Do Not Be Like Them
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The context of this passage in 1 Corinthians 5 is the sexual perversion openly practiced by a member of the congregation AND the acceptance of that perversion by other members of the Corinthian church.
Here is the text in part. It’s important to my point, so please read it thoughtfully: “For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven . . . Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”
St Paul could not have been any clearer about their options. He ORDERED them to excommunicate the man openly living in sin.
Oh, but how things have changed in today’s church, haven’t they? We now permit men and women openly practicing sexual sins and perversions . . . we permit them to pastor churches, sing in choirs, teach Sunday School and Catechism classes, act as ushers in the church, assist with Holy Communion, and so on. We give flagrantly godless men and women positions of authority and service in the church, although they remain unchanged and unrepentant of their sins.
Christian! Does that not GRIEVE your heart? Meditate awhile on the eventual results of such damnable, demonic examples that these people are to your children and grandchildren, your teens and young adults.
God was not ‘suggesting’ through Paul to be ‘tolerant’ of open sin in the congregation. God COMMANDED the church to exclude them from their fellowship.
Christian, if your local parish leadership refuses to obey God's words, then the only thing left for you to do is “come out from among them and be separate.” (See, for example, 2 Corinthias 6:14-18)
Christian, this is very serious stuff. Please, treat it seriously. The eternal destiny of your loved ones – indeed, even your OWN eternal destiny – might very well hang on your decision whether to follow God or the culture’s idea of ‘tolerance.’
Richard Maffeo was born into a Jewish home in the early 1950s. In 1972 he discovered Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and he dove into his awakened faith with a passion that continues to this present day. He has written three books, writes a blog, and teaches several bible studies each week at 55+ communities. You can find his blog at www.inhimonly.blogspot.com. You can find him on Facebook by searching for his name.
Richard and his wife Nancy are married more than 50 years. They have three grown children.
