[FS] Live Christ in Your Culture #13, Stop Acting Like You're Not Saved!

Devotional

Day 1: When Harbor Freight Yelling Echoes in Church Courts

A man’s angry outburst at a cashier over a missing package became a public contradiction of his Christian identity. Paul confronts the Corinthians for airing grievances in secular courts rather than resolving conflicts within the church. Taking disputes before unbelievers betrays the call to love one another and undermines the church’s witness. Every lawsuit between believers becomes a spiritual defeat, trading eternal perspective for temporary justice. The world watches how Christians handle conflict – not as entertainment, but as evidence of Christ’s transformative power. [34:33]

"When one of you has a dispute against another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest cases?" (1 Corinthians 6:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: What unresolved tension in your life might God be calling you to address within the church family rather than through worldly systems? How could choosing reconciliation over being “right” better reflect Christ’s love?

Day 2: Saints Judging Angels, Yet Stumbling Over Trivial Cases

Paul uses cosmic irony: believers destined to judge angels and the world were outsourcing petty disputes to pagan courts. The church’s eternal vocation makes them uniquely qualified to arbitrate earthly conflicts through Christ’s wisdom. Yet the Corinthians acted like spiritual amateurs, forgetting their identity as sanctified arbiters of grace. Their shame wasn’t merely poor conflict resolution – it was amnesia about their royal priesthood. [48:31]

"Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you underestimated your spiritual authority in Christ to bring healing to broken relationships? What earthly conflict needs reevaluation through your eternal identity?

Day 3: Why Not Let the Car Go? Trusting God with Unpaid Debts

Seventeen years after releasing a debt on a Chevy Lumina, a repentant letter arrived with full payment. Paul’s radical command – “Why not rather be defrauded?” – challenges believers to absorb loss for eternal gain. This countercultural surrender trusts God’s economy over human justice. The choice to release grievances becomes fertile soil for unexpected redemption stories. [59:28]

"If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." (Matthew 5:40-41, ESV)

Reflection: What unresolved hurt or injustice are you clinging to that God might be asking you to release? How could surrendering your “rights” create space for His redemption?

Day 4: From Washed to Justified: The Threefold Mark of Salvation

Paul jolts the Corinthians with their baptismal resume: washed (sin’s stain removed), sanctified (set apart for holiness), justified (declared righteous in heaven’s court). Their courtroom squabbles contradicted this triple identity. The same grace that cleansed mortal sins empowers believers to absorb minor offenses. Earthly lawsuits shrink when viewed through the lens of eternal acquittal. [01:04:17]

"And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV)

Reflection: How does remembering your “washed, sanctified, justified” identity change your approach to daily conflicts? Which of these three truths do you most need to reclaim today?

Day 5: Communion Crumbs and the Courtroom of Grace

The Lord’s Supper memorializes the ultimate case dismissal: Christ’s body broken and blood poured out to settle humanity’s cosmic debt. As believers partake, they rehearse living as forgiven people who forgive. Every crumb of bread whispers, “You’ve been released – now release others.” The courtroom of grace transforms plaintiffs into peacemakers. [01:17:32]

"And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" (Matthew 26:27-28, ESV)

Reflection: How does Christ’s sacrificial forgiveness reshape your approach to others’ failures? What grievance loses its power when held next to the communion cup?

Sermon Summary

Paul opens 1 Corinthians 6 with a hard word to a church that should have known better. Paul sees brothers taking brothers into public court, and he treats that as more than a private argument. The issue is a bad witness, Christians standing before the world and acting like they are not saved. Paul’s tone is almost flabbergasted, because the church has already been taught truth that should have guided its behavior.

Paul’s repeated question, “Do you not know?” presses on what the Corinthians already knew but were ignoring. The question does not just expose ignorance. It exposes a failure to live out Christian identity. The Corinthians had let the culture shape their pride before, with preacher preferences and tolerated sin, and now that same worldly spirit shows up in civil disputes dragged before unbelievers.

Paul tells the church not to take civil disputes to secular court when those matters can be settled among the saints. The saints are not some special class of super Christians. The saints are every believer in Christ. Paul argues from the greater to the lesser: if the saints will one day judge the world and even angels with Christ, then the church ought to be wise enough to settle “trivial cases” in this life.

The public court in Corinth made the problem worse, because lawsuits were open, visible, and almost like entertainment. Paul sees that public fighting as a direct contradiction of Jesus’ command that disciples be known by love for one another. Lawsuits between brothers may produce a legal winner, but Paul says the church has “already lost.” Christian love lays down life for a brother; suing a brother in front of unbelievers moves in the opposite direction.

Paul then gives the harder option: “Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” Jesus taught the same spirit in the Sermon on the Mount, where a disciple turns the other cheek, gives the cloak also, and walks the second mile. The choice to let go is not weakness; it is trust that God can do more with surrendered wrong than a court can do with demanded rights.

Paul grounds all of this in salvation. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom, and “such were some of you.” But the Corinthians were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Paul wants the church to live in that incredible salvation, to stop acting like it is not saved, and to remember through the Lord’s Supper the body and blood that made sinners clean.

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Key Takeaways

1. Public fighting damages Christian witness. Paul treats lawsuits between believers as more than a legal problem; Paul sees a public denial of Christian love. The world is supposed to see disciples by their love for one another, not by brothers dragging brothers into court. Even when a case is technically won, the witness may already be lost. [45:56]
2. The church should know better. Paul’s “Do you not know?” assumes the Corinthians had truth available but failed to let it govern their actions. Spiritual maturity is not merely having heard right doctrine before. Spiritual maturity is remembered truth becoming practiced wisdom under pressure. [39:28]
3. Sometimes faith chooses to be defrauded. Paul’s question, “Why not rather be defrauded?” cuts against the instinct to demand every right and settle every score. Trusting God with a wrong suffered can become a deeper witness than winning a public fight. Surrendered loss may leave room for God to work in ways control never could. [55:26]
4. Salvation changes ordinary disputes. Paul does not separate church conflict from the gospel; Paul ties behavior directly to being washed, sanctified, and justified. A believer’s identity in Christ should reshape even civil disagreements, money conflicts, and personal grievances. The saved life is not just a future inheritance, but a present way of handling wrong. [64:17]
5. Communion remembers costly cleansing. The Lord’s Supper holds before the church the body and blood of Christ, the visible reminder that salvation came by sacrifice. Washed, sanctified, and justified people come to the table because Jesus’ blood covers sin before the Father. That remembrance should make Christian pride, revenge, and public hostility feel out of place.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[35:37] - A Bad Witness Before the World
[37:13] - Paul’s Charge Against Lawsuits
[39:28] - “Do You Not Know?”
[42:51] - Settle Disputes in the Church
[45:56] - Love One Another, Not Lawsuits
[48:31] - Saints Will Judge the World
[55:26] - Why Not Be Defrauded?
[57:23] - The Chevy Lumina Story
[63:49] - Live in Salvation
[66:21] - Washed, Sanctified, Justified
[71:09] - The Lord’s Supper Reminder
[77:32] - The Body and Blood of Christ

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 6:1-11
“When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers! Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” [34:04] [37:20]

John 13:35
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [46:00]

Matthew 5:39-42
“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” [56:20]

1 John 3:16
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” [46:22]

Observation questions

In 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, what repeated question does Paul use to confront the church, and what kinds of truths were they failing to live by? [39:28]
What reasons does Paul give for why believers should not take their grievances before unbelieving courts?
According to John 13:35 and 1 John 3:16, what is supposed to mark believers in their relationships with one another, and how does that contrast with public lawsuits? [45:56]
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, what three words does Paul use to describe what God has done for believers, and how do those words describe a real change in identity? [01:06:21]

Interpretation questions

Paul says that having lawsuits at all with one another is “already a defeat.” Why would a church lose even if one person wins the case? [44:41]
Paul moves from future things to present things: if the saints will judge the world and angels, why does that strengthen his point about handling ordinary disputes inside the church? [54:10]
Jesus teaches a willingness to suffer wrong rather than always demand rights. How should “Why not rather suffer wrong?” be understood without turning it into passivity toward every kind of evil or injustice? [01:01:33]
Paul connects sinful patterns, present conduct, and salvation by saying, “such were some of you,” followed by “but you were washed, sanctified, justified.” How does that help explain why ordinary conflicts are never just ordinary for Christians? [01:03:49]

Application questions

Is there any unresolved conflict, grievance, or resentment with another believer that has been handled more like the world handles it than like Christ calls his people to handle it? What would it look like to move toward peace instead of public battle? [42:51]
When the heart says, “I deserve better,” “I have my rights,” or “I need to make this even,” what usually happens next in attitudes and speech? Where is the strongest temptation right now to demand a win instead of pursuing love? [55:40]
“Why not rather suffer wrong?” is a hard word. Is there a situation where letting go of a loss, an offense, or a debt may actually show deeper trust in God than continuing the fight? What makes that hard to consider? [01:00:40]
Christian witness is public, whether believers want it to be or not. In what settings do other people most clearly watch how conflicts are handled—family, work, church, online, or somewhere else? What kind of witness is being given there right now? [47:20]
Paul says, “such were some of you.” Which part of “washed, sanctified, justified” is most needed to remember in this season, especially in the middle of frustration with other people? [01:12:44]
If salvation really reshapes everyday life, how should it change the way money disputes, property issues, misunderstandings, or broken promises are handled among believers? [01:10:47]
The Lord’s Supper holds before the church the body and blood of Christ. How should remembering such costly mercy soften pride, revenge, or bitterness toward a brother or sister in Christ? [01:11:23]

Sermon Clips

46s

#JustifiedByHisBlood

“``But not only that, he says, then they're justified. That's a legal term. Okay? And he's he's on the subject of courts anyway. So he says that they're justified, that they're found not guilty in the court of God. Hallelujah. Yeah. Hallelujah. It is an amazing thing that we are justified in the courts of God. And the reason is, and we sang about it today, is because his blood, Jesus' blood, the blood of the land covers our sins. And so when the righteous father looks upon us, all he sees is the righteous blood of his son, not our sin.”

41s

#LiveLikeYoureSaved

“He wants them to stop acting like they're not saved. Start acting like they're saved. I think he says that to us more than we wanna hear it, but sometimes we need to hear it. And so he says, church, live in this incredible salvation that god has given to you that through Jesus Christ. Not always easy, and we're not always perfect at it, but we do it as best we can. But one of the things that he does give to us is a great and wonderful reminder, and this is why we're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper today.”

38s

#PublicCourtSpectacle

“Sue one another in in secular court or die for one another. Two polar opposites. They don't mix. And so, hence, the problem. And and and you need to understand too that during that time in the Roman Empire, the first century of the Roman Empire, the courts were always in a a public building that was an open aired public space. Okay? So it it actually was, from what I understand, a a form of entertainment for people.”

35s

#LetItGoLikeJesus

“That's a hard thing, isn't it? Nobody likes to be wrong. Nobody likes to be treated without fair judgment. I how many times have you heard yourself say, well, I deserve this or I shoulda. That wasn't right. That shoulda never happened to me. We do. We say that all the time. sometimes it might be better to say, let it go. You see, that's exactly what Jesus was teaching on the Sermon on the Mount in chapter five.”

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