The Unrepentant Believer 1 Corinthians 5 (NKJV) In the last few chapters we have looked at a church that was divided, esteeming leaders to an unhealthy and unbiblical place they had no desire to be in. Here in chapter 5, we will see the church united over something that actually should have divided them the sin of a man who was living in sexual immorality Vs. 1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles that a man has his father s wife! Remember, Paul was getting a report of what was going on in the church of Corinth from a woman named Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11). And so Paul lets them know that in the report he was told that there was the sin of sexual immorality in the church a man had his father s wife. Paul points out that it was his father s wife and not the son s biological mother, so it was the son s stepmom gnarly, weird! Paul even pointed out that this type of sin was not even named among the worldly unbelievers because it was considered taboo by the Roman culture of the day to have an incestuous relationship like this. It s crazy what we are capable of in our flesh For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Romans 7:18 (NKJV) Think about David. He was a man after God s own heart when he tapped into his flesh. He stayed home when the men went to war not a good idea. Then he saw another man s wife bathing and instead of taking thoughts captive he had her escorted to his home and had sexual relations with her. Then she ends up pregnant here is where the flesh gets revved up so he brings her husband back from the battlefield hoping that he will lie with her, hoping to cover it up. Except her husband won t because he is too committed to King David. And then the flesh conspires to have him killed Copyright 2012 Chris Fraley 1
to send him to the frontlines and have the Israelite army pull back so that he is left alone to fight. In essence, David in his flesh not only took another man s wife, but then he had her husband killed. It was a bad day in the life of Israel and an even worse day in the life of David. I know that I am very capable of doing some things in my flesh that are absolutely horrific. I would not call myself a good man in the flesh. The Bible is very clear when it comes to sexual immorality it s one of those will of God verses. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NKJV) In the commitment of marriage it s awesome it can be a part of the glue that brings us to that place of one flesh. But outside of marriage it tears at the fabric of our souls. On one of our pastors prayer retreats we all sat down and wrote out what would happen if we stumbled in the area of infidelity. So Paul comes straight out with it he hides the name but reveals the sin. Someone in the fellowship was living in sexual sin with their stepmom. It s possible that the woman is not addressed because she is a nonbeliever which makes it even worse! The man, who should have been setting an example of godliness to his unbelieving stepmom, is now committing sin with her. Vs. 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. Instead of grieving over the sin, the church was tolerating it, even puffed up in their tolerance. Like today, it was probably the politically correct way to deal with such a sin. Copyright 2012 Chris Fraley 2
Corinth was known for its depravity, prostitution, and drunkenness it was our Vegas today! And the church was letting their guard down in the name of grace, in the name of tolerance, in the name of social acceptance. Yet, this was not a non-believer, this was a believer one who had come out of the world, one who had given his heart to Christ, one who had been given a new nature and new power to live against the grain, not with the grain. Paul takes them to the mat as a church that when they should have been grieving, instead they were full of pride. Sin should grieve us. It should turn that pointed conscience in our hearts, knowing that the Savior paid a heavy price for our sin. Notice Paul s solution to the problem he was to be taken away, he was to be removed from the fellowship. Why was he to be removed? Vs. 3-5 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. The thought of putting him out of the fellowship was to remove him from the protective covering that a church family provides. This was not a man who had stumbled into sin and had a heart to get it right; this was an unrepentant believer who was flaunting his sin every time he attended the fellowship. You don t remove a repentant believer from the fellowship, but an unrepentant believer who is not willing to get their sin right. If he refused to face his sin properly, then the church family was to face it for him for his sake and for theirs. He was too comfortable in his sin, and so was the church. Removing him would hopefully remove the covering that he was used to, that he was enjoying like the home that we have and the covering that Wendi and I provide as parents for our kids. Copyright 2012 Chris Fraley 3
I have seen parents who have had to ask one of their adult children to leave the home because they were taking advantage of the covering, not respecting the covering. Perhaps they were using drugs, or maybe they were addicted to porn, or they were bringing friends home while the parents were out and abusing the refuge that the parents had made it. So they had to ask them to leave. They removed them from the covering. It s a hard thing to do. However, I have witnessed many eventually see the fruit of their decision their son or daughter hit bottom and cried out to the Lord. Paul would say, deliver such a one to Satan... How could they deliver such a one to Satan? By putting him outside the church, into the world, which is the devil s domain. The punishment is a removal of spiritual protection and social comfort, not an infliction of evil. David Guzik (www.blueletterbible.com, 1 Corinthians 5 A.3.c) Paul then gives us insight into the hope and intention of why this was done so that the flesh would be destroyed. Not his body, but his flesh because his sin was a sin of the flesh. So Paul is hoping that by putting him out of the comforts of the church and putting him into the world, Satan s domain, as he wallows in the muck for a while, as he endures the consequences of his sin, that the sinful impulse of the flesh in this particular area of his life will be conquered or destroyed. In verses 3-4, Paul points out that they were to be unified in this. He was letting them know that they had his vote he may have been absent in the body but he was present in spirit. And when they came together in the name of the Lord they were to be unified in this decision. It was not to be something that the body split over. It was the Lord s heart, it was the apostle Paul s heart, and it was to be their heart also. It was not a power play of the flesh. Paul says it was to be in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ that they would then deliver one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Notice the goal of discipline here that his spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The goal is salvation, not destruction of his spirit. Copyright 2012 Chris Fraley 4
Paul s hope was that his flesh would be destroyed and his spirit saved. Paul had no desire to write this guy off; instead, he wanted everyone to see the severity of the sin and take appropriate action to deal with the sin so that there would be salvation. Church discipline is not a group of pious policemen out to catch a criminal. Rather, it is a group of brokenhearted brothers and sisters seeking to restore an erring member of the family. Warren Wiersbe (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, 2007, p. 468) Notice the illustration that Paul uses to help them understand why they needed to do this Vs. 6-8 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. A little leaven is not easy to detect at first, but over time it shows itself, which makes it a perfect illustration of sin. If it s not taken care of, then it ruins the whole lump. Vs. 9-11 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or any extortioner not even to eat with such a person. Paul points to a previous letter here a letter that was not preserved. If the Holy Spirit wanted it to be preserved, it would have been. We have every letter that the Holy Spirit wants us to have today. But notice that he points out what was written not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Copyright 2012 Chris Fraley 5
Keep company with = Sunanamignumi: to mix together, to be close to. Paul qualifies here what he meant not to even eat with a brother who is in unrepentant sin. Eating together in that culture was a big time expression of friendship and of partnership. In some cultures, if you made it to someone s table it was a high honor. Today, in some homes, it s still that way. It s one thing to say, Let s hit Bakers, but if you were to invite someone into your home, to eat at your table, to hang out with your family, to dip your chips in the same dip, it s something greater than just a burrito at the local fast food place. And notice the emphasis again a brother not talking about the unbelieving world. As Paul put it, you would need to go out of the world. The only way that will take place is when we get to heaven. Until that day, no matter where we are, there will be someone we can shine the light, someone that needs some salt in their life. Paul will even clarify it a bit more than just the sexually immoral. Notice verse 11 those who are covetous, those who are given to idols, a reviler (another word for abusive), a drunkard, an extortioner (that s a person that steals). These are all deeds of the flesh, the way of the old nature. And Paul reminds them Vs. 12-13 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person. Judgment should always start with the house of God. We re to deal with the Christian community and let God take care of the world s iniquity. Jon Courson (Jon Courson s Application Commentary: New Testament, Thomas Nelson, 2003, p. 1036) Copyright 2012 Chris Fraley 6
We raise the gospel flag with the lost community around us. We don t judge them; we share the gospel with them. But if there is blatant sin, unrepentant sin, the unbelieving culture will not be affected like they should. If we look like them, then they will continue to be comfortable in their sin, and most of all, miss out on not only the abundant life here, but also a heaven that He wants for all of us to enjoy for eternity. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world Philippians 2:14-15 (NKJV) Copyright 2012 Chris Fraley 7