Day 63: Drawing the line – 1 Corinthians 5 vs 1 – 5

1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. 5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 New Living Translation

Today's verses throw light on a subject that is sadly true of Christians and Churches. Some do fall into serious wrongdoing, and congregations don't always handle the situation correctly. It has led to Christianity being mocked in the media for scandals, and even to congregations splitting. What happened at Corinth and what had added to Paul's sorrow about them? (vs 1-2)

How should the Church have responded to the scandal in their midst and what steps should they have taken? (vs 2-5)

My understanding is that they ought to have met together (no doubt, with much prayer) to deal with the matter. If the wrongdoing person wasn't willing to repent and turn from whatever shameful thing they were involved in, the congregation was to take a unanimous decision to expel the rebel. Paul called such a step as a 'handing the person over to the realm of Satan'. And notice, he says in vs 4 that Jesus would back up their decision.

Verse 5 is unusual. While it does speak of the man's 'sinful nature' being 'destroyed' – we see that the purpose is one of discipline. It could mean that, despite his disobedience, God would still show mercy to him at the final judgement. But it could also be they hoped that, because he was expelled from the Church, he would come to his senses and repent and be saved.

Some thoughts that come to mind (and you may have a few more too).

We see that it is possible for a believer to fall into a very wrong lifestyle. Christians have committed adultery and other wrong things. We see too that God may allow Satan to afflict them, even to the point of death, as a strong discipline. (Think of what happened in David's life after he'd sinned so badly). But God's ultimate purpose is to bring them to eternal salvation. It's good to know that while people may 'write us off', God doesn't.

And we also see that Christians have a responsibility to challenge other Christians who are living in a way that is shameful in God's sight. We're not called to find fault over petty issues – but Churches need to draw the line at things that even many unbelievers would not do. And Jesus is with the Church when it has to discipline a rebel.

(You can see what Jesus said related to this subject at Matthew 18:15-20)