Single lesson
1 Corinthians 6: Lawsuits among Believers
1 Corinthians 6:1–8; 1 Corinthians 6:9–17; 1 Corinthians 6:18–20
In this lesson, students follow how 1 Corinthians 6 links everyday conflicts, changed lives, and honouring God with the body. They will see that Paul moves from church disputes to personal conduct and calls believers to live as people who belong to the Lord.
Before you teach
In this chapter, Paul corrects believers who were taking one another to court and doing wrong to brothers. He warns that unrighteous living does not fit God’s Kingdom, reminds them that some had been washed, sanctified and justified, and teaches that the body is for the Lord, not for sexual immorality.
Students will be able to explain how 1 Corinthians 6 teaches believers to treat one another rightly and to glorify God with their bodies.
Welcome: listen for connected ideas
5 minExplain that this chapter contains connected teaching. Paul speaks about disputes among believers, warns about unrighteous behaviour, and teaches that the body belongs to the Lord. Ask students to listen for repeated ideas such as ‘don’t you know’, ‘brother’, and ‘the body’, because these help show how the whole passage fits together.
1 Corinthians 6:1, 1 Corinthians 6:6, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:13, 1 Corinthians 6:19
Read and explain: disputes and wrongdoing
9 minRead 1 Corinthians 6:1 to 1 Corinthians 6:8. Paul challenges believers for taking matters before the unrighteous and asks whether there is anyone wise enough to decide between brothers. He says that even having lawsuits with one another is already a defect, and he exposes a deeper issue: some were wronging and defrauding their own brothers.
1 Corinthians 6:1, 1 Corinthians 6:5, 1 Corinthians 6:6, 1 Corinthians 6:7, 1 Corinthians 6:8
Discuss: changed people should live differently
10 minRead 1 Corinthians 6:9 to 1 Corinthians 6:17. Paul warns that people should not be deceived about unrighteous behaviour. Then he reminds the believers that some of them had lived that way, yet they were washed, sanctified and justified. He also says that not everything is helpful and that he will not be mastered by anything.
1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:10, 1 Corinthians 6:11, 1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 6:17
Make and respond: key verse reminder card
10 minStudents choose one short line from the passage for a reminder card, such as ‘the body is for the Lord’, ‘flee sexual immorality’, or ‘glorify God in your body’. Then they write a made-up, age-appropriate example, such as a disagreement between friends or a choice about self-control, showing how the verse could guide that situation.
1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 6:13, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 6:20
Closing: glorify God in your body
6 minFinish by reading 1 Corinthians 6:18 to 1 Corinthians 6:20. Paul gives several reasons for his command: the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, believers are not their own, and they were bought with a price. Close by linking the whole lesson together: belonging to the Lord should shape both community relationships and personal conduct.
1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 6:20
Questions to explore
According to 1 Corinthians 6:7 and 1 Corinthians 6:8, what problem does Paul see beneath the lawsuits?
Look for Paul’s words about being wronged, being defrauded, and doing wrong against brothers, not only the act of going to court.
1 Corinthians 6:7, 1 Corinthians 6:8
How does 1 Corinthians 6:11 change the force of the warning in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Corinthians 6:10?
Notice the change from what some of them were to what God had done for them: washed, sanctified and justified.
1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:10, 1 Corinthians 6:11
What reasons does Paul give in 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 1 Corinthians 6:20 for glorifying God in the body?
List the reasons directly from the verses: the Holy Spirit is in you, you are not your own, and you were bought with a price.
1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 6:20
Make, think or respond
Key Verse Reminder Card
What you’ll need
- index cards or scrap paper
- pens or pencils
- markers
- Bible text
Try it together
- Ask each student to choose one phrase from 1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 6:13, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Corinthians 6:19, or 1 Corinthians 6:20 that sums up an important teaching from the passage.
- Write the phrase clearly on one side of a card and add a simple symbol or colour that matches the verse.
- On the other side, write one made-up, age-appropriate example, such as a pretend disagreement between classmates or a choice about self-control, where this verse would help guide a response.
- Invite volunteers to read their chosen verse words and explain how their hypothetical example connects to the passage.
This activity helps students connect Paul’s teaching about what is helpful, belonging to the Lord, and glorifying God with specific choices and relationships.
Adapt for your group
- For students who need more support, offer three short verse choices from 1 Corinthians 6:13, 1 Corinthians 6:18, and 1 Corinthians 6:20 and let them copy one and explain it with a simple sentence.
- For more confident students, ask them to trace a repeated phrase such as ‘don’t you know’ or a repeated idea such as ‘the body’ and explain how it supports Paul’s argument across the passage.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: ‘Lord, help us treat others rightly, remember that we belong to you, and glorify you in our bodies and lives. Amen.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
1 Corinthians 6
1 Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
2 Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
4 If then you have to judge things pertaining to this life, do you set them to judge who are of no account in the assembly?
5 I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there even one wise man among you who would be able to decide between his brothers?
6 But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers!
7 Therefore it is already altogether a defect in you that you have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
8 No, but you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that against your brothers.
9 Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom.
11 Some of you were such, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything.
13 “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power.
15 Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
16 Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or don’t you know that your body is a 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.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.