First Corinthians Chapter 5

First Corinthians Chapter 5 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! - The NLT reads like this.. 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 - Reported Barnes says.. Of the existence of this offence he had been informed, probably by "those of the house of Chloe," 1 Cor. 1:11, and there is reason to suppose that they had not even alluded to it in the letter which they had sent to him asking advice. o If not those of the house of Chloe. then someone else did the reporting to Paul. - B.W. Johnson (Peoples Commentary).. gives us a bit of general background information. There is fornication among you. Licentiousness was one of the besetting sins of the Gentiles at this time. Purity of life was almost unknown. So far was unchastity from being held in disrepute that temples were everywhere dedicated to Aphrodite (Venus), and in Corinth at the time when Paul wrote there stood one with a thousand priestesses, harlots, a gigantic brothel in the name of religion. It is not wonderful that time was required to cleanse the church, formed of converts from these heathen, from impurity. - The IVP Bible background commentary gives us some specific background information The marriage of full brothers and sisters was considered immoral throughout the Roman Empire except in Egypt; parent-child incest was universally abhorred throughout the Roman world. From the revulsion against the idea exhibited in the Greek Oedipus stories to slanders leveled against emperors, it was one of those few crimes that all cultures agreed were terrible. Its Roman legal punishment was banishment to an island. Relations with stepmothers were treated like relations with mothers as incestuous. Here Paul uses the language of Leviticus 18:6 8. - The Bible exposition commentary.. adds some addition insight to the problem. The sin in question was a form of incest: a professed Christian (and a member of the church) was living with his stepmother in a permanent alliance. Since Paul does not pass judgment on the woman (1 Cor. 1

5:9 13), we assume that she was not a member of the assembly and probably not even a Christian. This kind of sin was condemned by the Old Testament Law (Lev. 18:6 8; 20:11) as well as by the laws of the Gentile nations. Paul shamed the church by saying, Even the unsaved Gentiles don t practice this kind of sin! 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. - Mourned. This is the word used for mourning over the dead, which is perhaps the deepest and most painful kind of personal sorrow possible. The Bible exposition commentary - Puffed up.. Instead of mourning, the people at Corinth were puffed up. They were boasting of the fact that their church was so open-minded that even fornicators could be members in good standing! The Bible exposition commentary o To me.. this puffed up attitude gives new meaning and definition to Paul s discourse on grace in Romans 5:20 21 to 6:1 3: Romans 5:20 21 to 6:1 3. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? KJV They seemed to take pride in their tolerance. o David Lipscomb (Gospel Advocate Commentary) says For sins that are common and popular in a community will trouble the church in that community. o William Barclay says They had complacently accepted the situation and done nothing about it when they should have been griefstricken. 2

o The Bible exposition commentary They were boasting of the fact that their church was so open-minded that even fornicators could be members in good standing! o Donald Guthrie, The New Bible Commentary believed that their leaving such a glaring sin uncondemned was "Presumably on the ground of their `liberty' in Christ. that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. The RSV reads 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. RSV They should have been grief stricken and in deep sorrow over such a situation. Instead.. they were at the very least indifferent and complacent. o Gal. 6:1-2 1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. RSV They should have been looking into solving the situation and quite possibly looking to the necessity of excluding him from fellowship with the congregation until he would repent. o Matt. 18:15-17 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 word may be confirmed 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. RSV 3

3 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 some way. he had been fully informed of all the circumstances surrounding this case and was compelled to express his judgment on the matter. Two possible explanations for this verse are as follows:. o Adam Clark s Commentary Absent in body, but present in spirit. Perhaps Paul refers to the gift of the discernment of spirits which it is very likely the apostles in general possessed on extraordinary occasions. He had already seen this matter so clearly that he had determined on that sort of punishment which should be inflicted for this crime. o Jim McGuiggan The Book of 1 Corinthians. Paul didn t need to be present to make a judgment on this matter. He might as well have been present for all the difference it makes to his judgment. This lets us know that reliable evidence is equivalent, for assessment purposes, to personal experience. The reliable word of reliable witnesses puts the jury in possession of what the eye-witness saw. 4 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, - This verse gives us a lot of detail and insight into the disfellowshipping that is required in this case. o In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ this is the authority for the discipline. Disfellowshipping in this type of situation is the plan of God.. not man! This was to be done by the authority of Jesus Christ In His name and not simply on the authority of the local church. Church membership is a great privilege and blessing but it also carries great responsibility and must be taken seriously. 4

It seems obvious from this example. that this congregation had the tendency to overlook and tolerate even blatant sin. (Why? Perhaps the evil environment, Christian Liberty, etc.) o when you are gathered together. tells us that the whole church is involved in this decision..and that the execution of the Lord s command is to be honor by all. Notice some of the comments in 2Cor. 2:5 11 (This text.. many believe, concerns this same man who had been disfellowshipped and then repented.) Notice the attitude and purpose that is to prevail and that the whole congregation (the majority or the many) is involved. o 2Cor. 2:5 11 5 But if any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure not to put it too severely to you all. 6 For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough; 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 to keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his designs. RSV o along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ Consider these remarks by J.W. Sheppard. (Gospel Advocate Commentary on First Corinthians.) A question of much importance is, Does the apostle by the words, ye being gathered together, mean that he waits for their assent to his ruling in this matter? Most assuredly not. The whole tone, not only the passage which is now before us, but of the whole epistle up to this point, is that he would 5

have them look upon him as the apostle the special messenger of Christ standing towards them in the place of Christ. There is not the faintest hint of making the pronouncing of the sentence dependent on the vote of the assembly which is to be held, as if the apostle s decision could be annulled by the contrary opinion of a majority. For his part everything is decided, and with his apostolic competency he has judged to deliver over the offender. There will be joined to Paul, in the assembly which he convokes, the whole church (Acts 15:22), to take part in this act. 5 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. - This man is obviously recognized as being apart of the church while at the same time very much a part of the world. o 1Tim. 5:17 22 17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching; 18 for the scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain, and, The laborer deserves his wages. 19 Never admit any charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without favor, doing nothing from partiality. 22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor participate in another man s sins; keep yourself pure. RSV - Paul s decision or verdict had already been made. o Complacency will not do the situation must be dealt with. The world was recognized by all Christians as the domain of Satan. Col. 1:13.. 13 He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. RSV 6

To be handed over to Satan.. was but to be make a formal declaration of what had already happened. By his actions this man had become a servant of Satan and they now publicly acknowledge that fact. Barclay says.. Send this man back to Satan s world to which he belongs, is Paul s verdict. Excommunication, Withdrawal, or Disfellowshipping? Jim McGuiggan s makes this comment. Withdrawal suggests our stepping back and leaving the man alone. Disfellowshipping is a more positive and decisive act. It is a taking of the man and handing him over. It involves expulsion from the community of believers. This nonsense of withdrawing from someone who walked away from Christ and us 10 years ago is thoroughly unbiblical. Listen, in the NT, disfellowship is carried out on one who still insists he is a part of the Body. The NT knows nothing of disfellowshipping a person who makes no claim to belong to the community of believers. What an exhibition we make of ourselves when we withdraw from someone who repudiated Christ and us years before. Oh the games we play! - For what purpose is this being done? o that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. The first purpose stated here. concerns the eternal welfare of the offender himself. That he might be saved.. in the day of judgment. It was to get his attention.. that he might see his sinfulness and lost condition. Listen to Rom. 8:12 13 12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according 7

to the flesh 13 for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. RSV This process is a deliberate action with purpose but it is never easy. Note the attitude that should prevail.. in the ideas presented by these commentators. o William Barclay.. Send this man back to Satan s world to which he belongs, is Paul s verdict. But we have to note that even a punishment as serious as that was not vindictive. It was in order to humiliate the man, to bring about the taming and the eradication of his lusts so that in the end his spirit should be saved. It was discipline, not exercised solely to punish, but rather to awaken; and was a verdict to be carried out, not with cold, sadistic cruelty, but rather in sorrow as for one who had died. Always at the back of punishment and discipline in the early Church there is the conviction that they must seek not to break but to make the man who has sinned. o Jim McGuiggan s It is to bring him back to Christ. The hope is that he will feel the loneliness of isolation, recognize the heinousness of his wrong, repent and return. Withdrawal is, in these verses, for the man s ultimate salvation. 6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 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. 8 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. - This is the second reason for this withdrawal or disfellowshipping of the man in question. o Paul says. Your glorying is not good. This statement is hard for us to understand. 8

One thing is for sure Paul wanted them to understand that if this man and his situation were not dealt with it could have a devastating effect on the whole church at Corinth. (influence) Paul reminded them of a truth they already knew but were failing to practice a little leaven or yeast soon permeates the whole batch of dough. One bad apple can contaminate the whole barrel. MacArthur.. The whole lump of dough is here the local church. If given opportunity, sin will permeate a whole church just as leaven permeates a whole loaf. Sin s nature is to ferment, corrupt, and spread. The need for church discipline.. is based on the same principle. o McGuiggan s makes this statement: The assembly has a responsibility to that erring one but it has a responsibility to itself as a community. Let such flagrant things go on and before you know it, the community is rotten at the core. B.W. Johnson summarizes the Passover illustration Purge out therefore the old leaven. Let the leaven of impurity be removed, by putting out the fornicator, that the church may be pure from the impure leaven, or influence. So, too, each one must cleanse his own heart. He goes on to say For even Christ our passover, etc. At the passover, Jews were required to put all leaven from their houses (Ex 12:15). As we have a Paschal Lamb, slain for us, the church should cleanse out the leaven of sin. 1Cor. 6:9 11 illustrates this fact.. 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor 9

robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. RSV It is the constant duty of both the church as a body and of Christians individually to cast out all leaven (sin) since our Paschal lamb (Christ) has been sacrificed for us and He is a perpetual sacrifice. Our old self was crucified with him. o Rom. 6:9-11.. 9 For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. RSV We must seek to be a righteous people but never self-righteous.. there is a world of difference. (Gal. 6:1-3) Likewise the church must purge itself of all who profess to be brothers and sisters in Christ but whose lives are sources of corruption until such time as they repent and come back into fellowship with Christ. 9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 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. 11 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 an extortioner not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But 10

those who are outside God judges. Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person. - Paul puts a limitation on his prohibition and confines it to members of the church. o Obviously he has no jurisdiction over those outside the church.. However. God will judge them. (v.13a) o His purpose is clear and cannot be misunderstood. He says 11 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 an extortioner not even to eat with such a person. Concerning the phrase not even to eat with such a person. consider these remarks by Everett Ferguson in his book The Church of Christ To withdraw fellowship means not to associate with the person. The prohibition of eating with the person requires some explanation in modern American society. In the ancient world sharing a meal together meant acceptance and established close ties of friendship. That is not often the case in our cafeteria society, where sharing a table in a public place may be no indication of relationship at all. Eating together today might not be a violation of this teaching, but participating in any activity that would give the appearance of approval of the person s unacceptable conduct would be a violation of the teaching. o His direction, command and conclusion also cannot be misunderstood. He says Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person. (v.13b) William Barclay makes this statement.. Here again we have a great practical truth. Discipline has sometimes to be exercised for the sake of the Church. To shut our eyes to offenses is not always a kind thing to do; it may be damaging. A poison must be eliminated before it spreads; a weed must be plucked before it pollutes the whole ground. Here we have a 11

whole principle of discipline. Discipline should never be exercised for the satisfaction of he person who exercises it, but always for the mending of the person who has sinned and for the sake of the Church. Discipline must never be vengeful; it must always be curative and prophylactic. - In conclusion to this chapter.. I would like to include one section of Everett Ferguson s book The Church of Christ entitled Guiding Concerns of Church Discipline. Discipline according to the church polity (governmental organization AC) laid out in the preceding chapter is not imposed from above but grows out of the community. The effectiveness of this approach assumes the members have committed themselves to the community; if not, they will feel the church is invading their rights when it tries to discipline. The other prerequisite is a sense of fellowship in which the members know one another well and in which there is a loving community life. Then there can be creative and redemptive discipline. Through Christian history competing views of the nature of the church have come into conflict precisely on the issue of church discipline. Is the church a society of the pure, or is a mixed body? Is it a holy enclave, or is it a hospital for sick souls? There are important elements of truth in both positions. There is a need to maintain both aspects; holiness and spiritual healing. The church always faces strong temptations to accommodate to the standards of the society in which she finds herself. On the other hand, where the impulse to holiness is strong, there is the temptation to withdraw from contact with society and /or to impose arbitrary (nonmoral) distinctions from the society. Holiness in attitudes and conduct, as exemplified in the individual lives and group activities of the members, will not compromise with the world. At the same time, the church must demonstrate what it means to be Christ-like as well as unworldly. The church is a community where redemptive love and saving forgiveness are maintained and practiced without closing the eyes to sin. A disciplined community is a place where the individual is sustained by fellow believers in unpopular ethical decisions. A person may resent discipline, but another side of the coin is finding one s covenant community standing beside him/her in a morally or physically trying time. It is within disciplined fellowships that closeness and a sense of belonging are developed to the point where this occurs. Christian convictions are costly. A person may want to hold them without this costing anything, but when holding them becomes costly, the support of one s church becomes indispensable. There is a place for the individual or a local community of believers to accept symbolic disciplines fasting, rejection of luxuries, non-participation in public functions of a questionable nature as a 12

witness to higher loyalty and to humble faith. These become not token gestures but real self-denial if they truly point to ultimate reality. Believers confront dangers of legalism on one side and flabbiness in their spirituality on the other (see further pp. 390ff. on Christian liberty). How does a group keep discipline from being legalist, rigid and bound to traditions of the past? Confessing their humanness and inconsistencies will help to save a people from legalism without their having to abandon a high standard of ethos and commitment. Discipline must not be external and mechanical, but in order to achieve its goals it must be regular, proper, and internalized. Discipline is not nonessential. It is a way of life for a church committed to scripture. Even secular movements recognize the necessity of discipline. The very doctrine and nature of the church are at stake in how the disciplines of the Christian life are maintained and carried out. Efforts to develop a disciplined Christian lifestyle may be considered as related to fellowship. Nevertheless, the positive structures of discipline are not always successful in achieving their purposes. 1 1The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982. 13