Lessons From 1 Corinthians – Lesson 4
After the opening of the letter which gave them assurance that they are saved, then came a long through discourse on what type and who’s preaching to follow. Their error in that greatly contributed to them getting so far off course. So it was proper to address that root cause first.
And after all of that now it is time to get to their other sinful errors. 1st error on this list is having no problem with a man in the church having sex with his stepmom.
1 Cor 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.
This is so bad that Paul says that the lost world in general does not do this.
1 Cor 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.
This should have caused them to be convicted. They should have mourned, but instead, and very strangely, they were puffed up about it.
They were carnal, we know that, the bible clearly says so. We also know that Corinth was a wicked city with all kinds of false god worship. It was common to have temple prostitutes.
They say that, depending on the false god, that temple prostitutes would shave their heads. People would go to the false god temple, hire a temple prostitute and in the false gods temple do the deed and that is how they worshipped their false god.
Some of the people in this church were saved out of that mess. When someone gets saved, all of their wrong thinking does not just immediately disappear.
Yes immediately they are a new creature in Christ. Yes immediately they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who starts working on them and convicting them of things and speaking in that still small voice.
But no one goes from wicked false god worship to being super Christian in 5 minutes. It takes time and teaching and learning and growing. And growth should be normal. We all grow at different rates, but what should happen is life changing spiritual growth.
And that growing that should normally be happening, has been stunted. They were carnal Christians and that was not helped at all by having a worldly preacher.
So they still have a whole lot of wrong thinking going on and a whole lot of growing to do, evidence of that is how they are thinking about the man having his stepmom.
There is no possible extenuating circumstance that would allow for this, so judgment is clear.
1 Cor 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1 Cor 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul has already judged and the judgment is to cast him out of the church.
1 Cor 5:5 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.
Several things about this.
- For Satan to be able to attack this man he must be kicked out.
- That would imply that Satan is not allowed to do it while he is still in the church
The book of Job talks about a hedge of protection.
Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?
As you know Job takes place before Abraham. And at that time there were no churches. God has always given a hedge of protection to many of His own.
It is not always guaranteed. God does have reasons sometimes for removing it. And in Job’s case, Job did nothing wrong and his hedge was removed.
It was God giving the hedge of protection then and it is still God giving it now.
It is not the church that gives it, it is God who gives it.
Why is the man getting kicked out? For sin. Sin is the reason that the hedge of protection is taken down.
There is protection that God puts on His children. This is true. Some will take this teaching too far and take it to a place that they have no proof for.
They will teach that if a Christian is not a member in a good church, then they have no hedge of protection.
I do not agree with that. For one Corinth was not a good church. It was a carnal church. The man still had protection. So their qualification of it being a good church is not biblical.
And while the man had the protection for being in the church, that does not mean that a man outside the membership can’t have protection.
Let me give you an example. Say someone in Kuwait hears our videos on sin and on how to get saved. And they choose to believe and call upon God to save them with a repentant heart.
They are saved, they went from death unto life. They are adopted, saved, born again. But wait, there are zero gospel preaching churches there.
If what some teach is true, then they are in rebellion and have no hedge of protection.
1 Corinthians does show us that there is a level of protection in belonging to a church. Even a carnal bad church like Corinth.
But nowhere in this text does it say that this protection is only given to people in churches.
Sometimes there are no churches available. Other times, what goes on in some churches can get to a point where a man in good conscience before God just can’t walk with the things they are doing.
In those cases, as long as the man is still walking with God, and doing the work of God, and trying to live what Jesus said are the 2 great commandments.
I believe God will still give him a hedge of protection.
We need to keep in mind that the root cause of the man losing his hedge of protection is not church membership. The root cause is his sin.
Those who are outside of a church membership who are not involved in horrible sin like this man can still have a hedge of protection. I said can, a hedge is not guaranteed. As we learn in Job, God can have reasons we are not told for sometimes not giving a hedge of protection.
Verse 6, again we are told that the way they are thinking about this man’s sin is not good.
1 Cor 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1 Cor 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1 Cor 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Paul then gives us the principal that sin infects. Sin is contagious. Sin spreads. Sin loves company. To save the body, the sin must be cut out. Like the cancer that was in my ear.
Churches, which are not buildings but assembled groups of believers, they are to operate with and worship with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Leaven is used as an illustration of sin. So churches are to operate without sin. They are to be unleavened. Members are to be sincere in their walk with God.
And the verse mentions truth. That of course is God’s truth, and that is given to us in the Bible.
So kick the fornicator out. Keep the assembled group of believers pure from that. Don’t just take away their name from a membership role and still let them come and be involved in everything. (I have actually seen that) No kick them out.
Now like Paul often does, when he brings up a topic, he will give more info on it, and clarify it. He does that here.
1 Cor 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
1 Cor 5:10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
This teaching is important. Some will take things too far. Some actually teach total separation. Some people will leave society and not interact with sinners at all, but that is not biblical.
He we see another very important teaching in Corinthians. It is an important book to teach.
The separating from sinners is limited to the gathering of believers. Paul says yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, why, many reasons, one is given clearly here. For then must ye needs go out.
You have to go buy groceries. You have to go to work. Jobs are filled will sinning coworkers. The customers of the business you work at are sinners.
This should be common sense. People do take things to places that the bible clearly says not to. I remember a bible college student that came thru and he was talking to someone how he can’t wait to be a preacher because then he can spend all day with God and will not have to be around sinners.
That kind of thing is clearly taught against here.
You have to go out and work with and talk to sinners. If no one does that, how then will sinners get saved?
Paul clarifies this yet again in verse 11. Separating from sinners is restricted to brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 Cor 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
I also believe that with such an one no not to eat, is not talking about dinner at aunt Suzie’s. I have ran into people who believe that. If it means that, then that goes against the surrounding verses.
I believe that no not to eat, can only be talking about the Lord ’s Supper. That fits with the context here of this talking about only the church assembly.
1 Cor 5:12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1 Cor 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
God wants His groups of His believers, to be the real deal. He wants them to operate and worship with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
And since sin is like leaven and spreads and infects, then to protect that group and keep them operating with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, then the guy that is having relations with his stepmom has to be cut out.
And as we will find in 2nd Corinthians, the ultimate goal here was so that the man would realize his error, fix it, and then come back.