This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

We are in chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians together this week. This is day one of our
look at this chapter. And we're going to look at verses 1 to 11 today, because
these verses, when taken all together, they help us to understand what do you do
when Christians disagree?

And not just some little disagreement about what restaurant you should go to
together after small group or after church, but a really radical disagreement
that has you at opposite ends of the pole, that has you feeling like I can never
talk to that person again. In fact, I've got to resolve some things with that
person. Maybe it's a money issue.

Maybe it's a relationship issue. Maybe it's a partnership issue. But you just
cannot seem to agree with each other.

What do you do when that happens? It was happening in Corinth. And because it
was happening and they were going in some bad directions, Paul says, here's what
you do.

He tells them three things to do. First he says to them in verses 1 to 6, he
says, number one, judge between yourselves in the church. Don't get somebody
outside involved.

Judge between yourselves in the church. Listen to what he says, verses 1 to 6.
If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for
judgment instead of before the saints?

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you were to judge
the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we
will judge angels?

How much more the things of this life? Therefore, if you have disputes about
such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church. I say
this to shame you.

Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute
between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another and this
in front of unbelievers. First thing that Paul says to this church is, why do
you turn to those who have less spiritual wisdom to judge the matter of your
spiritual relationships?

As we read this, don't take each other to court. I understand there are lots of
questions about this, so let's deal with them first. First of all, he's talking
here about a dispute between two individuals.

He's not talking about a dispute between two businesses or two countries. There
are other very strong scriptures that apply to integrity and how we should act
in those situations. But this particular scripture has to do with two
individuals who are arguing with each other.

They were going to court over hurts that they'd done to each other in the
church. Paul says, that's got to stop. This isn't figuring out some financial
situation.

This is you hurt me, I hurt you, and we're going to go to court over it. The
other big question that people have about this is, what about divorce? Does this
mean that a Christian should never get a lawyer involved in a divorce?

Well, first, obviously, God hates divorce and we pray and hope that it would
never happen. But what if it does? Well, there is Christian litigation possible.

There's a possibility of actually doing what Paul says here and going to another
believer and letting them be a judge in this. But even as you're doing that, you
have to realize that a marriage is more than just a relationship. There's also a
contract with the state involved.

So at some point, you have to get involved with what to do with that contract.
You see, we tend to get caught up with, well, maybe it doesn't mean this or it
doesn't mean this. And by doing that, we lose the larger issue here.

And the larger issue is this. I've seen this happen hundreds of times. I find
that when believers get mad at each other, they often tend to go to an
unbeliever or to an immature believer first to resolve the conflict.

Someone who will agree with you in your own immaturity, someone who will agree
with you in your own anger or your own desire for revenge, the last person you
want to go to is someone who has wisdom, someone who will tell you to forgive,
someone who will tell you to go in the right direction. So you look for the
person who will give you the wrong advice. That's what they were doing in
Corinth, and that's what we have to watch out for doing.

You see, Paul, as he writes, says, "Realize who you are. " He says, "You're
saints. " I don't know if you knew this.

You are a saint. A saint isn't just someone who ascends to this high
ecclesiastical privilege, not in the New Testament. Every Christian is called a
saint.

It simply means set apart. We're all set apart for his purposes. And here he
says, "Saints, you're going to judge the world.

" Now just last week, we talked about the fact that God's the only judge. We're
not the judge. So when he says we're going to judge the world here, it takes
into account what we just read last week.

We're not the judge, but we are serving God as the judge. We're involved in it
in some way. I don't know how, but I do know this.

We're going to have a lot more responsibilities in heaven than we can imagine.
We're going to judge the world. We're going to judge angels.

I do know this when the Bible says that we are co-heirs with Jesus Christ. We
are brothers of Christ in heaven. There is responsibility.

There is opportunity that we have in heaven to serve God that is just going to
be the most amazing thing for all eternity. So the first thing that Paul says
is, "In light of who you are, don't take these to other people. Begin with one
another.

Judge this with one another. Judge between yourselves in the church. " The
second thing he says is this, "And there's a dispute with another believer.

Realize that there are more important issues than you being proven right. " Now
I know you hate to hear that. I hate to hear that, but it's what Paul says.

"Realize that there are more important issues than you being proven right. "
Listen to verses seven and eight. "The very fact that you have lawsuits among
you means that you have been completely defeated already.

Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves
cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.

" Now I know as Americans especially, this is very difficult for us to hear. Why
not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

We don't let anybody wrong us. We don't let anybody cheat us. And Paul is not
talking here about letting somebody walk all over you or take advantage of you.

He's saying there are often more important considerations. And if for the sake
of you being proven right, you go before a court and you show that court that
the church is not the place you want to be, Jesus is not the one you want to
follow. You've just affected that judge for eternity.

So Paul says, "Why not rather be wronged? Sometimes in life, even when you're
wronged, even when you know you're right, even when you know you can be proven
right, you have to let it go. Why?

For the greater good. Not for your greater good even, or their greater good, but
the greater good of the gospel, the greater good of your integrity, the greater
good of letting go of your bitterness. Why not rather be wronged?

" Now I understand there are some situations in life where this does not apply.
And Paul is not talking about a situation of abuse here that would continue if
he did not bring it up. Paul is not talking here about all those kinds of
situations.

He's talking about somebody who's upset because somebody has hurt them. They've
done something to them that they feel offended by. And Paul says, "Sometimes you
just have to realize I'm going to just have to be offended.

I'm going to have to let it go. Why not rather be wronged? I met so many people
who have lived all of their lives trying to get right on the right side of some
bitterness and they've become more and more bitter because of it.

If they just at the beginning said, "I was wronged. I'm going to let it go. I'm
going to put it in God's hands," their life would not have been torn apart by
what happened to them.

So Paul says there are more important issues than proving yourself right or
wrong many times. We all know that, but the scripture needs to remind you of
that for new strength. The third thing that Paul says you and I are to do when
there are disputes among us is we need to realize who we really are.

When there's an argument in the church, when there's an argument between another
believer, realize who you both are. Who are we? Listen to verses 9 to 11.

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male
prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor
drunkers, nor slanders, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom
of God.

" And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified,
and you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of
God. In these verses Paul says the wicked is what some of you were.

In fact, the wicked is what all of us were before we came to know Christ. And he
gives a list of some sins, and these are all sins. Sexual immorality is a sin,
idolatry is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, prostitution is a sin, stealing is a
sin, being greedy is a sin.

And Paul doesn't really distinguish between them here, one's greater, one's
lesser. He says it's all sin, it's all wickedness. We've all sinned.

We've all fallen short of God's glory. And because of that Paul says we will not
inherit God's kingdom. Now many of us read this and we think, "Well, I'm out
then.

I mean, these things that are listed here, I've done one, two, three of these
things. Four, five, some of us could list all of them. So how could I be a part
of God's kingdom?

" Once you came to know Jesus Christ, your identity changed. Who you are changed
in the eyes of God. Now it may not have changed immediately to you.

It's changing slowly but surely. But in the eyes of God, immediately he no
longer saw you as wicked. Immediately he forgave your sin and covered your sin.

Immediately he saw you as what verse 11 talks about. He saw you as washed. He
cleansed away your sin.

He washed it away. He saw you as sanctified. That word means set apart.

That word means holy. It's the same word as the word holy. He made you holy
immediately.

Now you don't feel holy and everything you do isn't holy yet. But God sees you
that way. He justified you.

Justified means to be declared not guilty. It's done. It's finished.

These are all past tense words. We are washed. We are sanctified.

We are justified. That's the way God now sees you. Paul is saying here you are a
different person now because of who you are in Christ.

You see, if you see yourself as still the same as before you became a believer,
then you'll do things just the same. But if you see yourself as radically
changed now that you're a believer, you'll do things radically differently. Even
though you have the same circumstances, you are now a different person.

And so you can grow through those circumstances instead of being defeated by
them. Even though you have the same feelings as you had before you were a
believer, you are now a different person. And so you can be directed by the
truth of God's love instead of driven by negative emotions.

Even though you have the same temptations as you had before you were a believer,
that doesn't change once you became a Christian. You are now a different person.
And so now you have the power to say yes to God and no to those temptations.

When we become believers, we want God to change our circumstances, to change our
feelings, to change our temptations. And that, we think, will cause us to be a
different person. But he doesn't do it that way.

He changes us. He changes you so that you have a new power to handle your
circumstances and your feelings and your temptations in a new way. Now, do you
do it the right way, God's way, every time?

No, I don't. It's many times three steps forward and two steps back in growing
as a Christian. But Paul is reminding us here, you have a new power.

And so when you have a dispute or any other thing going on between you and
another believer or between you and God or between you and a temptation, you
realize who you really are. That's where you start. You are a new believer with
a new power, a new creation in God.

That's what you hang on to. Now, as you pray together today, I'd like to hang on
to that truth together. Lord Jesus, we ask that this day you help us to hang on
to the truth that you have made us new.

We may not see it yet or feel it yet, but it's the truth. We believe it. We
trust in it because of who you are.

So help us to begin to live out the truth of who you have already made us to be.
We ask this in your name, Jesus. Amen.