I Corinthians 5

            Have you ever been cautioned not to judge another?  Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged,” are frequently quoted.  Perhaps that text came to your mind when we noted that in I Corinthians 4 Paul warned against judging others, reminding the Corinthians that when the Lord comes, He “will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.”

But Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 are usually quoted without their context – Jesus does not teach that one must never judge; rather, He teaches that in order to judge another, one must have a proper self-perspective.  “Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  And although Paul prohibits judging the motives or eternal destination of others in I Corinthians 4, in I Corinthians 5 he commands the church at Corinth to pronounce severe judgment on a member of their congregation who was leading an openly sinful lifestyle.

                The church in Corinth was tolerating a member who had married his stepmother.  Paul notes that incest of that sort was not endured even by pagans of their day, yet the Corinthians were proud that this person maintained his place in their congregation.  At first glance, this may seem like a rather far out situation.  But think, for example, of the churches in our day who permit homosexuals to be members, or even clergy.  Even some who are not Christians abhor homosexuality, yet those churches are proud, touting themselves as if they have a more enlightened view of the Scriptures.  Perhaps they cite the account of the woman taken in adultery from John 8, declaring that as sinners they are not worthy to judge another, to throw any stones.

In contrast, Paul judges this man in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  His pronouncement?  That he be excommunicated from the church.  Paul puts it this way, “’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.”  Excomunnication puts one outside the fellowship of the church, and into the world, of which Satan is prince (John 12:31-32).  Note, though, that Paul’s goal in putting the man outside the fellowship of the church is not his destruction; rather, Paul desires the saving of his soul, desires that he wake up like the prodigal son in the pig sty who returned to his father and confessed his sin.  Likewise, Jesus did not condemn the adulterous woman, but neither did he allow her to remain in her sin: “Go,” he commanded, “and sin no more.”  The church receives the repentant sinner as the father received his son, celebrating: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” Luke 15:24.

Do you remember also from chapter 4 how Paul noted that he and the apostles were viewed as scum, the refuse of the earth?  I promise you, the church that judges the public sins of its members will be viewed by many as scum, refuse. 

Paul has a second purpose in excommunicating the unrepentant man: the preservation of the godly living of the other members of the congregation.  “Do you not know,” Paul queries, “that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”  Later, in chapter 15, he writes, “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.”  Paul refers to the Passover feast to illustrate his point.  On the first day of that week-long celebration, the Israelites were commanded by God to put all leaven out of their houses (Exodus 12).  That had to take place before they could celebrate the Passover.  Likewise, New Testament saints cannot celebrate the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ while tolerating wickedness.

It’s easy to shake our heads at ungodliness around us while ignoring our own sins or the sins of fellow believers.  But we ought to be more concerned with sin inside the church than on the outside.  Paul concludes chapter 5 by making a distinction between those who are immoral within the church and those who are without.  He acknowledges that those who love the Lord will come into contact with immoral people in this life.  It is impossible not to.  God, he writes, will judge them.  But we must judge those within the church who are living openly sinful lifestyles.  Earlier I noted homosexuality; what about those in the church who are unbiblically divorced and remarried?  When is the last time you’ve dared to stand up when the alcohol gets out of hand at a gathering and noted that God does not fellowship with drunkards?  We have this command: “Put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”