This chapter consists of two distinct paragraphs. The first, vs. 1–11, relates to lawsuits before heathen magistrates. The second, vs. 12–20, to the abuse which some had made of the principle, “All things are lawful.”
On going to law before the heathen. Vs. 1–11
PAUL expresses surprise that any Christian should prosecute a fellow Christian before a heathen judge, v. 1. If Christians are destined to judge the world, and even angels, they may surely settle among themselves their worldly affairs, vs. 2, 3. If they had such suits, must they appoint those whom the church could not esteem to decide them? Was there not one man among themselves able to act as a judge? vs. 4–6. It was a great evil that they had such lawsuits. It would be better to submit to injustice, v. 7. Instead, however, of submitting to wrong, they committed it, v. 8. He solemnly assures them that the unjust, or rapacious, or corrupt should not inherit the kingdom of God, vs. 9, 10. They had been such, but as Christians they were washed from these defilements, and justified through Christ and by his Spirit, v. 11.
1. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
The third evil in the church of Corinth which the apostle endeavours to correct, was the prosecuting legal suits before heathen judges. There was no necessity for this practice. The Roman laws allowed the Jews to settle their dispute about property by arbitration among themselves. And the early Christians, who were not distinguished as a distinct class from the Jews, had no doubt the same privilege. It is not necessary, however, to assume that the apostle has reference here to that privilege. It was enough that these civil suits might be arranged without the disgraceful spectacle of Christian suing Christian before heathen magistrates. The Rabbins say, “It is a statute which binds all Israelites, that if one Israelite has a cause against another, it must not be prosecuted before the Gentiles.” Eisenmenger’s Entdeckt. Judenth. ii. p. 427.
Dare any of you? Is any one so bold as thus to shock the Christian sense of propriety? Having a matter. The Greek phrase (πρᾶγμα ἔχειν) means to have a suit, which is obviously the sense here intended. To go to law before the unjust. It is plain that by the unjust are meant the heathen. But why are they so called? As the terms holy and righteous are often used in a technical sense to designate the professed people of God without reference to personal character; so the terms sinners and unjust are used to designate the heathen as distinguished from the people of God. The Jews as a class were holy, and the Gentiles were unholy; though many of the latter were morally much better than many of the former. In Gal. 2:15, Paul says to Peter, “We are by nature Jews, and not sinners of the Gentiles;” meaning thereby simply that they were not Gentiles. The reason why the heathen as such are called the unjust, or sinners, is that according to the Scriptures the denial of the true God, and the worship of idols, is the greatest unrighteousness; and therefore the heathen, because heathen, are called the unrighteous. The word unjust is too limited a word to answer fully to the Greek term (ἄδικος), which in its scriptural sense means wicked, not conformed to the law of God. In this verse the opposite term, saints, or the holy, designates Christians as a class; and, therefore, the unjust must mean the heathen as a class. The complaint against the Corinthians was not that they went to law before unjust judges, but that they appealed to heathen judges. It is true their being heathen proved them to be unrighteous in the scriptural sense of the term; but it was not their moral character, so much as their religious status, that was the ground of the complaint. It was indeed not to be expected that men governed by heathen laws and principles of morals, would be as fair and just as those governed by Christian principles; but what Paul complained of was, not that the Corinthians could not get justice at the hands of heathen magistrates, but that they acted unworthily of their dignity as Christians in seeking justice from such a source. Paul himself appealed to Cesar. It was, therefore, no sin in his eyes to seek justice from a heathen judge, when it could not otherwise be obtained. But it was a sin and a disgrace in his estimation for Christians to appeal to heathen magistrates to settle disputes among themselves.
2. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Do you not know? a form of expression often used by the apostle when he wishes to bring to mind some important truth, which his readers knew but disregarded. It was a conceded point, one which entered into the common faith of Christians, that the saints are to judge the world. The saints (οἱ ἅγιοι), the people of God, who are called saints because separated from the world and consecrated to his service. Those, therefore, who are of the world and devoted to its pursuits, are not saints. The saints shall judge the world. This does not mean that the time would come when Christians would become magistrates; nor that the conduct of the saints would condemn the world, as it is said the Queen of the South would condemn those who refused to listen to the words of Christ, Matt. 12:42. The context and spirit of the passage require that it should be understood of the future and final judgment. Saints are said to sit in judgment on that great day for two reasons; first, because Christ, who is to be the judge, is the head and representative of his people, in whom they reign and judge. The exaltation and dominion of Christ are their exaltation and dominion. This is the constant representation of Scripture, Eph. 2:6. In Heb. 2:5–9 the declaration that all things are subject to man, is said to be fulfilled in all things being made subject to Christ. Secondly, because his people are to be associated with Christ in his dominion. They are joint heirs with him, Rom. 8:17. If we suffer, we shall reign with him, 2 Tim. 2:12. In Dan. 7:22 it was predicted that judgment (the right and power to judge) should be given to the saints of the Most High. Comp. Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30, Rev. 2:26, 27. If then, asks the apostle, such a destiny as this awaits you, are ye unfit to decide the smallest matters? If the world (mankind) shall be judged by you (ἐν ὑμῖν), i. e. before you as judges. Are ye unworthy (ἀνάξιοι), i. e. of too little weight or value, having neither the requisite dignity nor ability. Unworthy of the smallest matters. The word (κριτήριον), here rendered matters, in the sense of causes, or matters for judgment, means, 1. A criterion or test; a rule of judgment. 2. A tribunal or place of judgment, and then, the court or assembled judges. Ex. 21:6; Judges 5:10; Dan. 7:10, and in the New Testament, James 2:6. 3. The trial, i. e. the process of judgment. 4. The cause itself, or matters to be tried. This last sense is doubtful, although it is generally adopted here because it suits so well the fourth verse, where the same word occurs. The second sense would suit this verse. ‘If ye are to sit with Christ on the seat of universal judgment, are ye unworthy of the lowest judgment seats.’ But the fourth verse is in favour of the explanation adopted in our version. ‘Are ye unfit for the least causes?’