seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Corinthians 5:1 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. 2 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? 3 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. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,[a][b] so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 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. 8 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.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 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. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[c] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”[d]
- 1 Corinthians 5:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 5:5 Or of his body
- 1 Corinthians 5:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 8:11, 13.
- 1 Corinthians 5:13 Deut. 13:5; 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21,24; 24:7
The law does not allow sex between two people who are very close relatives of each other. In the church at Corinth, a man was having sex with his father’s second wife. It was against Jewish law (Leviticus 18:8). Even pagans thought that it was a terrible sin. It was against Roman law as well.
Paul felt disgusted that the members of the church allowed the situation. They even seemed to have been slightly proud of the man’s action. They may have said that Christians had freedom from the law. They thought that this action did not matter for a really spiritual person. Instead, they should have felt as sad as someone whose close relative had died.
The Christians must punish the man. They must tell him that he must leave the church. He would then be in the world, where Satan rules people’s lives. There the man would learn the difference between the company of Christians and the ways of the world. Paul intended that this punishment would make the man realise his sin. Then he would ask for God’s forgiveness. Then on the day of judgement, when Jesus returns, God would not shut him out of heaven. The Christians had to punish him in this way. This would be better for him in eternity. And it would show that they loved him.
Paul uses a picture from Jewish practice. It shows why the man should not stay in the church. Yeast is a tiny substance. People put it in dough to make bread grow bigger. It affects the whole lump of dough. The Jews thought that yeast was a picture of an evil influence. Yeast spreads through dough. In a similar way, the man’s sin would affect the whole church.
The Christians in Corinth had misunderstood Paul’s advice. Perhaps they wanted to say that Paul’s advice was stupid. It is impossible to stay away from everyone who sins. This was especially true in a city like Corinth. It was well-known for sexual sins.
Paul explains that he was talking about people who called themselves Christians. He meant Christians who continued to sin. He spoke about:
1. sexual sins. These were sins against a person’s real nature. They made people behave like animals. It was selfish and wrong for someone to use another person to satisfy his physical needs.
2. those who were greedy. They had forgotten that other people were like brothers and sisters. They must not steal from them. Instead, they must love and serve them. The Christian faith should make it a joy to give rather than to get.
3. the worship of false gods. This is a sin against the only real God. If a person does not worship God, he will worship something or someone else. He might trust in things that he thinks will bring him luck. He might make another person, like a singer or a man who is good at sport into an idol. A person who does all this is not a real Christian. The other Christians should not even share a meal with him. To share a meal would make it seem as if they agreed with his bad behaviour.
Only God can judge those who do not belong to the church. God alone knows their hearts. But the members of the church must judge someone in the church who does wrong things. The people outside the church must see that the Christian faith is a different way to live. If Christians refused to punish such a serious sin, they were a poor witness to their new faith. Paul gave a definite command, ‘Throw the man out’. He used words from Deuteronomy 17:7; 24:7. The Christian church in Corinth must put out evil people.
This is from the blueletterbible.org site.
Your glorying is not good: Again, the Corinthian Christians were proud and pleased to be ignoring this man's notorious sin! They thought it showed the whole world how "loving" they were. But you don't show "love" to a body by being kind to a cancer!
We can rightly say Paul is more concerned about the sin of the entire church (especially the leadership), than the sin of the individual man. Both are important, but the sin of the church is worse.
Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world: Paul did not want the Corinthian Christians to expect godly behavior from ungodly people. To disassociate from sinners in a sinful world would mean we would need to go out of the world.
Surprisingly, this is exactly the approach many people take to holiness and Christian living - to get as far away from the world as possible. This was the whole spirit behind the monastic movement in the early and medieval church.
Instead, without approving the sin of sinners in this world, we should expect that they would be sinners!
i. It should not surprise or offend us that those who do not know Jesus yet are covetous; literally, the word means those "who must have more."
ii. It should not surprise or offend us that those who do not know Jesus yet are extortioners (harpax in the original Greed); the word describes those who steal by violence.
iii. It should not surprise or offend us that those who do not know Jesus yet acts as a reviler, describing a person who is a character assassin.
But the Corinthian Christians were to expect Christian behavior from their fellow Christians, and they were not doing this! Instead, Paul commands that they not even to eat with such a person.
i. In the culture of that day (and in many cultures today), eating with someone is an expression of friendship and partnership. In some cultures, if a man eats at your table, you are bound to regard him as a friend and a partner. Paul is warning the Corinthian Christians they cannot continue in Christian fellowship with a notorious sinner who calls himself a Christian.
What have I to do with judging those also who are outside? … those who are outside God judges: Unfortunately, too many Christians are busy judging those outside of the church (which is God's job only) and are neglecting purity within the church.
Do you not judge those who are inside? … Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person": The Corinthian Christians were failing to judge where they should have made judgment. They should not have "winked" at the notorious sinner in their midst, and they should not have considered themselves "loving" for doing so.
Oh Paul.... why did you have to start judging the people in the church?
IMHO..... it's God who controls the Christian Church. I've been around long enough to know that if someone is doing something God really doesn't like.... then God will take care of it and nothing I can do will ever equate to what God will do to correct the situation.
Apparently there was a problem brewing in the church.... a man was caught with another man's wife....in the church where the temple prostitutes and the goody two shoes were sitting in the same pew. It was common ordinary adultery.... but in a church that was meeting in a brothel [a temple full of prostitutes] it was like poison..... the "ordinary" adultery was no big deal to them.... and that was dangerous.
Even though it wasn't the temple prostitute that started this problem. The fact that the prostitutes were mingling with the goody two shoes contributed to the issue. I'm betting the rich. happy goody two shoes was impressed with the bawdy "excitement" of prostitution. That "forbidden fruit" so to speak must have been a problem for a few people in the church.
It has been my experience that a vendor doesn't go about giving away his inventory. It's not profitable..... and it can be annoying to have beggars around all the time. It doesn't make sense to me the prostitutes would be giving away sexual delights..... it's like inviting a seamstress to dinner and telling them they have to make you a dress before they can eat. My guess is.... the goody two shoes was nudging up against the wrong person..... my guess is... the man who was caught was one of the goody two shoes.
Now.... IMHO ... not all of the goody two shoes actions might have been brought on by the "excitement of forbidden fruit".... it might have been a sincere desire to accept other brothers and sisters. People in the Christian Church might have been so busy being good to one another.... they didn't recognize the dog biting the hand feeding them. Allowing everyone into the church in those days was extremely dangerous but it was necessary.
Not long ago a man went to a prayer meeting. He sat with Christians and they prayed..... and then he got up.... pulled out a gun and shot those who had just been praying..... Those Christians did everything right..... they welcomed him..... they prayed with him....
IMHO.... While I know God's the only one who can really judge a human.... it is up to me to avoid danger and warn others. I wonder.... was the old pimp at the temple of Aphrodite flirting with a goody two shoes in order to bring them on board for "when all this Christian stuff blows over"?
Jesus said there are only two commandments. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul...... and love others.
God is the only one that can judge a human heart..... God knows if that human has been following the first commandment that Jesus told us about...... God knows if a temple prostitute turned Christian is flaunting her wears in the chapel.... or if the temple prostitute is being accused falsely...... God knows.
If I saw a man kissing another man's wife in the church.... I'd call them on it..... it's dangerous..... that's what Paul said was going on..... one man was caught with another man's wife.... and the church was afraid to call the couple on it.
