1 Corinthians 5:1-5 - Church Membership Matters

Introduction:

If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

We will begin reading together in verse 1 in just a moment.

This chapter will take us two weeks to work through.

Its hard to overstate just how important this chapter of Scripture is for our life together as a church.

I think more than any other chapter in the Bible, this chapter challenges and contradicts our modern American assumptions about what a church is and what a church should be doing.

The vision of church painted here is so much more than a Sunday morning service.

Its more than a weekly program designed to evangelize more people.

Its more than a spiritual good provider to the spiritual consumers who attend.

It is more beautiful then that.

it is more meaningful then that.

And it is more difficult then that.

In chapter 4:14, Paul changes gears a bit.

He has been saying some pretty direct and challenging things to the Corinthians in general.

And he pauses in verse 14 to clarify His motivations for writing such direct and sometimes difficult things.

1 Corinthians 4:14 ESV

14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

This clarification will prove very important for what follows.

Paul is writing from a place of love.

He is writing to admonish the Corinthians like a father would admonish his child.

He wants to correct them for their good.

He wants to confront them because he loves them

and he wants something better for them then the paths that they are choosing for themselves.

Now with that clarification in mind, we transition to a particular situation within the church where Paul aims to bring some of his strongest admonishment.

Lets read beginning in verse 1.

1 Corinthians 5:1–5 ESV

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Lets Pray

1 Corinthians 5:1 ESV

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.

The letter now hyper focuses on one individual living in sin in the Corinthian church.

Paul is no longer addressing Corinthian sin in general.

He is no longer addressing some of the patterns of thinking that are plaguing the Corinthian Christians.

He is now laser focused on one particular situation in one particular person’s life that reveals how unhealthy the church community in Corinth really is.

Now the fact that Paul laser focuses on this situation should cause us to pay particular attention.

Its not that this is the only sin happening in Corinth.

Paul does not believe that once you become a Christian, you become sinless. Paul himself confesses his weaknesses and struggles and temptations elsewhere.

But there is something about the nature of this sin that is different from the ongoing sin struggle of other Christians in Corinth.

There is something about the nature of this sin that demands this kind of response.

So let me begin by offering three observations about the sin Paul addresses.

Observation #1 This Sin was Undeniable

1 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV)

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you…

The sexual sin of one individual was so serious and so public that Paul has now heard about it from hundreds of miles away.

John Calvin writes this in his commentary:

“Now that Paul may not seem to charge them on doubtful suspicions, he says, that the case which he brings forward is well known and in general circulation… it was no vague rumor, but a matter well known, and published everywhere so as to cause a great scandal.” - John Calvin

There was a public nature to this sin.

Though the sexual sin itself was no doubt done in private… the reality of it was known by all.

This person’s lifestyle had the whole town talking.

The non-Christians in Corinth knew about it and Paul goes on to say that even they were disgusted by it.

1 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV)

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans…

The nature of the sin was such that you don’t even have to be a Christian person to recognize that it is contrary to God’s design.

It was undeniably sinful even to many of the non-Christian people in Corinth And thats saying a lot.

The sexual standards for pagans were not very high.., but extra-martial incest apparently crossed the line for even non-Christian Corinthians.

If the non-Christian’s in Corinth knew about it and knew it was sinful…, then of course the Christians within the Corinthian church knew about the situation And knew that that it was sinful.

No one could claim ignorance here.

No one could claim that they didn’t know about it, nor could they claim they didn’t know it was wrong.

This sin was undeniable.

Not only was it undeniable…, it was ongoing and unrepentant.

Observation #2 This Sin was Ongoing and Unrepentant

1 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV)

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.

Here is the situation.

A young man is in and ongoing sexual relationship with a woman who is not his wife.

Not only is she not his wife.

She is either his mother or she is his stepmother.

Either way, its gross and its sin.

And apparently… this is not a one time occasion.

This is not a one time moral failure.

Apparently…, This is a lifestyle choice that has been made.

A recognizable church member of the Corinthian church…,

someone who is known to be an affiliate and representative of the church….

is living in sexual sin with his own step mother in an ongoing and unrepentant way.

The Christian Standard Bible translates the verse to emphasize the ongoing nature of the verb used here

1 Corinthians 5:1 (CSB)

a man is sleeping with his father’s wife.

The NRSV translates it this way:

1 Corinthians 5:1 (NRSV)

for a man is living with his father’s wife.

This is a lifestyle choice which contradicts God’s very good design for marriage and sexuality.

This is a very real person in real history who has said with their life choices…,

“I don’t care what the Bible says about marriage and sexuality… I want to be happy and I want to live in this sin even if I know it is rebellion against God.

observations about the sin:

#1 This Sin was Undeniable

#2 This Sin was Ongoing and Unrepentant

Now I want to briefly jump out of order here while we are making observations about this sin…

Later, Paul will make the assumption that because of the nature of this ongoing and unrepentant sin, the man guilty of this sin may not actually a born-again believer like he says he is.

Paul is going to advocate for the removal of this man from the church.

Paul is going to advocate for what you may have heard called “church discipline” or in other traditions “excommunication”.

And Paul is going to advocate for this on the basis that the church can no longer affirm that the man is really a Christian person.

There is no recognizable fruit of salvation in the man’s life Because there is no desire to repent of this lifestyle choice.

Paul is going to advocate that the church remove him and we will discuss that in detail…. But before we get there just listen to the the end of verse 5.

1 Corinthians 5:5 (ESV)

so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Observation #3 This Sin Suggests that the Man was Not Saved

Will talk more about this verse…, but for now just recognize the assumption.

The assumption is that the man is a member of the Corinthian church but he is not actually a saved person.

He may have joined the church for some reason, but it was not so that he could make Jesus Lord of his life.

For Paul, salvation means something.

It means to be made new by the grace of God.

it means to be born again.

it means to be a new creation.

That does not mean that you will be sinless….

but that does mean that you will be different.

Your desire for faithfulness to Jesus should be more than your desire to remain in a lifestyle of sin.

Yes, you will struggle, but there will be fruit of repentance.

When you are made spiritually alive…, you will not deliberately and decidedly choose a lifestyle that continuously and undeniably disobeys Jesus.

Now we have all grown up in an extremely individualistic society where we have personalized salvation and made it whatever we want it to be.

and if we are honest, we are naturally kind of repulsed by any concept of someone making any kind of judgment over whether they think someone else is saved or not.

We are quick to judge someone else as judgmental if they make any kind of assessment about someone else’s spiritual life.

But thats an American sentiment, not a Christian one.

Jesus, himself, is pretty clear about our responsibility of being able to recognize when someone shows evidence of being a Christian person.

Matthew 7:17–21 ESV

17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

We as Christian people are called to recognize other Christian people… and we recognize them by their fruits.

Are we saved by doing the will of God? No

But how do we recognize if someone is truly saved? There the kind of person who does the will of God.

Jesus says it this way in John 14.

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

When John writes 1 John, he writes to help the Christians within that church process the fact that some people within the church have abandoned the faith.…

and he essentially gives them instructions on how to recognize the true Christian from the self-deceived Christian.

he writes,

1 John 3:6–10 ESV

6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

John’s distinction for how to recognize when someone may not really be a Christian is not whether or not they are sinless…

Its whether they are comfortable making a practice of sinning, that is they choose a lifestyle of sin with no repentance.

The fruit that John wants the readers to look for to discern the legitimacy of someone else’s salvation Is wether their is repentance in their life?

Are they always repenting of sins that they struggle with… or do they give themselves over to the practice of sinning?

If there is no desire for repentance, then they may not be born of God, they likely do not have the Spirit, they might be self-deceived thinking they are a Christian when they really are not a Christian.

Let me pause there and ask, is your life one of making a practice of sinning, or is your life one of repentance.… failing, but repenting, and longing for more of Jesus.

Are you recognizably a Christian… the Bible suggests that you do some real self-assessing if your are not recognizably Christian….

Now back to 1 Corinthians.

There is sin within the church of a kind that makes Paul doubt the salvation of someone who is a recognized church member in Corinth.

Three Observations About the Sin:

#1 This Sin was Undeniable

#2 This Sin was Ongoing and Unrepentant

#3 This Sin Suggests that the Man May Not be Saved

So why is Paul writing?

You might assume, that Paul’s primary reason for writing this section was to address the man living in the sin and thus to call him to repentance…

but what follows might shock you…

Paul does not immediately address the individual and he never addresses the stepmother At all.

In fact, we can assume the stepmother or mother is not actually a member of the church in Corinth.

Perhaps she doesn’t claim to be a Christian anyway… so she is not even addressed.

But amazingly so… Paul doesn’t address the man directly either.

Rather… Paul immediately and severely addresses the church, the community of believers, for ignoring the situation.

He is as indignant about the church’s lack of response to this individual, as he is the sin of the individual.

1 Corinthians 5:2 ESV

2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Ok we have made three observations about the sin taking place.

Now I want to note three truths implied about the church.

Truth #1 Church Members Care for One Another’s Spiritual Health

Paul was astounded that one of the primary problems in Corinth was their arrogance…,

They were proud while at the same time they were failing so drastically to be a Christian church.

The Corinthian church was boasting in their spiritual gifts,

their powerful leaders,

their great sermons and public speaking….

While at the same time they were sweeping under the rug undeniable, ongoing, and unrepentant sin within the lives of their own church members.

Paul does not confront the individual first, he does not confront the elders of the church, he confronts the community of faith first for their failure to address such things.

Paul writes,

“Ought you not rather to mourn?”

The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible says that this word refers to “the established ritual for grieving observed by a dead person’s relatives and friends.”

One commentator writes, that in a spiritual sense, there had been a death and that the Corinthian church should be mourning, as though there had been a death in the family.

Paul uses the word “mourn” here to communicate how seriously the Corinthians should take this sin!!!

He essentially says…, do you not realize that there is a potentially spiritually dead person in your midst who thinks he is spiritually alive.

Do you not realize that their is a spiritual corpse among you when you gather,

someone without eternal life,

without abundant life…,

someone whom you know and whom you are called to love and care for.

The word “mourn” here not only communicates the seriousness of the situation…,

but the serious love with which they were called to have for this man.

There should be an emotional response to this individual’s moral failure.

There should be a care… a love…. An interconnectedness…..

it should feel somewhat like one of your family members is dying.

That should be the feeling of the situation…, but rather the church in Corinth is quarreling about who their favorite leaders are.

If they are to be a Biblical church…. Then Paul assumes that their should be at least some within the congregation who know this man, love this man, and who are mourning for the spiritual state of this man.

Truth #1 Church Members Care for One Another’s Spiritual Health

But its not just a matter of caring…, there are very real steps that this church is supposed to take.

Paul is not just admonishing them for not caring… he is admonishing them for not taking responsibility. He is admonishing them for not taking action.

Verse 2 introduces us to the kind of action that should be taken.

1 Corinthians 5:2 (ESV)

And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Somehow someway, this man is officially associated with the church in Corinth.

He is joining them for worship, taking the Lord’s supper and is a recognized as a member of the body of Christ.

And Paul says… that cannot continue you to happen.

He must be removed from among you.

If you do not believe that church membership is a Biblical concept, you really have to come to terms with what is happening in this chapter of the Bible.

Paul assumes that when you become a Christian you join yourself to a church in such a meaningful way that you are an official part and representative of that church.

You are in the church, joined to the church, a part of the church…… how else would this command make since, to kick someone out of the church… to separate them from the church.

Paul argues…, that there must be an obvious break where this man is no longer recognized as one of the members of the Corinthian church. .

Verse 2 introduces what should be done.

verses 3-5 make up one long greek sentence that provide instruction for how it should be done

1 Corinthians 5:3 ESV

3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.

Paul has made his public pronouncement.

He pronounces his judgment on the situation.

What the man has done is evil and it is not representative of a person who follow Jesus.

Paul summons the apostolic authority he has and he pronounces a judgment on the situation from afar through this letter, though he is not physically present…, but thats not enough.

Its not primarily Paul’s job to make this pronouncement.

It is the church’s job.

1 Corinthians 5:4–5 ESV

4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

There is a lot to see here.

“When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus”

What is he referring to?

Paul’s talking about a gathering of the church.

The church gathers at the very least every Lord’s day.

That’s what it means to be a church. We are a people who assemble together in the name of our Lord Jesus.

We gather and our gathering represents the name of our Lord Jesus.

Not only does our gathering represent the name of our Lord Jesus… it is where Jesus accomplishes things with his power through the church.

We typically think about assembling to sing, or pray, or learn together…

But on this occasion, Paul commands that their be a corporate action that takes place in the name of Jesus.

Paul says that when they gather they have a responsibility to corporately pronounce the same judgment that Paul has pronounced.

They are to agree together that this man’s actions are not in line with the Christian gospel...

And they are to agree together that this man be removed from among them as an affirmed member of the church.

Paul is essentially calling the Corinthians to obey what Jesus commanded in Matthew 18.

Matthew 18:15–18 ESV

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Apparently the situation in Corinth has gotten to that third level of accountability that Jesus commands.

The whole church knows about this mans ongoing and unrepentant sin… he is still not repenting…, and now he must be treated like a Gentile or a tax collector….

In other words, it must be assumed that this man might not actually be a Christian, therefore the rights and privileges of church membership should not be conceded.

Now this is wild stuff, And perhaps even some uncomfortable stuff to think about. But let me try to summarize this reality that both Paul and Jesus are implying.

Truth #2 Church Membership is a Corporate Affirmation of Someone’s Salvation

The whole church has the responsibility to affirm someone’s salvation when they have professed faith in Christ … We typically affirm together someone’s salvation when we do something like baptism.

Its a moment where we are all agreeing that this person is a born again Christian.

They are one of us now!

But … if someone shows no fruit of repentance…, no change in their life…, and they live in ongoing and unrepentant sin… it is also the churches responsibility to say we don’t affirm that you actually a saved person based on the fruit we are seeing…

In fact both Jesus and Paul take it a step further.

Matthew 18:18 ESV

18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

In other words, the corporate affirmation of the church matches the heavenly reality.

The church members of a congregation should represent what is truly bound in heaven forever and ever.

And when a church removes someone from the congregation… its a serious warning that just as they are not a member of God’s people on earth, they may not be a member of God’s people in heaven.

But its not just a warning…, it becomes a present reality as well.

Look at how Paul summarizes the removal of this man from the church’s community life and membership.

1 Corinthians 5:5 ESV

5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

This might be one of the most important parts of this paragraph. So if you have checked out…, i need you to check back in right here.

Paul assumes when someone lives outside of Christian community…, they are in the realm of Satan himself headed down a path of destruction.

That means that Paul assumes that within the Christian community, there is a divine safe-haven from the free reign of Satanic attack in your life.

Truth #3 Church Membership is a Refuge from Satanic Schemes

Paul assumes that the church is God’s divine design for keeping you safe from evil.

There is something very practical about this..

Satan lies to you… church members remind you of truth.

Satan steals from you… church members provide for you.

Satan isolates you… church members surround you and comfort you.

Satan tempts you with foolish things… church members lead you with wisdom From God.

Without church members, and without pastors and deacons who are committed to guide you and teach you and befriend you… you are like sheep without a shepherd in a field of wolves and roaming lion seeking to devour you.

Outside of the church their is only destruction.

Inside the church their is life and life more abundantly.

Pause for a moment and consider what a precious gift this really is.

To become a church member is to commit yourself to a community of faith who in turn commits themselves to you and to your holiness and to your growth and to your protection and to your joy.

And Paul says its time for this man to be removed from that gift… and sent out into that churchless realm of self-destruction.

Three Truths About the Church:

#1 Church Members Care for One Another’s Spiritual Health

#2 Church Members Affirm or Deny One Another’s Salvation

#3 Church Membership is a Refuge from Satanic Schemes

Now after all this let me leave you with one Motivation behind all of this.

#1 Motivation - Love Demands the Truth

1 Corinthians 5:5 ESV

you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

What is the end goal?

The hope of confronting this man.

The hope of removing this man from his status as a church member.

Is that this man might recognize just how dire his situation is.

He might see where his decisions are leading him before it is too late.

He might experience the destruction of the flesh in the world…, and be driven to repentance and faith that would see his spirit saved on the last day.

For Paul… this is an act of love.

In fact, for Paul, it would be evil to go on pretending that the man is saved only for him to be surprised on the day of judgment.

It would be evil to stand idly by while he destroys himself with his sin.

Paul is advocating a love for this man until it hurts… a love that demands truth… saving truth.… piercing truth.

So what do we do with all this?

We have three observations about the sin

Three truths about the church

and 1 motivation.

What are our takeaways:

Three simple ones:

#1 Join a Church

It doesn’t have to be this one, but if you want to follow Jesus in this hostile world of satanic attack and indwelling sin.… you need to meaningfully join a church.

If your involvement with a local church does not include the mutual accountability and and responsibility for other people’s spiritual health and lives… then you have never experienced the fullness of God’s intent for the Christian life in Christian community.

Don’t just attend a church. Join a church.

#2 Be the Church

Its not a enough to join a church on paper… to be the kind of community we see represented here, it requires proactive engagement in relationships.

It requires the ongoing pursuit of community.

It requires prayer.

It requires sacrificial love that does not ignore sin, but rather mourns over it.

it requires the ongoing pursuit of deepening relationships with other Christians.

it is something that is pursued.

It is something we make time for.

It is something we plan for.

We do so because we love God and we love others.

And we do so because we know its God’s good design for our spiritual thriving and our mission in this world.

#3 Thank God for the Church

This community of faith is not a burden designed by God to steal your joy.

It is a gift of God given to make your joy complete. It is a fellowship of people where you not only hear the gospel explained everyweek… It is a fellowship where you can feel the gospel experienced every day in the lives of your fellow Christians.

Join a Church

Be the Church

Thank God for the Church.

Lets Pray