WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT PURITY IN THE CHURCH?
1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-13
INTRODUCTION: Whenever I think of the value of the church, one verse comes to mind. Now it may not be the verse that comes to mind when you think about the church, but it is the verse that comes to mind when I think about the church –
Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
This verse reveals a couple of foundational thoughts regarding the church ……….
ü The Holy Spirit has made oversees for the church
ü God has called these overseers shepherds
ü We are watching God’s church, not ours
ü The church was bought with God’s blood
ü Hence – the church is to be a clean body of believer’s cleansed by his blood!
With that in mind – we come to this passage where Paul has to deal with questions arising from an outrageous sin in the midst of the church. Paul directs his response to how the church should deal with the sin itself, and how the church should deal with sin in its midst.
I DEALING WITH OPEN SIN – 5:1-6
Now, if you have been following along, you will remember that a couple of weeks ago, while we were in Chapter 4, we were dealing with judgment. At that point, Paul even said that he is not able to judge himself! Now when you think for a moment – you gotta ask yourself the question, “If Paul just got done saying how he can’t even judge himself, how in the world does he get off telling us to judge someone in the church!?”
The root of the answer is that In chapter four Paul was dealing with our ability to judge motives and service, and in Chapter five, the judgment is not in reference to motives and service, but in regards to sin. A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY!
A The Judgment Principle
1 Judge only what you have the criteria to judge
a Cannot judge what I do not know about
b Can only judge what we know about
2 Judge those things God has declared to be sin
a God’s declaration usurps our knowledge
b God’s declaration usurps our desires
c God’s declaration usurps our wishes
B The Attitude of the Church
1 The actual report
a The word could also be translated generally
b Word can be applied in two senses
1 “The general report”
2 It is reported that there is general immorality ….
3 EITHER ALTERNATIVE IS BAD!
c What the text is telling us is that every time the Corinthian church is mentioned this issue is mentioned also.
d Once the “nick name” sticks – you never lose it!
2 The Corinthian church ALREADY had the association.
a The text tells us that they were proud of it
b The text also tells us that they did not tell Paul about it! ( he was getting it second hand)
1 For some reason they did not want him to know
2 Gotta wonder why, hmmm!
3 The testimony of the church was GREATLY affected by this event
a It was a commonly associated with the church
b The immorality (incest) was considered universally wrong!
1 Either in marriage
2 Or in a permanent relationship
4 The response of the church was WRONG
a They tolerated the sin
b They were proud of their position
c They should have been overcome with grief
1 “filled with grief” – grief as though one had died
Kind of interesting to note that the person involved was a man who was active enough to be known inside the church and outside the church! Cold this get any worse?
d The church had an attitude of complacency regarding sin and false pride regarding grace.
Just like you cannot yell fire in a crowded building, you can’t ignore God’s commands
C The Pattern of Judgment
1 Jesus established a pattern for discipline in the church – matt 18:15-20
Matthew 18:15-20 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ’every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
a Church discipline is for the believer
b First stage is done privately
1 You see it
2 It is a clear violation of God’s Word
3 You have a God given/ordained/exhorted responsibility to approach that individual in love about the issue, looking for repentance
4 If the response is positive – you have done what God asks of you, and the issue is resolved.
5 No one is involved but you.
a) Don’t bring your deacon
b) Don’t call me
c) If God has revealed it to you – he wants YOU to deal with it at this level
SOMETIMES WE GET INTO TROUBLE WHEN WE SHIRK OUR PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AT THIS LEVEL!
c If the issue is not resolved, THEN we are to come again with two or three witnesses
1 Again notice the privacy of the issue – it is not a church issue yet
2 Again the goal is resolution and repentance
3 Again if the goal is achieved, the issue is over
d If the issue is not resolved, THEN and only THEN do we go to the church.
1 The church then exercises discipline.
2 Clear and unquestionable sin must be dealt with
a The application of judgment is an agreement with what God has already judged to be sin
b Discipline is done in the name of Christ
c Discipline is done by the church
d Discipline is done through the power of the Christ
3 Handing one over to Satan
a The Scripture speaks of Satan as a roaring lion – seeking someone to devour
1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
b Delivering to Satan is giving the unrepentant believer over to the life he has chosen
c When one remains in sin, one is in bondage to Satan
2 Tim. 2:24-26 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
d Discipline at this level is a confirmation of a choice already made and a willingness to repent and be restored
II DEALING WITH SIN IN THE MIDST OF THE CHURCH
A We Allow sin to enter the church when we are more concerned with persons status than with their purity.
1 More concerned with who they are externally
2 Less concerned with who they are internally
3 For all intents this man was a visible and important figure
a Corinthian Church had seen many other acts of sin
b Giving this one a “pass” because of stature
WHEN WE BECOME MORE CONCERNED WITH THE STATURE OF A PERSON IN THE CHURCH THAN THE HEART OF THE PERSON IN THE CHURCH, WE OPEN UP THE CHURCH TO SIN
B We allow sin to enter the church when we forget our duty to deal with sin
1 In verse 8 Paul tells us, “let us keep” – present tense
2 The festival illusion to the events around the Passover when leaven was kept from the breads
a Leaven was a symbol of sin.
b Paul is instructing the church that they are to remain the same way they became – clean, and without sin.
c We are not to welcome wickedness – “pleasure in evil”
d But are to welcome sincerity and truth – unadulterated with evil
C We allow sin to enter the church when we forget that Jesus died to make us clean
1 Christ bought the church with his blood
2 Blood of Christ cleanses us from EVERY guilt and sin
3 Who issue of salvation was dealing with our sin
4 Christianity is the answer to man’s sin problem
5 Notice verse 11 – e are speaking about people, not actions
a Judgment within the family of God
b God’s family should reflect God’s purity
D We allow sin to enter the church when we forget that the church should speak with God’s voice
1 God was never a God of unconditional acceptance
2 God was never a god of compromise
3 God was always a God of Justice
4 God always was a God of love
Where the church errs is in believing that it is loving to let us do what we want. Wrong! It is loving to instruct us to do what is right.
The local church should not tolerate clear and unquestionable sin. At the same time it should also follow God’s mandate for dealing with sin and protect itself from sin.
HOW WE DO THIS:
ü Understanding that there is never a time when we should allow a believer to continue in sin.
ü It is important that each believer understands and accepts his or her responsibility for personal purity
ü Always remember the death of Christ
ü Don’t compromise the absolutes of God for accommodations of the world.
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