Sin, Saints, and Sanctification: Time for Tough love! I Corinthians 5:1-13

Sin, Saints, and Sanctification

(or, “When is it time for tough love?”)

I Corinthians 5:1-13

Introduction: One of the new “core values” that seem to be promoted by the media and that have largely been embraced by our culture, is being “tolerant and inclusive.”  Like most words, these have a breadth of meaning and can be applied in different ways. In the dictionary meaning of the terms I doubt any of us would want to be categorized as “intolerant” and “exclusive”!  The problem is that those terms are typically used today from within the context of a worldview that denies absolute truth and gauges morality on the basis of what is “acceptable” or at least “tolerable” in the world around us.  We want to reach out, and befriend the unsaved people around us. We can’t expect them to reform their behavior and to act “Christian”!  The way they are acting is exactly because they desperately need Jesus!  Of course we want to speak up for righteousness, especially when human life, or human rights or dignity is at stake. So even though we do not accept immoral behavior as ok, we are not “affirming” with respect to sinful behavior, we still choose to hate the sin, but to love the sinner.  Or at least we should.  That is not the main point that Paul is dealing with in I Corinthians 5.  The question here is immorality in the church, the behavior of a “so-called brother.”  One manifestation of the prideful thinking that had infested the minds of the Corinthians was that apparently they had become puffed up about how tolerant and inclusive they were, even accepting a brother that was engaged in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother—something that went beyond even what the pagan Corinthian culture deemed acceptable!

The Big Idea: Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

I. Mourning our Sin: We should hate sin because it detracts from God glory (1-2a).

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.  ² And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?

            Remember that Paul is writing a letter to the Corinthians, to a church that he had founded and knew well, and in the first six chapters he is responding to the news that had gotten back to him about problems in the church.  After appealing to the Corinthians as brothers in Christ and admonishing them as their “spiritual father,” after calling them to task for their prideful attitudes and divisive spirit, Paul turns to a specific example of that arrogance.  They had become “prideful” of their “tolerant and inclusive” attitude toward sin!  Paul approaches  the subject expressing his shock and disappointment, “It is actually reported…” It’s as though he is saying, “This is how far it’s gotten, this is how ‘off base’ you are in your Christian conduct! It has come to this…”  Not only were the Corinthians tolerating sin, they were tolerating and even boasting about “…immorality of such a kind as is not even tolerated among the pagans…” They were going far beyond what their pagan culture would be willing to put up with!

 

            What is the sin they were tolerating? The language is very emphatic, the term “immorality” is repeated in the context, “…there is immorality among you, immorality of such a kind…” The word “immorality” is from the Greek term porneia, the same word from which we get the English word “pornography.” The word was used very broadly for any sexual sin, from Paul’s perspective any sexual practice outside of God’s design for sex in the marriage relationship.  So Paul is saying, “Not only have you tolerated a perversion of God’s design for sexuality, you have actually allowed it to get to this point…!”

Notice also that Paul is not discussing “how bad it is out there, in the world.” He isn’t talking about the general spiritual corruption and moral climate in Corinth.  He said, “…there is sexual immorality among you…” He is talking about the church—the assembly of believers—the body of Christ!  Our outrage toward immorality “in the world” is something that we are often very ready to express. And it is distressing to see the casual attitudes toward sex and the de-valuing of marriage, or the re-defining of marriage in society today. But that isn’t what has Paul upset here, that isn’t what he is addressing at all.  He is talking about the church, about what we tolerate in our midst.  Healthy, functional, Christianity recognizes that there are absolutes of right and wrong. We don’t define morality in terms of what is culturally acceptable and what is politically correct.  What is HIS design, in this case, His design for sexuality? It is a gift he has given us that is to be exercised exclusively within the context of a marriage relationship. Anything that detracts from that or seeks exceptions to that is porneia, and puts our pleasure over God’s reputation and His glory. Our desire in the church should be to please God, to live within the boundaries he has given us, for our good and for His glory.

Isn’t it a shame when we hear of the fall into sin of someone in the church?  Especially high profile cases seem to give cause to the world to point at one more “hypocrite” being exposed.  Usually it is sex or money. Paul said the Corinthians were tolerating, and even prideful about their “accepting and affirming” attitudes toward a sexual practice that even the Corinthian cultural found unacceptable and wrong: an incestuous relationship between a man and his step mother.  Remember the reputation of the City of Corinth—things were so bad there that there was actually a verb in the Greek language, “to Corinthianize” that referred to sexual immorality. “A Corinthian girl” was another term for a prostitute. And in the midst of such proverbial licentiousness the Church of God in that city was tolerating sexual sin in its midst that would have been deemed offensive and intolerable by the pagan population of the city!  We don’t know their motivation. Perhaps they thought this was a question of Christian liberty, that believers are not under the Law. Paul addresses that question in Romans when he asks, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!”  Perhaps they thought this was the loving thing to do. If you knew that someone was speeding toward a washed out bridge, would the loving thing be to let them go without warning them? Of course not. Whatever the motivation Paul’s language says unambiguously that that this overt sin cannot be simply be tolerated in the church. The loving thing to do is never to simply close our eyes to sinful behavior among believers. We have to care enough to confront.

Paul says, “…And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?” Mourn? If we love God, and desire his name to be lifted up, sin in the church should break our hearts because it breaks His, it should cause us to mourn because it grieves Him.  The closer we come to God, the more we see ourselves through the lens of His word, the more we will be grieved by our sin and long for holiness. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:14-19,

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,  ¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  ¹⁶ since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."  ¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,  ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,  ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

There are absolutes of right and wrong. Sin is nothing to brag about! As believers, what grieves God should grieve us. If we are motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

II. Method for dealing with sin: Church discipline is God’s means for protecting the witness and purity of the church (2b-5).

Let him who has done this be removed from among you.  ³ For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.  ⁴ When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,  ⁵ you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 

        Jesus himself gave his disciples a pattern for dealing with any “offense” in the church in Matthew 18:15-17. 

¹⁵ "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

We don’t know for sure if any of those principles had been applied in this situation in Corinth. It may be that something “broke down” in the process when it came time to “bring it the church.” That was the result anyway, it was known in the church, news of what was going on had reached Paul, but rather than confronting the sin it was being tolerated, they were even boastful about their ability to tolerate sin.

     

        Rather than “tolerance and inclusion” within the church, immoral behavior is to be confronted, and if the person remains unrepentant he is to be “removed from among you…” To use a later term, he is to be “excommunicated.”  V.5 restates with a little more detail, “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Notice that the goal is repentance and restoration, “that his spirit may be saved…” In a sense, as someone is put out of the church, if it is biblical discipline and done in the right spirit, the church is “binding on earth what has already been bound in heaven,” he is open to whatever chastening God will allow in his life, always for his ultimate good. Hopefully that is our heart, the good of the offending brother, as well as the reputation of God and His church. Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

III. Motivation for confronting sin: Sin is a contagious disease, and an offense to God, a great price was paid for our redemption (6-8).

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?  ⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  ⁸ Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth…

       Leaven spreads through the lump – This image of “leaven” is used elsewhere in the New Testament, often representing sin. Paul’s point here is that once some leaven gets into a lump of dough, it spreads through the whole thing.  The point is that we are called to be holy because we belong to Christ. If we tolerate sin, it will become tolerable, then acceptable, then normal, and soon we hear, “Well everyone else is doing it!”  There is an old proverb that says, “If you let a camel stick his nose in the tent his body will soon follow!” It might seem like small compromises are harmless enough. We need to be on guard when society challenges the absolute truth of the Word, and we begin to feel less offended by our sin. If it grieves God, it should grieve us.

 “…You really are unleavened…” (now act like it!)

This is a striking statement, it seems to be an indicative statement of our standing, our position in Christ, i.e. we are holy, and the implied imperative is, “Now act like it!”

The price has been paid – Christ our Passover has been sacrificed… Why? Even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! Of course the language goes back to Exodus, the Passover lamb was sacrificed, sparing the life of the first born of the Jews in Egypt.  Subsequently they were delivered from bondage through the sea. The price has been paid for our redemption, as Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

IV. Mission and Morality (9-13).

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-  ¹⁰ not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.  ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler- not even to eat with such a one.  ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?  ¹³ God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."

        Paul wrote an earlier letter that had been misunderstood. He had said not to associate with sinners, but he wasn’t talking about the world!  We are here to reach out, and by every means possible to point them to Jesus.  “God judges those outside…” (v.13a)!  We are to build relationships with our unsaved neighbors and seek to point them to the Cross, and the Gospel of God’s amazing grace! If we thought we could avoid “sinners” outside of the church, we’d have to “go out of the world”!  That is exactly why God has us in the world, to point fallen humans to Him! 

         He was talking about the church, someone who claims to be a brother, “Purge the evil person from among you”!  The issue is not separation from the world – We can’t expect the world to act Christian – you are not saved by morality – we are called to engage the world with the Gospel. We are called to watch out for each other, and to hold each other accountable.  And if someone refuses to respond, we need to follow the steps outlined in Matthew 18… go with a brother… most situations can be resolved at this point… take it to the church… (I think this may be the point that the elders become involved)…  The glory of God is at stake.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Do you see that Paul is saying we are not to separate ourselves from the world, we are to be “in the world, but not of the world”?  Jesus is the Light of the world and we are called to be light in the world!  Some of the “religious leaders” of Jesus’ day judged him for being a “friend of sinners.” Do we want to follow their example, or do we want to follow His example? We don’t “accept” sin as ok, but we view it as a reminder of how desperately they need to know Jesus!

But when it comes to the church, to believers, we are called to be different, to be holy, to hate our sin because God hates it. That means desiring to be more like Jesus in my own life. It also means loving each other enough to confront sin and to call people to faith.  God’s reputation is what is at stake, may He be glorified!     Think about that.   AMEN.