Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of I Corinthians Chapter 6
Metaphysically Interpreting I Corinthians 6:1-12
6:1Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 6:2Or know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 6:3Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life? 6:4If then ye have to judge things pertaining to this life, do ye set them to judge who are of no account in the church? 6:5I say this to move you to shame. What, cannot there be found among you one wise man who shall be able to decide between his brethren, 6:6but brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?
6:7Nay, already it is altogether a defect in you, that ye have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather take wrong? why not rather be defrauded? 6:8Nay, but ye yourselves do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
6:9Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, 6:10nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 6:11And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
October 31, 1937: I Cor. 6:9-11
Who inherits the kingdom of God? Those who inherit the kingdom are those who enter consciously into the kingdom and through faithful affirmation of their divine nature develop power to express the better part and leave behind the lesser.
Who does not so inherit? Those who abandon themselves to the appeals of the sense consciousness or who make a fetish of externals and neglect to develop the inner life, cannot inherit what does not in any real sense belong to them.
October 29, 1939: I Cor. 6:9-11
Who inherits the kingdom of God? They inherit the kingdom whose lives entitle them to be called sons of God.
Into what classes do those who cannot inherit fall? Ten classes of those whose conduct is negative or “not right” are mentioned in the lesson as unable to inherit the kingdom.
What meaning, from a metaphysical viewpoint, attaches to the words “washed,” “sanctified,” and “justified” in the last verse of the lesson? “Washed” is another word for “denied.” A “sanctified” person is a person set apart or completely dedicated to God in thought, word, and act. “Justified” has to do with a person's vindication by faith in his indwelling Lord.
July 25, 1943: I Cor. 6:9-11
What light is thrown on the kingdom of God in the passage from I Corinthians that we study in this lesson? That we inherit the kingdom by becoming heirs to our own habits of temperate living. We receive the gifts that we earn.
How broad is the word “intemperance” as here indicated? It includes a wide range of wrong thought and wrong conduct. Intemperate feeling or emotion leads to uncontrolled social conduct. Intemperate desire leads to theft, covetousness, and extortion. Intemperate thinking and speaking causes men to become revilers. In a sense all wrongdoing is intemperance.
Can all these errors be overcome? They are overcome by bring renounced in favor of spiritual qualities and gifts of an opposite order. None but the spiritual-minded may enter a spiritual kingdom.
“But ye were washed.” To what does this refer? To baptism or (metaphysically) denial of error and its effects.
“But ye were sanctified.” How is this brought about? Anyone who devotes himself to the ideal of the perfect life in and through the Spirit of the Christ is sanctified or set apart and dedicated to the service of God.
In what respect does “justification” follow “sanctification”? To be justified is to be accepted as being right and as doing right. This acceptance can be only “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” Any claim that rests merely on personal excellence is without supporting evidence or foundation in Truth.
Metaphysically Interpreting I Corinthians 6:12-20
6:12All 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 any. 6:13Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall bring to nought both it and them. But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body: 6:14and God both raised the Lord, and will raise up as through his power. 6:15Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid. 6:16Or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith he, shall become one flesh. 6:17But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 6:18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 6:19Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; 6:20for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.
March 26, 1944: I Cor. 6:19-20
How do we glorify God in our body? By recognizing the body as the temple of the Spirit of wholeness and in that Spirit developing selflessness.
April 10, 1921: I Cor. 6:19-20
Why should the body be kept in perfect purity and health? The body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit” and in order to glorify God, one must have a pure and healthy body, through which God's life and light and beauty may express.
How was mankind bought with a price? Through ignorance and lust, the human race on this planet had nearly exhausted the life stream, and it was absolutely necessary that a fresh supply of life should be given to the perishing people. This was accomplished through the incarnation of the Cosmic Christ, or Son of God, in Jesus. The crucifixion and resurrection represent the processes through which the new life passes in redeeming the body from death.
February 4, 1940: I Cor. 6:19-20
Is the commandment “Glorify God therefore in your body” in line with the text given from Genesis? Yes. To manifest the perfect body is to glorify God in it. This power together with that of increase was given to man, when God blessed him in the beginning.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 11-09-2013
