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October 25, 2026 — Still Worldly: Why Christians Resolve Disputes God's Way When believers quarrel and take each other to secular courts, what does that say about our faith? Pastor Dean Murphy walks through Paul's stark rebuke to the Corinthian church about spiritual immaturity and worldly conflict—and reveals the biblical pathway to resolving disputes as people destined to judge the world. In this sermon, Pastor Dean unpacks 1 Corinthians 3 and 6, examining how jealousy, lawsuits, and unforgiveness expose a heart still bound by worldly thinking. He calls the church back to Jesus's model of private confrontation, Christian arbitration, and costly forgiveness—the marks of a life being transformed by the Spirit. Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 | 1 Corinthians 6:1-7 | Matthew 18:15-16, 32-35 | John 3:36 | John 5:22 | John 13:34-35 | 2 Timothy 2:12 | Ephesians 4:17-24 | Revelation 20 | Daniel 7 | Revelation 5 If this message spoke to you, please Like, Subscribe, and share it with someone who needs to hear the truth of God's Word. New Song Fellowship Church | Rogersville, TN | newsongtn.cc | Sundays at 10am #NewSongFellowship #StillWorldly #ChristianConflict #Forgiveness #BibleStudy #ChristianTeaching
Still Worldly
1Co 3:1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
1 Cor 6:1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church?
The Bible teaches that ALL mankind will be judged by God; Unbelievers - Joh 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them. (Great White Throne Rev 20)
Believers = saved, but we will given an answer for idle words (Mat 12:36), and we will be rewarded (crowns) for our faithfulness during our lifetimes (2 Cor 5:10, Rom 14.10+ Bema Judgment)
But as believers we are told that not only will we be judged, but we will judge…2Ti 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him…(Dan 7 And Rev 5 and 20 all refer to the saints ruling with Christ).
Joh 5:22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son...
1 Cor 6:5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!
Mat 18:15 "If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
Mat 18:16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Arbitration- "Christian arbitration (often part of a broader process known as Christian conciliation) is an out-of-court dispute resolution method where one or more biblically trained arbitrators make a legally binding decision guided by Scripture." (Mychurchlaw.com)
Paul's corrective instructions... Eph 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Eph 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
Eph 4:20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned
Eph 4:21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
Eph 4:23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds
Eph 4:24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
1 Cor 6:7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
Mat 18:32 "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you beg ged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Joh 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
“The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians — when they are sombre and joyless, when they are self‑righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.” Sheld on Vanauken
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.