Paul uses a play on words that is intended to get the attention of the Corinthians who went to court against each other. He uses an unusual term in the Greek for defeat to point out that even the person who “won” in court created a moral failure for the local church.

Paul considered that matters that brought the legal dispute “trivial” (1 Corin. 6:2) when compared to the testimony of the gospel and the eternal promises of God. We need to look to His eternal promises when we think about how we treat fellow members of the body of Christ.

Paul says in these verses that it would be better to be wronged in such a matter than to harm our brothers and sisters in Christ. We point out that this does not mean that Christians cannot appeal to civil authorities since Paul did so himself in the Book of Acts. This concerns internal church matters. The alternative to such internal disputes is to not behave like pagans and show love and compassion for people in the congregation.

Our applications are from James, 1 Thessalonians and 1 Peter where there is strong teaching against false judgments based on social status, patience with one another, and having grace to be gracious.