1 Corinthians 5:1-13

This chapter shows the importance of attitude.  The believers in Corinth were proud of their tolerance of sin and the sinner, apparently thinking they were being Christ-like in forgiveness.  Jesus certainly was forgiving.  But He never encouraged forgiven sinners to remain in sin; rather His words were go and sin no more (John 8:11).  His words to the sinful woman in Luke 7:50 (“Go in peace”) come after she has shown her repentance and faith.  In John 4 Christ offered living water to the woman, but He did not let her sin go unchallenged.  For us to walk in obedience we must know that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).  But forgiveness, purchased by Jesus’ blood, must not be a license to continue in sin (Rom. 6:1-2).

Instead the attitude of the Corinthians, and our attitude, should have been to mourn over sin.  Again, it is what caused the death of our Lord.  Grieving over sin is essential to leaving sin behind.  Godly sorrow produces repentance (2 Cor. 7:10).  The first steps in the path of the Pilgrim (Psalm 120-134) is to turn from sin which has become grievous to us (Psalm 120).  This attitude will lead to:

·        The judgment of sin by the Church, v2b-3,12-13.  Paul discouraged judgment in 4:1-5 because the issues were not about false teaching or the sin of the teachers.  But here it is essential for the Church to make a distinction (judge) and then act on that distinction.  In essence this judgment is simply agreement with God who calls it sin.

·        The joining together of the Church, v4.  This matter has come to the final step of Matt. 18:15-18 where the entire body of believers has become involved.  Enough must be shared about the situation so that they can all understand, not necessarily every detail, but certainly the nature of the sin and the unwillingness of the sinner to repent.

·        The delivering of the sinner to Satan, v5.  This is not merely removal from a membership list; it is withdrawing of fellowship.  It is leaving the sinner in the choice he has made with the evil one he has chosen to follow.  The hope is that the loss of fellowship and all the blessings of this will lead the sinner to finally repent and turn from the fleshly way he has been walking.  But also, those in the body of Christ must see that there is no place among god’s people for refusal to repent of sin.  Discipline properly applied can work (it did in this case; 2 Cor. 2:3-11).  But continued fellowship for the sinner will only make him comfortable in his sin and shames Christ who died for our sins!

Note the important conclusion to the chapter.  One thing the Church is not to do is to withdraw from the sinners of the world.  The old adage, we are “in the world but not of the world,” is true.  We are not to copy their sins; but we are to be salt and light in this world and that requires that we keep company with them.  How we treat sin among ourselves will go a long way in telling the people of the world the hopelessness of sinful way in which they live (Acts 5:11).