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1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 5

By Pastor Doug
Immorality in the church; Immorality must be judged.

1 Corinthians 5:1

As we ended chapter 4 Paul left them with a question: Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?  In case anyone was wondering whether Paul was being too harsh; or they were wondering if there could really be a need for the rod, he removes the doubt at the beginning of this chapter.  It's as though he said, "Listen to what else has been reported to me!!"

We see the tone of Paul's voice change as we begin this chapter.  In our day, it would sound like, "You've got to be kidding me."  He was appalled that this was reported to him.  Yet, we should note, the first priority in the letter was the divisions and lack of respect for him as an apostle.  This had to be resolved first to regain authority over them and be able to instruct and correct.  But also, so as not to deepen the divisions when these other issues were addressed. 

It seems to me that complete reconciliation of all who were involved in these things was not likely, maybe even impossible.  Someone would feel the need to leave angry to preserve their pride and maintain that they weren't wrong.  In addition, those who love their sin more than the Lord, would be making a decision.  In our day, this seems to happen quickly without regard to leaving the body of believers they were attached to.  It is painful and difficult for many when this happens.  Sometimes it must happen, sometimes it should happen and doesn't.  In many cases it has a purifying effect on the body.

The word translated to 'sexual immorality' is 'porneia'.  The KJV translates it as fornication.  This is a category of objectional moral behavior of a sexual nature.  It's an umbrella term under which you would find all kinds of extramarital sex, including adultery, fornication, homosexuality and many other deviations.  Our English word pornography comes from this word.

Sexual immorality is a relative term unless there is a definition to determine where the line is.  A culture apart from the living God is free to establish what is and isn't acceptable based on their own feelings, emotions, preferences, etc.  As the world turned away from God more and more over the last 30 years or so, the line of what is acceptable has moved.  Shame was once part of the equation; this is probably a matter of conscience and comes from the sense of knowing there is a God and a day of judgment.   There should be a sense of shock from sin; understanding that it brings wounding, pain and destruction.  The sense of shock was gone.  Corinth was an island of righteousness surrounded by seas of immoral and wicked iniquity.  Our culture is as bad, if not worse than Corinth.  Are we shocked at sin?  Do we understand it brings brokenness?  Do we mourn over it?

It wasn't that long ago that shame and embarrassment kept the line to the right side of the scale.  Porn was hidden in the dark.  Marriages were solid.  Divorce was rare.  God's definition of marriage and family were solidly intact.  We heard of other things and knew of them as perversions, the literal bending of the norm.  As God was removed from the equation, so was shame.  As sin became prevalent, the shock was gone.  It's so much easier for us to sin when everyone is doing it.  What used to be perverse is now legalized and normalized to the point that our kids and grandkids are being indoctrinated with it.  What we can conclude is that the presence of God in the culture determines how prevalent sexual immorality might be.  Humankind, left to itself will spiral to the new depths of perversity. 

Where there is idolatry, there is adultery.  When other gods are embraced, immorality is prevalent.  This is where Corinth was.  The Greek culture had few sexual boundaries and virtually no shame in these matters.  Illicit affairs were normal, expected and sometimes viewed as challenges and conquests.  For those that grew up in this culture and then came to Christ, this was an area of significant change in attitude.  As we struggle to leave behind the old life, the old man, so did the Corinthians.  Paul spoke of this struggle in Romans 6:

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin [might be done away with], that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:5-6)

With all the perversity and immorality of Corinth, the church allowed a kind of porneia that wasn't even accepted among the Gentiles.  In a culture where nearly everything was acceptable, they allowed something that was not acceptable to the general culture.  Now this is serious and profound, associated Christs' church with this activity.  The unbeliever on the street would be able to look at what the church found acceptable and find them morally objectionable.  Paul brings this to them to show it is incompatible with those who follow Christ.  Were they trying to be culturally relevant in accepting this?  Many churches today, with what is being called a 'woke' attitude, are moving the ancient boundaries in an effort to be accepted by the culture.

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)

The specific incident reported to Paul was a man who had taken his father's wife.  It's implied or understood in the language that it's not his mother but a stepmother.  It was a long term or ongoing arrangement, not a one-night stand.  This kind of thing wasn't even done by the pagans.  Even in the most fallen and wicked culture, they knew it was wrong to do such a thing and this church in Corinth was allowing it to go on right under their nose.

There was no sense of being holy and set apart as a Christian.  It's not that they had joined with the heathen among them but that they never separated from them.  The culture had given the word "Corinthian" new meaning and the church was part of it.  To be a Corinthian meant to live in sexual wantonness and license.  To be a Corinthian saint apparently meant pretty much the same thing.  That was a huge problem. 

As if there weren't enough things in the church of Corinth to divide over, this probably became another.  Consider the Jewish Christians among them.  The law of Moses was clear:

The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness.(Leviticus 18:8)

The law was clear on the penalty for this kind of activity.  In fact, this very thing is mentioned numerous times (Lev 20:11; Deut 23:1; 27:20.  God foresaw man's wickedness and established it was such, even including it under the 12 curses of Deuteronomy 27:20.  Under the Old Testament law, this man was to be taken outside the camp and stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22; Lev 18:8,29).  The Mishnah agreed, both were to be taken out and stoned.

That was God's standard of holiness; remove the evil from among you.  Imagine the Jews trying to hold onto their old laws while the Greeks were trying to hold onto the old morality!!

Paul was trying to get them to see the seriousness this matter.  Pride is hard to see in yourself; worldly wisdom was hard to see; but there was really no excuse for this.  Paul must have been stunned and amazed at the problems that he was having with these people.  They were Christians for crying out loud.  Why weren't they acting like it?  Paul was already astonished at divisions.  This had to add to his astonishment and draw him toward bringing that rod of correction of 4:21.

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. (Ephesians 5:5-7)

 

1 Corinthians 5:2

The presence of sexual immorality was bad in the church.  But even worse was their response, and lack of response to it.  This should have been an occasion of mourning over sin, instead they were puffed up with pride.  Were they boasting of their grace?  Of their tolerance (Gee, we don't want to be judgmental)?  Was this a display of their spirituality, searching for cultural acceptance? 

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?(Romans 6:1-2)

The word Paul used for 'mourned' is a deep sadness that comes from the death of a loved one.  It had not even occurred to them that this man might need to be removed from among them?  Instead of their current state of tolerance, they should have been in mourning that they had to put this man out of the church.  The mourning would be that of one losing a family member. 

It's worth mentioning here that we are talking about dealing with the sin of this man.  There is no mention of the woman.  That is probably because she was not a believer and not among the church or under its authority.

 

1 Corinthians 5:3-5

In their failure to recognize and deal with this problem, Paul felt compelled to do so.  Even though he was not in their presence, he exercised his apostolic authority as if he were.   Not being present had no effect on this authority as an apostle.  He was present in spirit by the letter he was writing them.  Paul had no need to wait until he arrived there.  He had already judged this man who was engaged in this life.  This means Paul understood that there was dispute in regards to the sin.  The man was living this life and the church testified to it.

When this church gathered together in the name of the Lord and Paul's spirit and authority were present in the letter, they were to put this man out of the church.  This is the exercise of church discipline.  They were to 'deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.'  Putting this man out in a public gathering of the church should only happen after the other efforts have been made.  He should have been confronted by those closest to him in the church.  This is 2 or 3 friends coming and speaking to the man with love and grace, "Your life doesn't reflect Jesus Christ and holiness and righteousness."  If that doesn't work then these friends should bring that to the attention of the elder or pastor.  Then the man would be approached again and a little firmer tone might be appropriate the second time.  If the person continues in this blatant sin, the final step was that he be put out of the church.  That's the way it should work.  It should never have lingered long enough for an apostle several hundred miles away to have to deal with it.

By putting this man out of the church, he no longer had spiritual protection and the blessing and protection of the church and fellowship.  He was to be turned over to Satan.  The world was Satan's domain and he was to be put out into it.  This man was a saint who was living in the flesh.  We know that we all battle with the flesh.  We all make mistakes.  The flesh leads us to sin at times.  When it's brought to our attention, we must repent and receive forgiveness.  But this man wasn't repentant in any way.  He was openly living in this sin and exposing the fellowship to its effects.

The church was to be the temple and the body of Christ.  To bring this sin in was to defile the temple.  To associate our sinful actions to Jesus Christ is the worst of all ways to take the name of the Lord in vain; saying we are a fellowship of Christians, yet acting like pagans.

When this man was put in the world, he would feel the consequences of his sin.  He would lose fellowship with his church family.  Was it worth it?  Would he choose to go on sinning?  Or would he put to death the deeds of the flesh, repent and be returned to the church.  The reason for going to such great lengths and inflicting this pain was for one reason only, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.  The ultimate reason for disciplining anyone is to bring them back to right standing.  In the 'Day of the Lord Jesus,' it would be better for this man to have been put out, realized his error and repented, than for his Christian brothers and sisters to have looked the other way.

 

1 Corinthians5:6-7

There was an apparent 'glorying' of the church of Corinth about this situation of sexual immorality.  The word means 'being content with each other's achievements'.  It wasn't that they ignored the situation or looked the other way, they were drawing personal satisfaction from it.   Did they see this as an achievement of grace and mercy toward another? 

Their glorying was not good. It was unrighteousness among the saved; sin among the saved.  No one could think this situation was a 'one off'.  If it was okay for this guy to sleep with his father's wife, well then practically anything else would become acceptable.  The line of acceptable moral behavior had been moved and mankind will always slide down to the lowest common denominator.  Paul saw this as a cancer in the church and the believers were being nice to the cancer because they didn't want to offend it.  In doing so they put the whole body at risk.

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?  The leaven mentioned is a fermented dough.  It's a pinch of dough left over from the previous batch when they made bread.  This was how bread was commonly leavened in the ancient world.  A little pinch of dough from the old lump could make a whole new lump of dough rise and "puff up."  The work of leaven was an illustration of corruption.  The presence of a little can corrupt a large amount.

Paul told them to purge out the old leaven.  This is a reference to the Passover and probably an indication that they were keeping the Passover feast, even in this gentile church.  Part of the observance of Passover every year was to get rid of all the leaven from your home.  The Passover feast was eaten with unleavened bread and then no leaven was allowed in the home for seven days after.

Paul told them to purge out the leaven; they were to remove this corruption from their midst before it made its way through the entire body.  They were to be a new lump since they truly were unleavened in Christ, their Passover. 

God instructed Moses about how to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread.  This commemorates the Israelites coming out of Egypt.  When they came out there was no time to let their bread rise.  But their coming out of Egypt was also a picture of them coming out of the world.  And when you come out you need to leave the corruption behind.  The leaven of the world shouldn't be brought along on the way to the Promised Land.  Moses passed along what God instructed about this feast of unleavened bread in Exodus 12 and if anyone took any leaven during that time, they were to be cut off from the Israelites.  They were to be banished.  That is to be set outside the camp.  We should have the same attitude toward corruption in our assembly.

The Passover celebration included as part of the commemoration a diligent searching out of leaven.  On the 14th of Nissan, the Jews were to light a candle and search the home for leaven.  Every last bit must be cast out.  This search is the picture of God's search of men's hearts in Zephaniah:

      12    "And it shall come to pass at that time

That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

And punish the men

Who are settled in complacency, (Zephaniah 1:12)

This search for leaven during Passover is thought to be the origins of idea of spring cleaning.

To celebrate Passover was to be reminded of the Lamb of God sacrificed for our sins.  The removal of leaven at Passover was symbolic.  Sin was removed but not just for that day.  It was ongoing for 7 days. 

It was a time to reflect and examine yourself and your life.  These men of Corinth may well have been celebrating Passover and purging their homes from the leaven, yet not purging the sin that was so evident in their midst.  "Get rid of the leaven because you are truly unleavened." Paul said.  You have freedom from sin, now it's time to start acting like it.  This was to be done in sincerity and truth, as a response to the gospel; not grudging or religiously done with reluctance, hostility or wickedness.

In Jesus Christ we are saved from the penalty of our sin.  The death angel passed over the Israelites when they were marked by the blood of their Passover lamb.  With Christ as our Passover, we are saved from death by the blood of our Passover lamb.

 

1 Corinthians 5:8

Paul suggested they keep the Passover feast or the feast of unleavened bread but he wanted them to do it a little different this time.  Not with this old corruption still lingering in their midst, Paul expected it to be dealt with.  They could no longer look the other way at this sexual sin and act like it was okay.  This would pollute and poison the entire fellowship.  They needed to deal with the corruption of this sexual sin but also the corruption coming from the malice and wickedness.  This was their vicious disposition and their evil deeds.  It was time to put those things out of the house and take the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  There is no leaven in purity and truth.  Purity and truth were on the path to holiness and righteousness, no sin or corruption was found there.

Those in Corinth needed to remember what this Passover feast was about and take it seriously.  They needed to remember their Passover and purge the malice and wickedness from among them and embrace the purity and truth of Jesus Christ.  God's people live in the Passover.

 

1 Corinthians 5:9-11

In a previous letter to the church at Corinth, Paul apparently dealt with some of these sexual sins in their congregation.  And he specifically warned them about keeping company, or mixing with sexually immoral (pornos) people.  It's a little different from the word porneia we saw before.  Pornos seems specific to males prostituting themselves or indulging in illicit sex.

It's a good time to be reminded, these aren't just people who happen to go to this church.  These are men that Paul calls saints; men that have received Jesus Christ and will be going to heaven.  He has to tell them this kind of behavior is bad and God doesn't approve of it.  This gives us an indication of how perverse this society was.

It was Paul's intention to warn them about mixing with the sexually immoral person out in society.  He didn't mean for this church to separate themselves from the sexually immoral out in the world.  The people out in the world are still in their sin, we should expect to find the sexually immoral among them.  We should expect to find the covetous, extortioners and idolaters among the sinners that are out in the world.  It would be virtually impossible to separate yourself from them without being completely isolated.  These folks are the ones that need to hear the message we have; they are what we used to be.  We can't separate from the world because we have to go out into all the world and preach the gospel:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;(Matthew 28:19-20)

Jesus sent us to the world with His word and protection to bring the good news to all who would hear.  We can't do that if we are isolating ourselves from those on the 'sinners list'.  Paul's warning was not to associate with those in the church who are sexually immoral, covetous, idolater, reviler, drunkard or extortioner.  In fact, he didn't even want them eating with them.  This may mean eating within the fellowship but it may be more specific to mean taking the Lord's Supper.  Or it could be both.  On the surface it seems like a strange detail for Paul to bring up.  Yet, there is something about eating together.  It's where relationships are formed or friendships are cultivated.

  1. If their life was characterized by anything on this list of immoral acts, something was wrong. 
    1. They were either not truly a believer.
    2. Or, they were a believer refusing to let go of the old life.
  2. They were bringing shame to the name of Jesus and the church.
    1. They are not bringing the character of Christ to bear as their testimony of being born again.
    2. Ignoring the sin was not loving; dealing with it, no matter the cost, was loving.
  3. Even eating with them was dabbling with leven.
    1. It sent a wrong message to the world.
      1. An unbeliever might see that Christians act no different than the pagans.
    2. It sent a wrong message to other believers.
      1. No one should find it acceptable and assume its okay for them.
        1. Sadly, some would use this as an excuse.

It is possible that at one time they were keeping company with brothers that were sexually immoral, covetous, idolaters, drunks and extortioners?  Wow, what a church.  Paul had previously written to tell them it wasn't okay that these folks were in their church.  The Corinthians were notorious sinners among their fellowship as a result of the misunderstanding of what Paul wrote.

 

1 Corinthians 5:12-13

Paul finished his thought here about the sinners inside the church verses those outside the church.  He couldn't judge those who were outside in the world.  That was God's job to judge the unsaved. Our job is to offer them the good news.

We are, however, to judge those who are inside.  This doesn't mean everyone in the fellowship is looking for something wrong in the guy or gal sitting next to them.  If there is a glaring or blatant sin that is leaven in their midst then they need to deal with it.  Paul said, therefore, "put away from yourselves the evil person."  This brings forward the Old Testament command to responsible in maintaining their standing with God.  Sin within the ranks could remove the blessing from the entire community. 

We would do well to remember:

13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:13-16)

****

The church of Corinth had all kinds of reasons and excuses for what was going on and what wasn't happening that should have been.  Excuses are easy.  Being a responsible Saint of Jesus Christ isn't.  We are saved by grace but we are accountable and responsible to preserve the integrity of our church.  If we aren't willing, I believe God will deal with us also.

Paul gave us instructions and there is no reason to believe that these instructions don't apply to the Church of Jesus Christ today.  We shouldn't sit idly by and allow open and blatant corruption in the midst of our fellowship.  We have no choice when we go out into the world.  We will be among the sinners, the sexually immoral, and covetousness, the drunkards, the blasphemers, and on and on.  But when we are here that shouldn't be the case.  And there is a responsibility to maintain and preserve that.  We have a responsibility to carve out the cancer before it harms the body.

When you start talking about judging, all kinds of things race through your mind. Paul isn't saying we should sit around and judge each other.  However, we should be smart about what we allow to go on in our fellowship.  What this should do is cause each one of us to judge ourselves first.  We should check our actions and motives first.  When we come together, we are the body of Jesus Christ.  We are His church and we should represent Him well.  When we are in worship, we want it solely directed to the Lord.  When we teach and learn from the bible, we want the Holy Spirit to plant the word deep in our heart to His glory.  When we gather to eat, we want it to form lasting bonds among the people of God who share bread on a common path through this life in route to eternity.  We want to wear the righteousness of Christ as a testimony for the world to see.

 

©2006, 2010, 2016, 2022 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater