This one's going to hurt a little- Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

1 Corinthians 5 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Immorality Rebuked

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. ²You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

³ For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and  with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ 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.

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? ⁷ Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. ⁸ 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.

⁹ I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; ¹⁰ I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. ¹¹ But actually, I wrote to you 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. ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? ¹³ But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Today’s text presents us with one of the most difficult things we must balance as believers within the church. Paul says:   I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people;  I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.  But actually, I wrote to you 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.       So then according to this there are two different standards, one for the world and one for those who have come to know Christ. Paul says:   For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?       We are then, like Jesus, to associate with the sinners in the world, to show them love, mercy and grace without judgment or condemnation. On the other hand we are not to tolerate, accept, condone immorality within the church, among believers. According to Paul’s words we should not associate with or even eat with an immoral believer.

Some will argue that these are Paul’s words, his opinion and they do not express the heart of God and Jesus. They say that God is love and Jesus lived as the representation of God’s love to the world. That of course is true. But Jesus Himself says:       “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20)

Jesus came as the fulfillment of the law. He came to pay the price for sin, to die so that we would not have to. Jesus came though, to redeem us from our sin nature. He did not redeem sin, making sin okay. God’s righteousness has not changed or been “relaxed.” If we as believers, the church tolerate and condone sin within the church, then we become those that teach others to tolerate, accept, condone and even participate in sin. Jesus says:     “whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven… unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”      Our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, not because we are better than them, but rather because of Christ; because of His sacrifice on the cross. We put on the righteousness of Christ.

Again, God is love and Jesus did come to live as the demonstration of God’s love to man. As Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.    God’s love was not demonstrated by tolerance or acceptance of sin.  God’s love for mankind cost Jesus His life. It was not a simple transaction, a trade. Jesus endured the pain and suffering, the agonizing death of the cross in order to redeem man from sin. Surly neither God nor Jesus embrace, accept or condone that which caused Jesus to suffer and die. 1 John 2:15 says:    Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.    Jesus Himself said:    “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)      Jesus has chosen us out of the world. When Jesus referred to His church He said:   “upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:18)  The word Jesus used for church is the Greek word ekklesia, which means called out or called apart, separate from. Jesus says He will build His church, those He calls to be separated from the world, on the revelation that He is the Christ, the Redeemer and Savior. We are called apart not that we no longer associate with the world, but that because we recognize what Jesus did, because we have had the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, that He died for our sins, we are called to be separate from the lifestyle of the world, to no longer accept, tolerate, condone or practice sin.

Paul’s words are indeed difficult and harsh. He says:   Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.      The difficulty we have is not in that we do not tolerate sin. It is in the realization that none of us are completely without sin. We all are in the process of growing into Christ’s likeness. So then the difficulty we have is in the application of the judgment of sin. In Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus gives us instruction on how we are to judge sin.        “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”      Many today stop at verse 1:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.”  That though is not Jesus instruction. He says we should first remove the things in our own lives which obstruct our vision, then we can see clearly to take the speck out of our brothers eye. There is a difference between forgiveness of sin and tolerance or acceptance of sin. In Luke 17:1-4 Jesus gives instruction about how we should respond to sin among our fellow believers.

He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”      We are to both rebuke and forgive sin. If we do not rebuke sin we risk becoming a stumbling block to others. We risk being those who teach others to relax the righteousness of God.  In the two verses which follow Jesus words of instruction it says:     The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”     We, like the apostles, need to ask Jesus for the increased faith to rightly rebuke and forgive. If we have that faith, the faith to rebuke and forgive, Jesus says we will also have authority.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for the demonstration of Your love, the cross of Christ. Because of Your revelation of that love, the price You paid to redeem me from sin may I never embrace what caused Your suffering. Increase my faith, give me a greater faith to both love sinners yet rebuke sin. Give me Your ability to forgive unconditionally and continually while I live as one You have called apart, separate from the things of the world. Give me Your vision to see as You see, to love as You love and to judge only as You judge.     Amen