THE INCORRIGIBLE TRANSGRESSOR!

THE INCORRIGIBLE TRANSGRESSOR!

1 Cor 5:4-7

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,

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.

6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

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:

           The offense was extreme! A man in the church at Corinth was having a sexual affair with his father’s wife. Whether this was his mother or step-mother is not clear. Both cases are bad but one would, in my mind, be much worse. The church, possibly because they didn’t know just what to do, did nothing! Moreover, they went along as if everything was fine. This prompted Paul to say: “Your glorying is not good.” Your claim of God’s glory in this church is false. Something must be done.

           The sinner was unrepentant! Perhaps because he was not challenged by the church or perhaps because he was stubborn, he did not make any move to cease the sinful behavior. A new kind of “normal” settled over him and the church. Does this not sound like the modern church today? So much of what used to be sin is no longer considered as such.

           The judgment was apostolic. In other words, this extreme form of excommunication faded with the apostles. At least that is the opinion of most commentaries. However, while excommunication of any sort seems to be absent from most churches, I am not so sure that God does not continue to practice this extreme punishment in extreme cases.

           When one is engaged in gross sin, without any intention of repentance, one of two things must be true. Perhaps he is not a believer at all but only a pretender or his sin has so blinded him that repentance is nearly impossible. In this case God delivers this one to the Devil resulting in torments and diseases. Ultimately the body may perish so that the eternal soul may be “saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” In this way God purges his church.

           There was a happy ending! This horrible situation in the first letter to Corinth ends happily in the second letter. The sinner repents, disengages from his father’s wife, and is restored to the church.

2 Cor 7:10-11

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Dear Lord, let me never be so blind to my sin that I can’t hear your voice. AMEN