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. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 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 Corinthians 5:1-3

Often the theme among Churches today is “Come As You Are” and yes that’s a good saying and we should invite people to come to Christ, however does that mean we should stay as we are in Christ? Absolutely not, when we are Born Again in Christ, we become transformed, a new creation. The things of the past are the past, and we continually become sanctified by the Holy Spirit conforming to the image of Christ

So how do we deal with the sin that remains within the Church body? Well for the most part , the Churches typically don’t address or deal with sinful lifestyles of believers, but is this the Biblical model of the Church? Let’s see how Paul the Church of Corinth, here “It is reported commonly that there is fornication or sexual immorality among you” Notice Paul says this is a common practice, this is not a one time event where someone messed up, this has been a normal behavior of the Church to allow immorality to continue in the Church

Notice the Church’s response , Paul says “You are puffed up or proud, shouldn’t you be mourned or stricken with grief” The other members of the Church didn’t even care there was known immorality going on, however if they all truly were Born Again with the Holy Spirit, would they have this same response? The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin (John 16:8) This would be a sign of a healthy Church, the fact that the Church has no concern for sin among the Body, it’s a flag for false converts

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 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. 1 Corinthians 5:4-5

See Paul’s response here “Deliver such as one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh” Now in today’s age they would say “Paul is a legalist” or “Paul is not very Christian” but notice why Paul is doing this, “that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”

Is it unloving to rebuke someone of their sin? No, it’s actually unloving to allow people to die in their sins and eventually go to Hell. If you truly believe the gospel, then you would warn someone of the errors of their ways. Now are there more loving ways to approach this? Yes , we need to try to and reach people with the love of Christ and not with a hammer!

Tomorrow will continue to look at how Paul dealt with sinful practices within the Church!