what you do with your body today matters.

Members of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15-17)

Don’t they know their bodies are members of Christ? Should he take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!

The Corinthian church was okay with any sexual thing people wanted. Visit a prostitute? Doesn’t matter.
But Paul says it does matter, precisely because Jesus lives in you.
God has blessed marriage as the only place where sex is safe.
Sex is like fire. In the right place, it’s beautiful and wonderful. Out of place, it will burn you and might even destroy you.

Why is this such a big deal? Don’t they know that whoever is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? Scripture says the two will become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.

One spirit with the Lord. In the heat of lustful passion, spiritual things can seem far away. Yet at the root of most lust is a desire for love, acceptance and adventure, and all of that is satisfied far better and more completely in a one-spirit relationship with the Lord than in sexual immorality. Union with Christ!

Flee (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)

Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

And your body carries precious cargo.

Don’t they know their body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in them and whom they received from God? They aren’t their own. They were bought at a price. So glorify God in your body.

The application is simply: flee sexual immorality. Why? Because of your identity as God’s temple and the bride of Christ. And because that’s where you’ll be happiest. He is the source of your joy.

“You aren’t your own. You were bought at a price.”

This isn’t about control. It shows you how valuable you are. How precious.
Nothing you do is insignificant.
Nothing you do is just you doing it, because you’re never alone. Jesus is truly with you at all times. He’ll never leave you.
You’re truly free. Not free to sin, but free from sin, to go with your God and live in union with Jesus.

Paul has been crucified with Christ; it’s no longer he who lives, but Christ in him. He lives by faith in the Son of God who loved him and gave Himself for him (Galatians 2:20).

Nothing to Smuggle

If you’re tempted to any kind of sexual immorality (and almost everyone is), the only way to freedom is to remember that Jesus’ love is more real and more satisfying than anything else. He faithfully lives in your heart. He will meet your every need. Life with Him is a thrilling adventure. But like any relationship, you have to jump in with all your heart.

Have you opened your whole heart to Him? Or is there something you’re trying to smuggle through, like baby spider monkeys?

He already knows about the spider monkeys. Just confess it all to the Lord and know the warmth of His embrace. His love for you doesn’t depend on you. But you can keep yourself from enjoying it by holding on to your sin instead of holding on to Him.

Grab your joy! It’s found in a life surrendered to Jesus.

Grace Takeaway

You were washed, sanctified and justified. You’re one spirit with the Lord, and your body is His temple. Sin promises happiness and delivers slavery. Jesus offers real joy. Stop smuggling, open your whole heart to Him, and enjoy the life you were made for.

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Does Smuggling Baby Spider Monkeys Make You Happy?