1 DARE any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. [ "touv exouqenhmenouv", Those who were in the lowest order of judges; for the apostle may refer here to the order in the Jewish benches, as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, of which there were five, viz:- 1. The great Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy-two elders, which presided in Jerusalem. 2. The little Sanhedrin of twenty-five, in large cities, out of Jerusalem. 3. The Bench of Three in every synagogue. 4. The Authorized, or Authentic Bench. 5. The Bench not authorized, exouqenhmenov. This latter bench was so called because it received not its authority immediately from the Sanhedrin, but was chosen by the parties between whom the controversy depended. The apostle certainly does not mean persons of no repute, but such as these arbitrators, who were chosen for the purpose of settling private differences, and preventing them from going before the regular magistrates. The following verse makes it pretty evident that the apostle refers to this lower kind of tribunal; and hence he says,- ]

5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? [ The matters that you have in disput with your brethern, are they such that you cannot arbitrate within your church unit. Do you really need to take those disputations to the councils of the world. ]

6  But brother goeth to law with brother, [ you are brothes in the gospel, there is not place to sue each other in the worldly courts . Settle your matters within. ] , and that before the unbelievers.

7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather ^bsuffer yourselves to be defrauded?

8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: [ Don't think that you can be this way and be able to return to Gods presence. ] neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. [ None of these will return and live in the presence of God. There is more in the list found in Rom 1:29-31. ]

11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [ How does the Lord view our bodies? How is this different from the way Satan wants us to think of our bodies? What does it mean that our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost? Why is chastity so important to the Lord? What can you do to teach your children the value of sexual purity? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “May I stress that human intimacy is reserved for a married couple because it is the ultimate symbol of total union, a totality and a union ordained and defined by God. … “But such a total union, such an unyielding commitment between a man and a woman, can only come with the proximity and permanence afforded in a marriage covenant, with solemn promises and the pledge of all they possess—their very hearts and minds, all their days and all their dreams” (“Personal Purity,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 76). Elder David A. Bednar explained: “[Sexual] relations are not merely a curiosity to be explored, an appetite to be satisfied, or a type of recreation or entertainment to be pursued selfishly. They are not a conquest to be achieved or simply an act to be performed. Rather, they are in mortality one of the ultimate expressions of our divine nature and potential and a way of strengthening emotional and spiritual bonds between husband and wife. We are agents blessed with moral agency and are defined by our divine heritage as children of God—and not by sexual behaviors, contemporary attitudes, or secular philosophies” (“We Believe in Being Chaste,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 42). ] which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20  For ye are bought with a price: [ In Jewish wedding tradition this is called "mohar" or bride price. The bride was an acquired or purchased possession. While in our day that may sound demeaning, for them it was not as the price paid (the endowment made) was at least in part to provide for her in the event that the groom died, so that she could be taken care of. So here we have the suggestion that Christ paid the "bride price" for us by living a sinless life, and then working out the atonement for us on the cross and at Gethsemane. (Luke 22:39-41;44) ] therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.