Untitled Sermon (9)
Purity in the Pew: Confronting Blatant Sin in the Church
Bible Passage: 1 Co 5:1-13
1. Publicly Purge the Sin
2. Purging Prevents Pervasiveness
3. Protect through Purposeful Separation
Guardians of Holiness: The Church’s Call to Confront Evil
Bible Passage: 1 Co 5:1-13
1. Blatant Sin Exposed
2. Cleanse Corrupting Influence
3. Confront with Courage and Grace
The sin of sexual immorality and the church’s indifference to it is the second major evil in the Corinthian congregation that Paul mentions. Corinth was noted for its loose and licentious living (cf. introduction), a situation duplicated in the prevailing lack of moral standards in these latter years of the twentieth century.
In this chapter Paul condemns the sin of incest, which he calls porneia (“sexual immorality”). He rebukes the church for its arrogance in the matter and its failure to excommunicate the violator—something Paul insists on (vv. 1–5). The purity he describes is symbolized in the removal of leaven in the celebration of the OT Passover, which is fulfilled in Christ, “our Passover lamb” (vv. 6–8).
Later (vv. 9–13) he gives instruction that the church should guard its own membership against sexually immoral persons, but that it should not try to Christianize unbelievers by forcing biblical standards on them.
“Fornication,” used in KJV for porneia, does not communicate today. Porneia conveys the idea of extramarital sexual relations of any kind, so the NIV translation, “sexual immorality,” is accurate. The word holōs, translated “commonly” in KJV, is better rendered “actually.” This may mean, “generally speaking it is reported,” or “it is really reported”; the present tense of the verb akouetai helps convey the idea that the report is continually spreading. The use of gunaika, literally “woman,” graphically shows that it was the man’s stepmother he had married. The NT expression “to have a woman” means to marry her (cf.
I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you, something so evil that even the pagans don’t do it. I am told that you have a man in your church who is living in sin with his father’s wife (NLT). Whether the man had seduced this woman away from his father, or whether the woman was divorced or widowed is unclear. In any case, even the pagans would have shuddered at this, but the church members were trying to ignore the situation. The Jews definitely considered this against the law (
MORAL UNDERTOW
Lifeguards know that as scary as large waves near the beach may look, the hidden undertow kills far more people. A strong current beneath the surface can pull a weak or unprepared swimmer underwater and out to sea. Paul was concerned about the “waves” being made by the Corinthians over leadership. But he also knew that beneath the surface issues were sins pulling like a spiritual and moral undertow in the life of the church.
The watching world seldom understands theological storms. Doctrinal breakers don’t impress them. But they do note the way believers treat each other. They have “hypocrisy radar.” They have heard about the undertow. When our lives contradict our words, they see it. When obvious sins are rationalized or ignored, the world knows. Often, some within the church are pulled under.
A proper response to sin in the church includes grief and action. Those who refuse to recognize sin are not practicing love. Until we can grieve and repent for sin (both our own and that of people who “hide in plain sight” in the church), we will not be in a place where God can direct our actions.
Paul again alludes to the pride of the Corinthians. This time it was a pride that, rather than cause them to mourn over the shocking sin, allowed them to tolerate such a sinner in the congregation. Paul presses his judgment of the case by saying that he is with them in spirit and has already passed judgment on the offending person.
And you are so proud of yourselves! Why aren’t you mourning in sorrow and shame? And why haven’t you removed this man from your fellowship? The problem of arrogance in the Corinthian church had spilled over to the point where they were tolerating flagrant sin. Instead of being proud of themselves, they should have been mourning in sorrow and shame. Then, they should have removed this man from [their] fellowship. The church must discipline flagrant sin among its members—such sins, left unchecked, can divide and paralyze a church. This “removal” of the person was not meant to be vengeful but to help bring about a cure.
Today, tolerance has become such a battle cry in the media and in political and educational circles that it has affected even the church. It is very difficult for people to discipline sin in church members because everyone is trying to be accepting of others. People say, “Who am I to judge? I have sin in my life.” So they want all sin excused, including their own. We must not let modern-day low standards determine what is true and right for the church.
JUDGMENT
People who otherwise ignore the Bible readily quote the phrase, “Do not judge,” as Jesus’ complete statement on passing judgment on others. Curiously, their application of the phrase often sounds as though they are passing judgment on someone’s “judgmental” behavior. Did Jesus mean there could be no discernment or proper discrimination among his followers? The context of the phrase (
By saying, “Hand this man over to Satan, so that his sinful nature [or body] may be destroyed,” Paul means to include the man’s excommunication (at least by implication; cf. v. 2) and his suffering physically in some way, even as far as death (cf.
1. When you are assembled … the whole congregation needed to witness and support the action.
2. And I am with you in spirit … refers to Paul’s indictment as an authoritative apostle.
3. The power of our Lord Jesus is present … referring to spiritual action.
Paul wrote that the next time they were “assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus,” they should discipline the man. This should be done with the whole congregation present. Paul, the founder and father of the church, would be with them in spirit, and they would all be under the power of the Lord Jesus. These three elements were important in dealing with the discipline in this situation. Apparently the whole congregation knew about this man, so they all needed to witness the discipline. But this concurrence of the three elements would not occur without Paul present in spirit. The entire situation was under the mighty power of the Lord Jesus to deal with the man’s spirit and to bring him to repentance.
Paul explained the discipline that should be carried out: Hand this man over to Satan. This would mean excluding him from the fellowship of believers (see
According to the second interpretation, Paul was saying that the exclusion from the fellowship (and there would be suffering in that) would help the man to face his sinful, selfish nature (flesh), repent, and return to the church. Paul wanted this sinner to experience the crucifixion of his sinful nature (
Paul illustrates Christian holiness and discipline by the OT teaching that no leaven was allowed in the bread eaten at the Passover feast. “Leaven,” or “yeast,” in Scripture generally conveys the idea of evil or sin (cf.
So Paul concludes in v. 8, “Let us keep the Festival”—that is, let us live the Christian life in holy consecration to God (cf.
Believers should encourage, pray for, and build up one another, but they must also be intolerant of sin that jeopardizes the spiritual health of the church. This “purity” did not mean that without this man they would be sinless (Paul would address other problems in the rest of this letter). Instead, Paul understood that this particular sin, left unchecked, would work evil in the church; thus, it needed to be disciplined by excommunication so that the believers could see the serious consequences of sin.
Indeed, they ought not forget that Christ gave his life so that people could deal with sin. By not dealing with this man’s sin, they were making Christ’s death of no effect. They should remember, said Paul, that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Because he has delivered his people from the slavery of sin, they should have nothing to do with the sins of the past (“old yeast”). Continuing in sin shows disregard for Christ’s sacrifice.
DISCIPLINE TODAY
Paul’s firm response to blatant sin in the church meets hardened resistance today. Discipline and accountability are sorely lacking in churches. Often, sinful members, when confronted, simply move to another church without recognizing that the attempted discipline was love in action rather than judgmentalism. These times are as desperate as those Paul faced in Corinth. Ask the Lord to fill the leaders in your church with wisdom and courage so that they can set the pace of faithfulness for all the members.
The words “let us keep the Festival” are not a command to keep the Jewish Passover but a figurative way of picturing what Christ is to believers. In Paul’s day, the Passover was celebrated with a ceremonial search throughout one’s home for yeast and then destroying the yeast before the Passover lamb was slain in the temple. Because Christ, the Passover Lamb, has already been sacrificed, all yeast (that is, all evil) should be removed from among his people. The old life (with the old yeast) was characterized by malice and wickedness; these have no part in Christ’s church. Believers, characterized by being born again, have cleansed the evil from their lives and are like bread without yeast, living in sincerity and truth. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is” (
Paul now proceeds to correct their misunderstanding. By referring to other categories of sinners besides the sexually immoral, he shows that in having referred to the pornoi in the previous letter, he meant only that they should not be a part of the church community. If Paul had meant that contact or even acquaintance with all sinners was to cease, then Christians could not live at all in human society.
By the words ou pantos (“not at all”) Paul limits the extent of his command. The pornoi are the sexually immoral persons of all kinds. That they are called the sexually immoral “of this world” (the secular world system) establishes that they are not to be included as a part of the church community. The greedy persons here are literally the ones “who must have more.” Compare the sin of greed (pleonexia) listed in
Paul meant that believers were not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian and yet has a sinful lifestyle. Paul listed a few sins such as sexual sin, greed, idol worship, abuse, drunkenness, or swindling (stealing by violence, extortion). Believers must separate themselves from those who claim to be Christians yet indulge in sins explicitly forbidden in Scripture and then rationalize their actions. By rationalizing their sin, these “believers” harm others for whom Christ died and they tarnish the image of God in their lives. A church that includes such people is hardly fit to be the light of the world because it distorts the picture of Christ that it presents to the world. The church has a responsibility to rebuke, correct, and restore those in the fellowship who claim to be believers but live like unbelievers.
Here Paul teaches that though it is logical for the church to exercise spiritual discipline over members in its fellowship, it is not for the church to judge the present unsaved society.
By the Greek expression tous exō (“those without”) the apostle means those outside the church’s communion or fellowship. The words tous esō (“those within”) means those within the church’s fellowship. Paul now concludes (v. 13) on the basis of the preceding argument that the wicked man who had married his stepmother must be put out of the church. This he commands by quoting somewhat loosely from
The difference between believers and nonbelievers lies in their relationship to Jesus Christ, but a difference also exists in how believers are to relate to those inside and outside the church. The outsiders (referring to nonbelievers) are to be met where they are (even in their sinful lifestyles, 5:9–11) and offered the gospel message. Yet the believers are not responsible to judge them because God will judge those on the outside.
In the church, however, believers have the job to judge those … who are sinning in these ways. The Bible consistently says not to criticize people by gossiping or making rash judgments. At the same time, however, believers are to judge and deal with sinners “who are sinning in these ways,” referring to blatant, unrepented sin as described in 5:9–11. Paul’s instructions for this sinful man—you must remove the evil person from among you (5:1–2)—come from
The church is to confront and discipline such a person in love.
