In The Church?

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?  For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,  hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. I Corinthians 5:1-5

Up to this point in this letter, Paul had been instructing the Corinthian saints about the need for doctrinal unity and personal humility. Their arguing among themselves about who was the better teacher was unproductive and must stop. This was simple arrogance of an immature congregation, and they would remain immature until they learned to submit to the authority of the apostle’s teaching. Paul wrote this letter in advance of his intended personal visit, to forewarn them that they had some housecleaning matters to attend to before he came. Ah, but he was just getting warmed up. There was a truly scandalous situation being tolerated in that congregation that astounded Paul. Open incest! (Leviticus 18:8; Deuteronomy 22:30; Deuteronomy 27:20) Even the pagans didn’t accept such behavior as normal.

Not that there were no such instances of incestuous marriages among the heathens; but, whenever they happened, they gave a shock to every man of virtue and probity among them. They could not think of them without horror, nor mention them without dislike and detestation. Incredible wickedness! says the orator (Roman philosopher Cicero); such I never heard of in all my life besides.—from Matthew Henry’s commentary on I Corinthians

It seems the perpetrator may have been a high profile individual about town, or had some appeal to these folks, because they were proud to have him, rather than shunning such a sinful man from their fellowship. “Why aren’t you Corinthians ashamed of this? Why aren’t you mourning, as for one who is dead? Why haven’t you put him out of the church?”

That was Paul’s judgment, and as an apostle, he spoke on the authority of the Lord Jesus. The remedy: put the incestuous man out of your assembly; turn him out into the world, where Satan is in charge. He will suffer the consequences of his gross sin, but as a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, his soul will be saved. I John 5:16 “…There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.”

There are Christians and congregations who see only Jesus’ loving kindness and compassion. They tend to ignore His authority and justice. A common statement these days among those who choose their own lust pattern over the holiness modeled by Jesus: “He must love us (certain category of sinners), since He made us this way!” As a result, we are seeing more and more compromise of morality within our local churches. Some standards must be upheld. Sin defiles a person, breaking his fellowship with God. Toleration of open sin in a local congregation defiles that local church, no matter who is openly sinning. God is no respecter of persons. Pastors and congregations are much too lenient when they refuse to discipline the lasciviousness in their midst. We dishonor God by such lenience. We are a holy people. Set apart unto God. To bring shame on the Body of Christ is inexcusable. These incidents will not remain isolated. Sin is contagious. It multiplies like leaven. Jesus’ atonement freed us FROM sin!

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I Corinthians 5:6-8

What is the significance of unleavened bread? The leaven represents sin. In their hasty departure from Egypt, the Israelites had to take their bread without leavening (Exodus 12:39). We who have believed in Jesus Christ have left Egypt (the world). We are new and undefiled IN CHRIST. The leavening of sin should not be welcomed into our congregations. Of course, we can’t purge everything, but flagrant sins must not be tolerated.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. I Corinthians 5:9-11

From an earlier writing to a different congregation: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us….Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed.” 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14

Obviously, these early converts to Christianity were having to learn how to represent the Lord in their assemblies as well as in their daily lives. The Thessalonians’ issue was false assumption that the end was NOW, and a tendency toward laziness. “Let’s just quit our jobs and wait for the Lord’s appearance.” The early Church had people problems, just as the modern Church does. As long as we’re in these fleshly bodies, there will be issues with sin. It is of supreme importance to keep in mind Whose we are. Like human children, we reflect our family; in this case, the Royal Family of God. We’d do well to understand and obey our Father's expectations. This applies to believers in Jesus Christ; the Church, not the world. The world is Satan’s domain, and Paul did not assume authority there. To avoid all evil, we’d have to leave the earth. The doctrine of separation dictated in these writings means to separate from Christian brethren who openly defile the temple of the Holy Spirit and shame the Body of Christ. It is a matter of family honor.

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” I Corinthians 5:12-13

Repeat: we Christians have no authority over the world. We are aliens here. Our responsibility is to our Lord and our fellow believers. We serve the Lord Christ.