1 Corinthians 5-6
Notes
Transcript
Review and Intro
Review and Intro
Vernon saw the Quarterly had Chapter 5 for last week and I taught Chapter 4 instead. It has us in Chapter 6 this week:
I didn’t want to skip 4
5 and 6 (as will become pretty apparent) go well together.
That being said, it’s also a good point to remind us that our bibles didn’t float down from heaven in leather covers and gold page gilding, to make it easier to reference chapter and verse divisions were not part of scripture when written by the original authors.
The chapter divisions commonly used today were developed by Stephen Langton, an Archbishop of Canterbury. Langton put the modern chapter divisions into place in around A.D. 1227. The Wycliffe English Bible of 1382 was the first Bible to use this chapter pattern.
Robert Estienne, who was also known as Stephanus, was the first to divide the New Testament into standard numbered verses, in 1555. Stephanus essentially used Rabbi Nathan’s 1448 verse divisions for the Old Testament.
Paul has just changed a bit from the biting sarcasm to a more pastoral tone:
1 Corinthians 4:14–15 “14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”
Paul pastorally continues to write about the immaturities they are showing as Christians and a church
Warning: The Bible gets into some more adult themes this morning as Paul brings up some more problems he’s heard about going on in the church there at Corinth, but I will try to talk through them in a way that doesn’t disappoint Jesus.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 5:1–2 “1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.”
Paul is telling them in addition to all this “I’m of Paul”, “I’m of Cephas”, “my teacher is smarter and can beat up your teacher” stuff he’s written against to this point he’s also heard about some other morality issues IN THE CHURCH
fornication is any sexual activity outside of God created bonds of marriage; adultery is sexual activity that occurs by married individuals that violates the covenantal bond of marriage. Specific terms for each.
Paul uses porneia here. Fornication and adultery are examples of porneia, but Paul here is referencing ANY SEXUAL IMMORALITY.
Why bring this up? I’m trying to point out how broad the term Paul is using and had everything from: activity between two people, by themselves, even like the word sounds and we get our word pornography from. ANY SEXUAL IMMORALITY that might be done, seen, or as Jesus points out in Matthew 5, thinks is covered by the word Paul uses here. This is some ground work you’ll see Paul apply later and in Chapter 6.
What Paul heard about is that a man IN THE CHURCH has been sleeping with his step mother. These 2 are committing incest and everyone in the church knows about it. Incest was such a bad thing that even the pagans in Corinth said you ought not be doing that.
And worse than the sin itself, the people in the church were somehow proud of how spiritual and holy they were or something.
The congregation had so misunderstood grace that they may have bought in to the Corinthian idea that the spirit was so separate from the body that all sin could be tolerated.
Jesus and the church loved them enough to keep letting them live in their sin and sit together in church or whatever. Paul tells them they should be mourning that the church hasn’t put them out of the church.
1 Corinthians 5:3–5 “3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Paul tells them, I’m not there physically but I’ve already considered the evidence and have put these individuals out of the church and taken them off the roll.
When the church gets back together they are to put these two out of the church because of their open sin.
This is church discipline.
To be put out of the church meant no spiritual or social support for those put out. The Romans, the Jews, and most of their families wouldn’t have given them jobs or food for being Christians and now the Christian church wouldn’t give them support either. They would be outcast from every group that could help them live.
This probably makes a lot of folks in the church today gasp and be shocked at how unloving it is to throw people that are sinning out of the church.
Don’t confuse Christians that sin (all of us) with CHURCH MEMBERS openly sinning to the point that even the pagans are asking:,“what are they doing in that church?”
The modern culture the world has convinced the church this is unloving. It wasn’t done for punishment. It is to always be done in a spirit of love for the people and with the idea they would be restored to the church upon repentance.
Destruction of the flesh may mean they’ll have a choice to repent and be restored or risk the death from either the sin itself or the dis-fellowship but at least the soul might be saved in the day of judgement
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
They shouldn’t be proud they allow it, they should mourn because the church hadn’t formally removed them from church membership and had no fellowship with them.
Paul gives them an example of how leaven affects the whole. It’s not always used this way (Matthew 13) but here leaven is a picture of sin. His point is a little sin will eventually make the whole rotten.
This sexual sin tolerated by the church is tainting the whole body in Corinth. Deal with it as a church not because you hate them but because you Love the Lord and love the couple enough to tell them the truth that they might repent.
9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
Paul had written an earlier letter. Technically this would have been 1 Corinthians making what we’re in now 2 Corinthians and so on. But God ordained the Canon of Scripture to be what it is and Him preserve His word.
Don’t hang out with fornicators but he’s not talking about the lost. He’s talking about those that call themselves Christians and commit all those sins
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
“Judge not lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7) Paul is giving us a lesson on misapplying Scripture.
Paul is saying those that are lost and not in the church have already chosen a side they can’t leave until by grace they choose Jesus. We are not to judge the lost they are already under the judgement of God until they repent and trust Christ.
However, we are to judge the members of the church and their behavior. There are situations to go to them individually and confront them (Matt 18) and publically put out those continuing openly in sin (here in 1 Corinthians 5).
Paul anticipates the question: What gives them the right to do this?
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 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? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 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? 6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
Paul uses another point of their immaturity he’s heard about to explain and answer at the same time.
They were suing other members in the church and taking them to court in front of the pagans and not judging the matter for themselves.
Matthew 19:28 “28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
If they will be in charge of judging the 12 tribes and angels, how much more should they be able to judge this minor things and not sue each other before pagan courts
They ought to be ashamed of themselves for being so immature they do this kind of junk!
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? 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
As mature Christians they should take the L willingly. Whatever it is, they should be willing to sacrifice and say they’re wrong and someone else is right even if that’s not truly the case. But they are immature and are doing the opposite
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Paul gives a vice list here and points out those that openly practice them without remorse or conviction (unrighteous) will not inherit the earth.
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind:
There was a movie released in 2022 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture
I could get deeper into it but the premise is that homosexuality wasn’t even in the Bible until 1946 and was put there by right wing, homophobes to marginalize same sex couples and cause hate. Suffice it to say this is a ridiculous idea!
Leviticus 18:22 “22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
malakoi & arsenokoitai (the active and passive participants) “that which men do with men in bed, And that ain't eating crackers.” Good way to say it is “men who practice homosexuality”
Don’t want to dwell here but I believe every Christian should be trying to learn more about this issue since it’s the predominate attack on the family and the church today! And make no mistake it’s not fun to have to read and learn and be prepared to give an answer to the spirit of the age
I want to mention 3 really good books I have before:
The Same Sex Controversy: Defending and Clarifying the Bible's Message About Homosexuality Paperback – April 1, 2002 by James R. White (Author), Jeffrey D. Niell (Author)
A Queer Thing Happened to America: And What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been Hardcover – March 15, 2011 by Michael L. Brown (Author)
The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics Paperback – September 1, 2002 by Robert A. J. Gagnon (Author)
12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. 14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
After having told them they were living in the same sin before they were saved but something changed, now things are different..
He explains with another example of how there are some things a Christian can have liberty to do from the law but just because he or she has liberty doesn’t make them helpful
But ANY thing a Christian does that he becomes a slave to is SIN through and through.
God made food for people and God made the belly in people to use food, but too much of the any of the food that God made isn’t good for you
God made sex as a gift for both children in the family context and pleasure for the body in the right context of that covenant marriage to glorify the Lord. But God DID NOT create the body for that pleasure OUTSIDE the covenant of marriage.
Though the body dies just as Jesus was resurrected, so will those of us joined to Christ.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
In a marriage the man and woman are joined as one in ceremony and consummation Genesis 2:23–24 “23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
In salvation we are joined to Christ Ephesians 4:15–16 “15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
So if they are joined to Christ and have become one body with him, should they join themselves with harlots in sexual sin?
Paul will write more about marriage in Chapter 7 we’ll be in next week
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Paul has written a lot about sex. He understood what we do today. God gave it as a gift for the married man and woman but it has been perverted and is one of if not the greatest challenges of the flesh and stumbling blocks of a man’s walk. It’s a beautiful thing in the right context but a dragon to be slain in the wrong context
Paul tells them and us that using the gift properly in the right context of marriage and the slaying of the dragon of ALL SEXUAL IMMORALITY is how they and we are to glorify Jesus Christ
