| 1 Corinthians 6 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter 1 If any of you have a disagreement against another, do any of you dare to go to the secular courts of law before the unjust [unbelievers], and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then you have judgments of things pertaining to this life, why appoint those who are least esteemed in the church to judge between you? 5 I speak to your shame. Is it true that there is not a wise man among you? Not even one who is able to judge between his brothers? 6 But brother goes to the secular courts of law against brother, and that is displayed before unbelievers. 7 Now therefore, there is an utter failure among you, because you go to the secular courts of law with one another. Why do you not rather suffer the wrong? Why do you not rather allow yourselves to be defrauded? 8 Instead, you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that even to your own brothers. 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive male homosexual partners, nor dominant male homosexual partners, [From the word of the Lord within: "sexual desires can be overcome."] 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor scammers; these will not inherit the kingdom of God.1 11 And some [of you] were these; instead become washed, instead become sanctified, instead become righteous,2 in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not profitable; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of anything. 13 Foods are for the stomach, and the stomach is for foods; but God will destroy both the stomach and foods. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body. 14 And God has both raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his own power.3 15 Do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid. 16 What? Do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot, is one body? For he said, "the two shall become one flesh." 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.4 [From the Word of the Lord within: "Listen to and obey my voice; listen to my sweet words of wisdom. If you pay attention and obey, it results in union with God. He joins with our cleansed nature. We must become like Him to merge with Him."] 18 Flee sexual immorality.5 Every other sin that a man commits is outside his body, but he who commits sexual immorality, sins against his own body. [From the Word of the Lord within: "A man must learn control of his body. Mankind's failure — sexual immorality. Those who are immoral have no inheritance in God's kingdom."] 19 What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. 20 For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | |||||||||
1 Here is another listing of the fine print of the contract, which the preachers never mention: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male passive homosexual partners, nor nor dominant male homosexual partners, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor scammers; these will not inherit the kingdom of God. Read the fine print; read the exclusions, the requirements, and qualifying conditions necessary for salvation, all of which are totally ignored by the thousands of sects in Christendom.
From the word of the Lord within: "sexual desires can be overcome."
2 And some [of you] were these; instead become washed, instead become sanctified, instead become righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The original Greek to this verse has universally been mistranslated by Babylon's scholars to be: apelousasye <628> (5668) you are washed; hgiasyhte <37> (5681) you are sanctified; edikaiwyhte <1344> (5681) you are justified. Some translations even use the past tense; but the original Greek used the aorist tense, which could be translated past, present, or future. The Corinthian believers were still carnal, (fleshly, captive to the sins of the flesh), with envy, strife, and divisions among them, 1 Cor 3:3, which is mutually exclusive with being sanctified, justified, holy, cleansed, pure, perfect, or saved.
George Fox writes of when you are redeemed, sanctified, and justified, in his writing The Great Mystery of the Great Whore Unfolded:
"a believer that is justified is a new creature, is past from the death which came by sin, and comes to enter into His rest, where there is no sin. He who is the sanctification, is the justification, and so by their sanctification are they justified; it is one and the same, what sanctifies, justifies....Men are justified by the believing, and in the faith and by the faith, and in believing they overcome, and have victory; and there are mortification, and sanctification, and redemption, and justification, all possessed together in the one, which is Christ, and this to the particular satisfaction. "
Clearly in the above, Fox is referring to the second stage of perfection.
Consider the following:
But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found to be sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid! Gal 2:17 For we through the Spirit, by faith, patiently wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Gal 5:5.
You are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? Rom 6:16.
Only the doers of the law will be justified. Rom 2:13-14.
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. James 2:24.
Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12.
Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor 7:1.
Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Cor 15:34.
as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, Eph 5:26-27.
So, you can see the danger of looking at isolated verses and concluding that anyone who believes is cleansed, justified, and righteous — which is not true. Paul, in all the above cited verses is speaking to "believers" in the churches. But all of them are obviously not justified, righteous, clean, pure, sanctified, or perfect — yet. All of which can occur through faith by the Spirit; but it is not automatic. You must have works of faith, which begin with commanded acts of repentance. You must be freed from sin, but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Rom 8:13.
3 God will [mark! will is future tense] raise us up by his own power. That is, we will be raised up with Christ, as he is resurrected in us; we will be raised up as a new creature, to be delivered from the power of darkness, to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light, to be translated into the Kingdom of his dear Son, and be made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Jesus is resurrected in us to be our true Lord. 2 Cor 4:14, Col 2:12,3:1, Eph 2:6. And then the peace of Christ rules in our hearts by faith.
4 he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. To become one spirit with him, is to have Christ in control of your thoughts, words, and deeds. This is the union with God, as Jesus is resurrected within you to become your ruling Lord; and then you enter the rest, to sit down in Christ Jesus in the heavens. If you are one in spirit with the Lord, it is impossible for you to sin. If you are still sinning, you are not one in spirit with the Lord. If you are still sinning, you are a slave to sin. Until the Lord has freed you from all sin, you have not experienced salvation. Salvation is to be delivered from all sin, to be made free, to be made free indeed. John 8:31-32,34,1 John 3:9-10.
5 Flee sexual immorality. Any pornography in your life has to be given up; any and all, whatever the source: movies, TV, surfing the web, magazines, etc. All avenues and acts of sexual immorality have to be stopped to progress spiritually. He said to me, "he who practices adultery, (is unfaithful to a committed partner), cannot be my disciple; but I do not judge someone coming out of such a relationship, unless they fail to repent " Obviously you can't stop thought, but you must do all you can to stop all actions of sexual immorality. Thoughts and lust are something that Christ will eventually remove; (I write, having had lust removed, after a long and painful struggle, finished with the Lord's power removing my desires). Paul said: 'Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually, sins against his own body.' 1 Cor 6:18. When the gospel of peace was first preached to the gentiles, the Apostles Council in Jerusalem consulted with the Holy Spirit to give the gentiles the minimum rules they should follow. The only one of four that applies to current society is 'avoid sexual immorality.' So, you could say that this is the one rule that is necessary to start and succeed. He will then add other commands that are tailored to you.
He told me, "there is far too little love in the world today, and I look with favor on any love between men and women." Remember the Woman at the Well? She had five previous husbands, and was living unmarried with another man. But, Christ selected her, taught her, and then sent her out to witness and preach to the rest of the City. John 4:5-30. So, obviously he was not concerned. She was evidently in a committed relationship. Fidelity is what is important, not a ring; and not a ceremony from a "preacher" or civilian magistrate — neither of which have His authority. You cannot be unfaithful to man and faithful to God. So people who are living in a committed relationship, or people who have divorced and remarried, are not living in sexual immorality, at least in the Lord's eyes. You can be his disciple if you are living together in a committed relationship, but be sure your commitment is a commitment not only of yourself, but your partner also, (a committed relationship requires both parties to be committed, not just one). Realize, when you have matured spiritually to be able to speak and act according to His commands, your lack of a publicly recognized marriage would be a stumbling block for many people, and for that reason you will probably eventually want to remove that stumbling block out of love for your fellow man. You can get formally married any time you choose, or you can wait until you hear Him tell you to formalize your relationship with a legal marriage for the eyes of the world. The early Quakers' marriages took place in their meetings without a ring and without a man marrying, which you can read about in George Fox's Letter #264. When there are meetings of the true faith established again, marriages will be similarly performed; until then, perhaps a Justice of the Peace, a Judge, or the County Clerk, (not a priest or a preacher), is the best alternative for formalizing a relationship into a legal marriage.
Understand, divorce is to be avoided if at all possible by anyone seeking God, but if you are divorced and have remarried, the Lord does not condemn you. Mistakes are mistakes and cannot all be undone.
Regarding marriage: I received a command from him to dance with no one except your wife, not even close relatives of any age. Dancing is a mating ritual, so restrict it to your spouse to avoid arousal, interest, and/or temptation; even if you're not interested, your partner may be. Exceptions would be a rare cultural tradition, such as everyone taking a short whirl with the bride at a wedding.
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