What does "you yourselves cheat and do wrong" reveal about Christian conduct? Setting the Scene in Corinth 1 Corinthians 6 opens with believers dragging one another into secular courts. In verse 8 Paul exclaims, “Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers!”. The shock in his voice signals more than a legal misstep; it exposes a heart issue that clashes with redeemed identity. The Stark Indictment: “You Yourselves Cheat and Do Wrong” • “Cheat” (Greek: apostereō) means to defraud, rob, withhold what is due. • “Do wrong” (adikeō) is a broad term for acting unjustly, violating righteousness. Paul is not describing isolated lapses but a pattern native to the old life that should have died at conversion (cf. Romans 6:6). What This Exposes About Our Hearts • Disregard for the body of Christ—harming “your own brothers.” • Preference for self-advantage over gospel witness (Philippians 2:4). • Unbelief in God’s coming judgment; wronging others assumes no ultimate accountability (Hebrews 4:13). • Forgetting the cost of redemption—Christ was “made sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21); how can we now impose sin on others? The Call to a Higher Standard of Conduct Scripture paints a vivid contrast between cheating others and true Christian behavior: • Choose loss over wrongdoing – “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?” (1 Corinthians 6:7). – Echoes Jesus’ “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39). • Walk in integrity – “Let each of you speak truthfully to his neighbor” (Ephesians 4:25). – “Let the thief steal no longer… work with his own hands” (Ephesians 4:28). • Honor the brotherhood – “No one should wrong or defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger” (1 Thessalonians 4:6). – “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another” (Romans 12:10). • Guard the church’s witness – “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles” (1 Peter 2:12). – When believers defraud, the world sees hypocrisy instead of holiness. Living It Out Together • Examine motives: Is any desire for personal gain eroding obedience? • Settle disputes inside the family of faith, guided by Matthew 18:15-17. • Make restitution quickly (Luke 19:8). Integrity often costs something up front but yields eternal reward. • Practice open-handed generosity; cheating withers in the soil of sacrificial love (Acts 2:44-45). • Encourage mutual accountability—invite trusted believers to speak truth when attitudes slide toward self-interest (Hebrews 10:24-25). “You yourselves cheat and do wrong” warns that unrepentant injustice is flatly incompatible with the new life in Christ. Called to holiness, believers abandon every form of fraud, embrace loss if necessary, and display the righteousness that magnifies the Savior who will one day judge every deed. |
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