Yes—Paul calls it 'utterly a fault' for believers to take their disputes before secular courts when they will one day judge the world and angels.
Paul asks why a believer with a matter against a brother would 'go to law before the unjust' instead of before fellow saints. He says that because the saints will judge the world and angels, they should be able to judge even the 'smallest matters.' In fact, he says it would be better to be wronged or defrauded than to bring the dispute before the world's courts.
1 Corinthians 6:1-8 — Paul directly rebukes believers for taking their disputes before secular courts rather than settling them before the saints.
Paul's rebuke is found in 1 Corinthians 6:1-8. He asks: "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?" He reminds them that the saints shall judge the world and even angels, so they should be able to judge "the smallest matters." He expresses shame that there was not a wise man among them able to judge between his brethren, and he says that even going to law with a brother before unbelievers is "utterly a fault." His instruction is that it would be better to take wrong and suffer defraudment than to make the dispute public before the world. Yet they were instead doing wrong and defrauding their brethren.
Les takes the passage as a practical rebuke. In Clip 0 he points out that since believers are going to rule the world and judge angels someday, they ought to be able to handle "smallest matters" within the church. He says God has imparted wisdom to every believer—even more common sense than the greatest educated philosopher—and Paul is driving home: "You have a wisdom that the world doesn't have. Use it!" In Clips 1 and 2, Les explains that the Corinthians' problem of going to "pagan courts" against one another was one of the problems Paul had to correct in a carnal, fleshly church. In Clip 6, Les notes that some Corinthians had taken someone to court and still held enmity, and Paul says they cannot take the Lord's table with that attitude. So Paul's criticism is not just about having disagreements; it is about believers choosing secular courts when they have been given wisdom and a future of ruling.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that the saints shall judge the world and that believers will judge angels. Les stresses that believers are going to rule and reign with Christ over the earthly kingdom, even above the angels. If they have that kind of future, they should be able to handle "the smallest matters" among themselves.
Paul asks if there is "not a wise man" among the Corinthians able to judge between his brethren, and says even "least esteemed in the church" could judge these matters. He does not instruct them to take these cases to the world's courts; rather, he says it is a fault to go to law with a brother and that it would be better to suffer wrong.
Les describes the Corinthians as still carnal, fleshly believers. Among their problems were divisions over which teacher they followed and believers going to the pagan courts to sue each other. These were problems Paul had to correct throughout the letter, not signs of spiritual maturity.
Future Rulers Should Judge Smallest Matters
Les explains that because believers will rule and reign with Christ and judge angels, Paul argues they should be able to settle small church disputes and use the wisdom God has given them.
Court Cases Listed Among Corinthian Problems
Les notes that going to court against one another in pagan courts was one of the problems Paul had to address in the carnal Corinthian church.
Pagan Courts Corrected
Les says Paul ran into the problem of believers suing each other in pagan courts and had to correct them on that basis.
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They all knew about it, and yet did it bother any of them? Evidently not. And Paul says, you're puffed up. Now, I think the Schofield Bible has a very apt footnote at the bottom. What does this do to these who were followers of Peter? And others who said, oh, Paul, we're not going to follow you, we follow Apollos.
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And as a result of that of course, Paul makes it very plain that the Corinthians were still so carnal. They were not a spiritual church like Ephesus or Philippi, but they were a church beset with all kinds of problems. Now the first ones we noticed of course were their divisions.
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And he says, you're not doing anything about it? All right, verse 3. He's going to do something about it. He's not going to let it slide. For he says, I verily as absent in body, but present in spirit. He knew whether supernaturally or whether he got by the grapevine, that's beside the point. But he said, even though I'm not there in body, I am present in spirit. And he says, I have judged.
Court Enmity and the Lord's Table
Les adds that some Corinthians had taken others to court and still held enmity, and Paul said they could not take the Lord's table with that attitude.
What the Bible Really Says About the Lord's Table — 1 Corinthians 10:16
He's too kind to just out and out condemn them, but neither does he commend them, and he isn't bragging on them for these things they're doing. So when we get through the love chapter, I Corinthians chapter 13, I'm going to emphasize it all the more that Paul is just backing into this situation so that he doesn't flare up their anger, and put them into a place where he can't deal with them, and ye…
1 Corinthians 6:1: Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
Paul's opening question shows that going before unbelievers was the problem.
1 Corinthians 6:2: 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?
Because believers will judge the world, they should be able to handle small disputes.
1 Corinthians 6:3: Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
Judging angels makes ordinary life disputes seem small by comparison.
1 Corinthians 6:4: If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
Paul says even the least esteemed in the church could handle such matters.
1 Corinthians 6:5: 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?
Paul shames them for having no one wise enough to settle a believer's dispute.
1 Corinthians 6:6: But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
This verse names the exact offense: taking a fellow believer before the world's courts.
1 Corinthians 6:7: 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 suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
Paul calls it a fault and says suffering wrong would be better than going to court.
1 Corinthians 6:8: Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
Instead of taking wrong, they were wronging and defrauding their own brethren.
Paul says it is 'utterly a fault' for a believer to take another believer before the world's courts. He instructs that it would be better to take wrong and suffer defrauding than to go to law with a brother before unbelievers.
In 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, Paul says the saints shall judge the world and that believers will judge angels. Les Feldick points out this means believers will one day rule and reign with Christ.
Les describes the Corinthian believers as carnal, fleshly, and weak in their spiritual growth. They had divisions over teachers and were going to pagan courts to sue one another, and Paul had to correct these problems throughout the letter.
Watch the Teaching: What the Bible Really Says About Judging Other Christians