1 Corinthians 5
_1 It is actually
reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that
does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3
Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I
have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were
present. 4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as
you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8
Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast
of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of
sincerity and truth.
9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
_Some believe that this type of behavioral judgment should be
limited only to people in the church & they may cite 1 Cor 5. However, this passage merely highlights the
importance of judging fellow believers to protect them from their sin &
also to uphold the credibility of the Christian church. Jesus hates hypocrisy (Mt 23). Likewise, the Apostle Paul states that he has
“already passed judgment” on someone in the church who was sinning (1 Cor 5.3). We are not to judge simply for judging’s
sake, but the goal is repentance & restoration of relationships with God
& others. In other words, the
judging should be followed by the type of admonishment & discipline taught
in Scripture when you’re dealing within the Christian church. The specifics of that topic deserve a page of
their own.
When Paul says “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you.’” (1 Cor 5.12-13), he is saying that we can’t discipline those outside the church – we can’t expel them because they are already outside the benefit of the church! He is not saying that we should never make any judgments or take any action regarding those outside the church – that would be missing the context & ignoring other passages. Regarding those sinning outside the church, generally it is important to identify the difference between dealing with the sins of individual unbelievers & the acceptable sins of the culture. For more on the responsibility of confronting cultural sin outside the church, see this page: Provocative Questions About Taking Proactive Action.
When it comes to confronting the sins of individual unbelievers, it depends on how close they are to you, how destructive the sin is & if they discuss it with you. Your responsibility in confronting someone is directly proportional to the closeness of your relationship with them. This is why dealing with sin inside your own family & the church family is critical (Mt 12.50).
Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. – Pr 27.5-6
When Paul says “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you.’” (1 Cor 5.12-13), he is saying that we can’t discipline those outside the church – we can’t expel them because they are already outside the benefit of the church! He is not saying that we should never make any judgments or take any action regarding those outside the church – that would be missing the context & ignoring other passages. Regarding those sinning outside the church, generally it is important to identify the difference between dealing with the sins of individual unbelievers & the acceptable sins of the culture. For more on the responsibility of confronting cultural sin outside the church, see this page: Provocative Questions About Taking Proactive Action.
When it comes to confronting the sins of individual unbelievers, it depends on how close they are to you, how destructive the sin is & if they discuss it with you. Your responsibility in confronting someone is directly proportional to the closeness of your relationship with them. This is why dealing with sin inside your own family & the church family is critical (Mt 12.50).
Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. – Pr 27.5-6
Certainly if the sin is obviously threatening the welfare of
the individual or others, there is need for intervention. Say someone is being abusive towards their
children; if you were aware of it, you would be liable (Jas 4.17, Jude 1.22-23). On a grand scale, this is the situation Dietrich
Bonhoeffer faced regarding the horrendous treatment of the Jews at the hands of the German Nazis.
When I (God) say to a wicked man (unbeliever), ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. – Eze 3.18-19 And if someone broaches the topic of a particular sin in conversation, you can certainly speak up for God’s position (against all political correctness). In fact, this can & should be used as a bridge to the Gospel & God’s grace for healing & restoration (Jn 4). After all, when explaining the Gospel to someone, it’s important to use God’s law (only true moral standard) that God then uses to show them their need for forgiveness through Christ (Jn 16.8-11). For more on this, visit: http://www.wayofthemaster.com/audiolessons.shtml (listen to lesson 2). |
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