1 Corinthians 6:1-6

§ 17. LAW-SUITS IN HEATHEN COURTS. Beside the πόρνος, amongst those to be excommunicated at Cor [887], stood the πλεονέκτης (1 Corinthians 5:11); fraud and robbery were only less rife than licentiousness; and this element of corruption, along with the other, had reappeared within the Church (1 Corinthians 6:8). Instead of being repressed by timely correction, the evil had grown rank; in several instances aggrieved Christian parties had carried their complaints before the civil Courts, to the scandal of the Church and to Paul's high indignation. Two links of thought connect chh. 5. and 6.: (1) the kindred nature of sins of impurity and of covetousness, both prevalent at Cor [888], both destructive of society; (2) the lamentable lack of Church discipline (1 Corinthians 5:12), which enabled these mischiefs to gather head.

[887] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[888] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.