1 Corinthians 5:1-5
Ps Paul Cheng
Dear Bethelites,
Have you ever heard of someone saying, “Are these people not Christians, I thought they were Christians? How can Christians behave like that?” And then you struggle to explain that Christians are not perfect, and not every Christian behaves like that, or that those people do not represent the entire Christian community, they are the exception and not the norm. But however you explain, you know that one thing for sure, the testimony of the Christian church and the gospel of Christ have been greatly tarnished.
That was the situation with the church at Corinth. The Corinthians were supposed to be a light of salvation to the unbelieving world out there, to show to the unsaved people what it means to be loving, gentle, humble, godly and pure. Instead, they were a divided church, and not only that, they were also a disgraced church. They were a church when at times, the standard of the world was better than that of the church. What a shame!
There was sin in the church, and sad to say, everybody knew about it, but the church did not do anything to stop it. No church is perfect, but human imperfection must never be an excuse not to deal with sin. When there is sin in the church, what must we do?
Remember the illustration that the Apostle Paul used previously about the church being a family; and just as parents must discipline their children in love, so the church family must exercise discipline over the members. It is not unloving to exercise church discipline; in fact, it is unloving when we do not do it.
Let us consider what the problem was with the church at Corinth, what should be done, and why it has to be done.
I. The Need for Discipline
1 Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
The phrase It is reported commonly is in the present tense which means it was still happening at the point of writing this epistle. In other words, it was not a one-time happening, as it was common knowledge, and everyone knew about this thing.
The word fornication (porneia sometimes translated as immorality) in the original language is from where we get the English word for pornography. It is a general word that refers to all kinds of sexual sins.
So, there was fornication or immorality in the Corinthian church. It could be any kind of sexual sin like adultery, pre-marital sex, immorality within or without the marriage, etc, and any type of fornication could tarnish the testimony of the church.
Here, Paul was getting into the specific type of fornication. It was one of the worst kinds of sexual sins, which Paul said, is not so much as named among the Gentiles, which means it did not even exist amongst the Gentiles, or even the Gentiles would not practise or accept this kind of sexual sin.
Then Paul revealed what kind of sexual sin it was, that one should have his father’s wife which means there was a man who was involved sexually with his stepmother. The term father’s wife indicates that the woman was not his natural biological mother. Basically, that was incest!
Even today, incest is unacceptable amongst the pagans, and it is considered illegal in many countries. In Australia, it is a crime, even though the penalty for committing incest may differ from state to state, but it is still a crime. If the pagans, the unbelievers, consider incest as a crime, how much more should the church consider it a most horrifying sin!
But sadly, the church at Corinth did nothing about it, and the man was still in the church. So, you can imagine the situation that this man was sleeping with his stepmother, and everybody knew about it, and he was still coming to church, singing hymns, worshipping God, and probably still partaking of the Lord’s Supper. If the leaders said nothing about it, what could the members say?
Most likely, the reason why Paul did not ask for the woman to be disciplined was because she was not a Christian. Only the man was a church member because Paul said, among you; the word you was a reference to the church, so there was a member among you committing this horrendous sin. So, this man was not only immoral, he was also unequally yoked with an unbeliever. 2 Corinthians 6:14, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?
If you notice, Paul was not actually focusing on the person involved in the sin, but rather he was focusing on the church, and how they failed to deal with the sin. The fact that a person was committing this sin was bad enough, but the worst thing was when the church did nothing about it. Therefore, he was rebuking the church for not doing the right thing. It was as if Paul was saying, “Come on, you are the church, and what are you doing about it, even the unsaved people don’t do that. What on earth are you doing?”
The church cannot just sit back and pretend that nothing is happening. If we are called a church, and if we are called to be saints which means holy ones, and if we love the church, we will not stand by and allow sin to ruin the testimony of the church which Christ has bought with His precious blood.
Let us take a moment and consider, “Why in the world would the church ignore this horrendous sin?”
II. The Danger of Pride
1 Corinthians 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
The Corinthians should be sad, grieved and mourned about this thing happening in the church. They should have this holy indignation to want to have this member removed from the congregation so that he would not influence the other believers.
Sin has to be dealt with, and the first step to deal with sin, is this grieving process whereby one feels so wretched about the sin. If there is no grief, there will be no conviction, and if there is no conviction, then there will be no repentance. For the Corinthians not to be grieved for this terrible sin was a clear indication that the church was in deep trouble.
Dear friends, when was the last time you were grieved for your sins? When was the last time you cried for your sins or for the sins of the church? If we are not grieved over our sins, and we just continue on and on (like the man who slept with his stepmother), something is terribly wrong with our spiritual life, don’t you think?
There was a reason why the Corinthians were not grieved, and it was because they were puffed up (phusioo), like a balloon inflated with air; they were pumped up with pride. The same word, phusioo, was used in verse 6, translated as glorying, of which Paul said your glorying (pride or arrogance) is not good.
Well, what were they proud of? Some people have suggested that the Corinthians were actually proud of the fact that they had a person in the church who was sleeping with his father’s wife. I think it is quite ridiculous to believe in that line of suggestion. t does not make any sense for the church to be proud because of such immorality that even the Gentiles would not accept.
I believe that they were proud not because of the immorality, but they were proud in spite of the immorality. In other words, Paul was saying to them, “You people are so proud and arrogant that you have a member who committed such a terrible sin, and you will not do anything about it. What are you so proud about?”
People like to pretend that everything is well and good. They do not want others to know of the struggles, problems and sins that they are facing with their children, or in their marriages, families and individual lives. Even though they are already drowning and in deep trouble, they would still rather have others think that they are a godly family. So they try to sweep all those sins and issues under the carpet, and pretend they are not there. What is the root problem? Pride!
The same goes with the church. There are some leaders who are afraid to deal with sin in the church because the people may leave the church. When the numbers in the church dwindle, it is not a good sign of a healthy church, and so they do not want that to happen. Or they want the people to think of them as kind, loving and gracious. Or they would rather have the people think of their toleration of sin as an expression of Christian love and liberty. What is the root problem? Pride!
Paul was rebuking the Corinthians for not doing what the church must do in such a situation. The church must not tolerate sin, and she must exercise discipline wherever and whenever necessary. Paul said he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you (v.2b, to remove someone from the church is discipline). Verse 5, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (to deliver someone to Satan’s discipline, and we will explain that in a moment). Verse 7, Purge out therefore the old leaven (that is a reference to church discipline). Verse 13, Therefore, put away from among yourselves that wicked person (that is also church discipline).
Do you know what is the most tragic thing about this whole episode? There were spiritual leaders in the church, and instead of being grieved and dealing with the sin, they were so proud and fighting amongst themselves as to who was more spiritual. Paul was far away from the church, and when he heard about this terrible sin, he immediately said to them, “What on earth are you doing? Everyone knows about this sin. I am so far away from you, yet I heard about it too, but you are not doing anything about it?”
Verse 3, For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, Paul was physically absent from the Corinthians because he was writing from Ephesus, but he said, “I am with you spiritually,” and I have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed (how did he judged), verse 4, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Whenever the church leaders exercise discipline, people would accuse them of being unkind and unloving. Why must the church exercise discipline? Isn’t it un-Christlike when we do that? Is it really un-Christlike? Let us see what Christ would do, and what Christ has taught us to do, because He said, if you love me, keep my commandments? And what were His commandments?
Matthew 18:15-20 – The first step is to go to him when he has sinned - Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother (v.15). The second step is to bring two or three witnesses for the purpose of helping him to understand - But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established (v.16). The third step is to go to the church or the leaders - And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: The fourth step is excommunication, since his behaviour is that of an unbeliever, he needs to be treated as an unbeliever - but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican (v.17).
Then Christ gave this comforting assurance. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (v.18). Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven (v.19). For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (v.20).
Very often, we hear people quote verse 20 at prayer meetings, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. We are not saying that it is wrong to use this verse at prayer meetings; obviously, it is true that Jesus Christ is with us when two or three of us are gathered together. In fact, He is with us even when we are alone. But we must remember that Jesus gave this promise in the context of church discipline.
When the church comes together to practise church discipline, they come together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you think Christ does not know that it is extremely difficult for us to exercise discipline? He knows! That is why He promised that He will be with us whenever we need to do that. When we are gathered together, to do this most difficult and painful thing, we may be afraid, and we may be unwilling to go through with it, because we know there will be unkind words and false accusations that people will say about us, there will be accusations. But Jesus says, “Do not be afraid, do not worry”, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That was why Christ gave the promise!
When we execute the last step of church discipline which is excommunication, what are we essentially doing? Verse 5, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. According to 1 John 5:19, And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. The dominion of Satan is the world, and that is the realm of Satan. The last step of church discipline is to remove the person and place him or her in the world, and that is the place where Satan has dominion.
That is essentially what we are doing.
They are no longer part of God’s covenantal people, and they are no longer under the special protection of the covenantal God. In 1 Timothy 1:20, there were two pastors who tried to preach the false gospel, and Paul said, Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. What does it mean to deliver Hymenaeus and Alexander unto Satan? Church discipline! They were disciplined out of the assembly, and placed into the world, the domain of Satan.
Some people may say, “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that sounds really bad!” But at the end of verse 5b, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Even when someone is removed from the church, the body of Christ, the goal is still about his or her salvation, so that he or she may repent and the spirit may be saved.
If the person is removed from the church, and suffers greatly at the hands of Satan in the world, hopefully he would realize actually how blessed it was when he was once in the church, under the covenantal protection of God. He would miss all the exhortation and teaching he had previously received because he now realizes that they are so beneficial for him. He would miss all the love, care and prayer support he had received previously from the brethren. It would dawn on him that all these things happened to him because he has sinned, and therefore he must repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness. What happens when he does that? He would be saved! That is what it means, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Dear friend, how do we deal with sin in the church? Through preaching, exhortation and counselling, and sometimes, it is necessary to exercise discipline. As parents, whenever we discipline our children, we really hope that they will understand our intentions and motivations. Sometimes, we feel like telling them, “If only I can dig out my heart for you to see, then you will understand.”
The same goes with the church leaders. Please do not look at the church leaders as a bunch of policemen out to catch criminals. They are but a bunch of broken-hearted people seeking to restore erring members of the spiritual family.
In Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng