1 Corinthians Part 5: Sleeping With the Enemy

In Part 4 of the 1 Corinthians study, through Paul's writings, the Lord addressed the issue of stewardship and
how good stewards are not boastful ones. Those boasting of their own ability and prowess were actually
demonstrating that they were not as "mature" in the faith as they liked to believe, as this indicated a lack of
humility. In order to serve, we must be willing to humble ourselves and not look down on those we would call
our brethren.

As we continue on in Part 5, Paul moves on to another matter. He had heard word from Chloe's people about the
goings on in the body at Corinth, and it shocked him:

[I]"It is actually reported that there is immorality among you,[B] and immorality of such a kind as does not exist
even among the Gentiles[/B], that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not
mourned instead, [B]so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst[/B]."[/I] (1
Corinthians 5:1-2, NASB, emphasis mine)

This meant that someone was having an affair with their stepmother, and according to Paul, even the
unbelievers weren't doing that!! Imagine what this would do to the [I]reputation of Jesus Christ[/I], let alone the
efforts by the church at Corinth to spread the message of the Gospel? In a city like Corinth, word would spread
fast and it wouldn't take long for people to be talking about "The new cult that is supposed to be [I]so much
better[/I], but does [I]worse[/I] things than us. [B][I]What a crock!![/I][/B]"

Paul had to act:

[I] "For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit,[B] have already judged him who has so
committed this, as though I were present[/B]. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I
with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, [B]I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the
destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus[/B]."[/I] (1 Corinthians 5:3-
4, NASB, emphasis mine)

Paul had to do something about this, so he brought the matter before the Lord. Since the Corinthians would not
discipline this believer, Paul now had to do so for them. This wasn't good, as when Paul left them, they were
supposed to be able to stand on their own "spiritual feet" as so to speak, and function as a church without
someone having to constantly, physically guide them step by step. And by not doing so, the actions of this
person were going to influence the body at Corinth as a whole:

[I]"Your boasting is not good.[B] Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?[/B]
[U]Clean out the old leaven[/U] so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ
our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the
leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."[/I] (1 Corinthians 5:6-8,
NASB, emphasis mine)

As long as that person remained in the body without the situation dealt with, his actions would influence the
other believers and contaminate the church there. Because they had not taken any action to address this issue,
the man's behavior was seen as acceptable, and in a city such as Corinth, that was [I]especially dangerous[/I].
Corinth was already well-known for its' sexual promiscuity, and the affair this man was having with his
stepmother would introduce a sin into the Corinthian church that not even the unbelievers would dare commit!!
This would not only affect the message of the Gospel, but would result in that church becoming so
contaminated with this sin, that it would open numerous opportunities for Satan to assault it and tear it apart!

Paul then has to clarify something for the Corinthians:

[I]"I wrote you in my letter not to associate with [B][U]immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral
people of this world[/U][/B], or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, [B]for then you would have
to go out of the world[/B]. But actually, I wrote to you [B]not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an
immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such
a one.[/B]"[/I] (1 Corinthians 5:9-11, NASB, emphasis mine)

The Corinthians were confused about associating with "immoral people". Were they to avoid all of them, and if
so, how were they to witness to them? Paul delineates here that by necessity, they [I]had[/I] to talk with those
who were unbelievers; but for those within the church, if they were continuing in a sin and would not repent of
it, they were to be excluded from the body for the sake of the church. It was so important, that they were
instructed to [I]not even eat with them[/I]. To this point, Paul had to give them:

[I]"For what have I to do with judging outsiders? [B]Do you not judge those who are within the church?[/B] But
those who are outside, God judges. [B][U]REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
[/U][/B][/I]" (1 Corinthians 5:12-13, NASB, emphasis mine)

Using Paul, the Lord had to remind them that those outside the church were the responsibility of God to deal
with, but those within the church were the responsibility of the church to discipline. And since they didn't do so,
Paul had to [I]literally[/I] order them to remove the man from their church. What we see here is that Paul
expected the church at Corinth to be able to handle what he had handed off to them. We ask "Why didn't Paul
stay longer then?" The truth of the matter is that the role of a missionary is not to stay for years and years in one
place, but to teach and move on. They were never intended to be cemented in one place, but to serve as a
"scaffold" for which to build the churches on. It is the task of the indigenous believers to take up the mantle
once the missionary moves on and evangelize the area they live in. Otherwise, they are sitting in the stands"
while a handful of people are doing all the work for them, and this promotes [I]dependency[/I]. We see a
dependency in the Corinthian believers after Paul leaves; they aren't walking as they should, and they didn't see
that they had to discipline the man having an affair with his stepmother. Paul had to do it [I]for them[/I]. It isn't
"more like Paul" that they had to be: it was more like [B][I]Christ[/I][/B]. And so far, they weren't doing that
very well.

Now a side note, if I may:

We cannot leave it to pastors, missionaries, preachers, evangelists and so on to "be moral" f[I]or us[/I]. Neither
can we leave learning scripture, trying to walk with the Lord and having faith all up to them either. When the
Lord called us, He called none of us to be a simple "spectator in the stands". All of us, in some capacity, are to
be "disciple-maker makers". It's up to each of us to study scripture and learn, to follow what the Lord speaks
and commands, and to reach out to the Lost. When something is needed, we are not to shrug, turn away or
ignore it, but as Isaiah said "Here I am Lord; send me". And yes, doing the will of God can be hard; many times
we may need to act when we wish someone else could just do it. I'm sure the believers in Corinth didn't want to
have to boot the man that was having an affair out of the church, but it had to be done.

There is a BIG difference between knowing what is right and wrong, and[I] living that difference[/I]. And it
cannot be[I]"human morality"[/I], because mankind simply cannot decide what is right and wrong. We saw that
at the Garden of Eden, where man wanted to know the difference, and when he did, it was by seeing firsthand
[I]what wrong was[/I]. We can only live that difference when we follow what God says is right and wrong, and
we can only do so when we have been set free by the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ. It CANNOT be a
"secondhand faith". No one can believe for us, no one can walk for us, and no one can serve God [I]for us[/I].

In Part 6, the Lord speaks to the Corinthians about how to handle disputes between fellow believers.

I bid you all peace.

YBIC,

-Robert