1 Corinthians 6:5, commentary and pictures

It is a rebuke spoken to the shame of believers who carry disputes between brethren before unbelievers and worldly courts instead of settling them within the church. It declares it a shame to the church if there is not a wise man among believers able to judge between his brethren in the things that pertain to this life. Since the saints shall judge the world and shall judge angels, they are not unworthy to judge the smallest matters, and are not to take their troubles to those who do not fear God. For brother to go to law with brother before unbelievers is utterly a fault, and rather than do wrong and defraud, believers should rather take wrong and suffer themselves to be defrauded. To do otherwise misrepresents God's character, crucifies Christ afresh and puts Him to open shame, and does great harm to His people, so differences between Christians are to be addressed privately and settled within the church according to Christ's instruction.

Shame of Suing Before Unbelievers

Paul's question is spoken to shame, rebuking believers who carry disputes between brethren before unbelievers, the unjust, civil tribunals and worldly courts instead of settling them within the church. To make the world their judge in this way brings sacred matters belonging to the church into public shame. It is shame to the church if there is not a wise man among believers, not one able to judge between his brethren. That rebuke concerns judgments of things that pertain to this life, and it assumes the church has members able to settle ordinary matters between brethren. Even those least esteemed in the church are to be set to judge the smallest matters rather than brother going to law with brother before the unjust and not before the saints.

Because the saints shall judge the world, they are not unworthy to judge the smallest matters. Because they shall judge angels also, they are therefore able to judge things that pertain to this life. God does not want His people to take their troubles for decision to the subjects of the enemy, to lawyers not of their faith. Those outside do not fear Him and do not obey His requirements, and do not have the wisdom that comes down from above. Instead His people are to have confidence in one another to settle difficulties between brethren.

For brother to go to law with brother before unbelievers is utterly a fault. Instead of doing wrong and defrauding brethren, believers should rather take wrong and suffer themselves to be defrauded. A Christian should even accept being defrauded rather than expose a fellow believer's sins before the world. For the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This call to cease wrongdoing belongs with purging out the old leaven that the church may be a new lump, keeping the feast not with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, for Christ the passover is sacrificed.

Dishonor and Harm From Lawsuits

Taking a fellow believer to court misrepresents God's character and acts in a spirit of rebellion against God. To claim loyalty to God while doing so is disloyalty to the God of truth, for such loyalty is to the enemy of righteousness and not to the God of truth. Those who have light are called to represent the perfect model upon which every character should be formed, yet suing brethren misrepresents Him by a course against the truth while still claiming to be loyal. The shame of the verse is that believers should be able to resolve matters among themselves by a wise man judging between them rather than sue their brethren.

Making worldly lawyers and unbelievers the stay and support and right arm, and leaning on the arm of the law, testifies to forsaking the true God and not making the Lord the leader. Appealing to unbelievers to settle difficulties in the church and opening church difficulties before those who do not fear Him and do not obey His requirements shows lack of faith in God and dishonors Him, because they do not have the wisdom that comes down from above. Consulting lawyers in church matters dishonors God and reflects failure to rely on God and use the spiritual discernment He provides. Disputes between believers should be judged by a wise person among them rather than taken to lawyers.

Bringing church matters before the world for decision chooses the world as judge. It shows sympathy between the world and unconverted church members, for when reproved for wanting their own way some make the world their confidence and appeal to the courts of the world. It betrays sacred trusts which the world eagerly seizes, and those who do so have their names registered in heaven as one with unbelievers. Bringing sacred church matters into public shame in this way makes the world their judge.

Such action crucifies Christ afresh and puts Him to open shame. It bruises and wounds Christ in the person of His saints, arousing prejudice against God's people as a body and doing great harm to God's people and His institutions. It causes Satan to exult and to hold up God's cause in a ridiculous and disparaging light before unbelievers. It injures the soul of the one who sues and is backsliding, and every act is kept in the record of the books of heaven. This action also brings collision and strife.

It comes from pride, self-love, self-exaltation and self-interest, and pride and self-interest can keep believers from discussing the matter and praying together. It makes believers unlike children of God and like men who have lost their first love, and shows contempt for the authority God gave the church. Lawsuits bring disgrace and public shame on the church by exposing its defects before unbelievers. Doing so gives the enemy great advantage to entangle and perplex them, so it is better to make a settlement even at some loss if it can possibly be avoided. It keeps more souls from being convinced of the truth.

The rebuke falls especially on those in ministry and medical missionary work who do things an honorable worldling would not do, with whom God has a controversy for walking in the light of sparks of their own kindling. Those who hinder the advancement of God's work in this way by leaning on the arm of the law and making unbelievers a stay and support should be relieved of responsibilities in connection with the work of God. The whole sixth chapter is a lesson gospel ministers and medical missionaries should study. It calls the watchmen to wake up and give the warning message for this time, to take in the situation, to understand their need to be healed of the maladies of sin and unbelief, to refuse the teachings of the prince of darkness, and to have Satan cast out of the heart.

This holds for disputes harming God's institution and work, where dishonest lawyers for gain deal unjustly and those who depart from the faith link with them to oppress the people of God. God permits such an action, never before entered into by His people, to reveal to the deceived what power is controlling those entrusted with great responsibilities. It calls for sentinels who will stand shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, with present truth.

Resolving Disputes God's Way

Differences between Christians are to be addressed privately and settled within the church according to Christ's instruction, rather than taken before unbelievers in civil courts. It is shameful to have no wise person among believers able to judge between brethren, and the call is to resolve disagreements in the spirit of Christ instead of through pride, contention and lawsuits. A Christian should even accept being defrauded rather than expose a fellow believer's sins before the world.

One who is wronged should follow Christ's instruction to seek to save the offending brother rather than avenge himself. Pride and self-interest keep believers from discussing the matter and praying together, and lawsuits over such disputes bring disgrace on the church and show contempt for the authority God gave it. The wronged one is instead to entrust the case to God, who judges righteously.

Instead of opening church difficulties before those who do not fear God and do not have the wisdom that comes down from above, God's people should agree together over what they desire and unite in persevering prayer to God for deliverance. Discord and legal quarrels are disloyal to God and to one another and dishonor Him, and must be overcome through prayer and Christlike effort for harmony within the church. Looking clearly at Jesus and His sacrifice softens the heart and heals these difficulties, and the Spirit gives strength to resist the temptation to take a brother to court.

Believers who lack tact for wise management of worldly matters must humbly counsel beforehand with brethren in whose judgment they can have confidence, letting those who have judgment calculate for them. Bearing one another's burdens includes this early counsel, for waiting until self-chosen plans have brought involvement in difficulties makes the burden much heavier than at first. Brethren must not go to law against each other if it can possibly be avoided, because doing so gives the enemy great advantage to entangle and perplex them, so it is better to make a settlement even at some loss.

A suit against brethren or neighbors that was begun must be taken out of lawyers' hands and withdrawn, and another must never be brought into court. There must be no lawsuits between neighbors or brothers, for to sue God's commandment-keeping people before the world goes directly contrary to the plain word of God. When church members have the higher, greater, infinitely more ennobling knowledge that God shines in hearts, their practice will be well-ordered and godly, revealing Christ and recommending faith.