Tuesday, September 8, 2026

#1675 1 Corinthians 6 Part 1 Lawsuits

 




If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!

7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6: 1-11 LSB

1 Corinthians 6: 1-11

V. 1 Do you dare to take it before the ungodly - This is yet another way that the church had brought the Corinthian culture in. It reminds you of our own very litigious Western culture, and when you grow up with the Dan Newlin and Morgan and Morgan signs promising million dollar settlements, well, as one woman woman said, "it's like the white trash lottery but with better odds." The commercials often show people in nice new houses with brand new vehicles, and I think if you were to work out such a dispute amongst the truly Biblical then they would settle for much less. There would be the sense of sorrow and urgency on the part of the wrong doer to make it right, if he truly believed the words of the God he says he believes in, the God Who forgave him a debt beyond his ability to pay. In the same manner, the one wronged would not seek a windfall, but a cow for a cow, whatever the damaged bumper cost to replace, and he would not seek the counsel of the unsaved, those not following God's word. They would coach you about pricing things like emotional anguish and what could have been if the accident wouldn't have occurred. You will have to pay lawyers' fees, anguish and suffering fees, and I have seen Christians turn to this system as well, and Paul is like, "how dare you, what are you even thinking." 

15If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. 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, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.… Matthew 18: 15-17


Does any one of you, when he has a case (pragma) against his neighbor - Young's Literal = "Dare any one of you, having a matter with the other, go to be judged before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?" The is a rhetorical question. Paul is of course not speaking of criminal cases like robbery, murder, etc.

Schreiner has an insightful comment noting that "The first word in the Greek is the word dare, (see Young's Literal above) showing that appealing to the ‘unrighteous’ (adikos) to resolve a legal dispute (pragma) with another believer is outrageous. The case should be brought before the ‘saints’ (hagios). The use of the word ‘unrighteous’ is intentional since believers are acting unrighteously (adikeite, v. 8), acting like the ‘unrighteous’ (adikoi, ESV, v. 9) who will not enter the kingdom. On the other hand, the believers are God’s ‘saints’ (CSB; 1:2; 6:11), yet they are not acting like God’s holy people but like the people of the world. (TNTC-1 Cor) - PA

Vs. 2-3 We will judge angels - This is small stuff, and they should be able to handle these cases that do not require the law. Rome had the sword, which was for higher cases, such things as murder. I had to read this and other passages not long ago to calm down after someone who called themselves a Christian did a really bad job on the floors at my house. I remember voicing my issue to some people at work, who are unbelievers, and they of course said, "take him to court." The embarrassing thing was that the man called himself a Christian and went around wearing Jesus hats, and clothes that say, "not ashamed", but I told him he had plenty to be ashamed of and shouldn't wear the hat." I read through some of this and I wondered what sort of church he could possibly be a member in good standing at, and I even thought later about what it would be like going to his pastor, but it made my blood boil to think of the type of responses I may receive, after all, this man called me and asked if I could go and give him a review on line since he was a man of his word and finished a job that wasn't as easy as he thought it was going to be. Talk about out of touch; the job was more difficult because he tried to cut corners, yet he saw himself as a man of integrity and I saw myself as out a lot of money for a job that I could have done better myself, which isn't a stretch but also not saying much at the same time. It took me a while, but I realized I was in the better position before God, as I had done this man no wrong. I laid it before God.

…21As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and prevailing against them, 22until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom. 23This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.… Daniel 7: 21-23

…14Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones 15to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.” 16These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.… Jude 14-16


Vs. 4-6 There is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute - This is a shameful thing if true. They all go about in the prior chapters pretending at being spiritually mature, but we see that many are really just contentious. To be truly wise one would have to have self control, be able to hear both sides and apply Scripture, but I don't think they regard the humble as anything, and the Scriptures rightly applied would probably point to forgiveness, not what the greedy want. This church is like the modern prosperity gospel churches, so how would they ever locate the wise amongst all the noise?

…4Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.… James 1: 4-6

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.…
…16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.… James 3: 13-18

Vs. 7-8 Why not rather be wronged - Excuse me! That's about the most un-American sounding thing to say. It's true though, it is better to be wronged then to do wrong. It is okay to want justice, but it is not okay to want more than that, and for a Christian it is wrong to be unforgiving considering what God has forgiven you. This is a matter of faith though; it is impossible without truly trusting God. Instead they were actually wronging each other just like the world would, getting one over on someone else like car salesmen. We should be seeking the benefit of the other, giving the best deal and work we can muster, not just to believers but this is also our testimony to the unbelieving world. 

Why not rather be wronged (adikeo)? Why not rather be defrauded? Amplified - "Why not rather let yourselves suffer wrong and be deprived of what is your due? Why not rather be cheated (defrauded and robbed)?" NLT - Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Be wronged and be defrauded are both in the present tense, continually be wronged and defrauded! Woe! You had better be Spirit filled to obey this instruction!

Robertson on be wronged...be defrauded - Better undergo wrong yourself than suffer defeat in the matter of love and forgiveness of a brother. (be defrauded =) Permissive middle again like [adikeisthe - be wronged]. Allow yourselves to be robbed (old verb to deprive, to rob) rather than have a lawsuit! - PA

Vs. 9-11 Or do you not know that wrong doers will not inherit the kingdom of God - Paul now provides some serious context and comparison for them. It is like the parable of the unforgiving servant. If you won't forgive after you have been forgiven, if you are doing this for the sake of your greed, then you are not acting any different than the unrepentant, immoral of this world. This behavior is not a fruit of the Spirit. 

How does this section mesh with the overall context? Stedman: What ties this section with that which has gone before is found in the word in Verse 8, "But you yourselves wrong (adikeo)," and the word adikos in Verse 9, "Do you not know that the unrighteous (adikos) will not inherit the kingdom of God?" Those are the same basic root words. What Paul is really saying is, "Look, when you are so aggressive in defense of your own rights that you take another brother to law before a secular court, you are wronging that brother. Even though you may be right in your cause, you are wronging your brother, and that wronging, that unjust action, gives rise to the question, 'Have you yourself ever been justified before God?'" That is what Paul is saying. To treat another unjustly makes one ask if you have ever been justified, and he says the unjustified, the unrighteous, the unregenerate cannot inherit the kingdom of God if they are committed to these things that he lists as a lifestyle. Now he surely does not mean that those who have been involved in these things cannot be saved, for he goes on to say, "such were some of you"; they have come out of it. But what he is saying, very clearly, is that these things cannot be continued as a lifestyle for Christians. Conversion makes a visible difference, and if it does not, there is room to question whether there has ever been a conversion. (The Wrong Way To Right Wrongs) - PA

17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.… Romans 1: 17-19





























































































































Friday, August 28, 2026

#1674 1 Corinthians 5 Part 2 Returning the Sacred

 




6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5: 6-13 LSB

1 Corinthians 5: 6-13

…28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”… Hebrews 10: 28-30

V. 6 Your boasting is not good - The church is the body of Christ, His representatives in the world, the light to a dark place, but the Corinthian church only offered more darkness. You are proud not only when God hates pride, but you have nothing to be proud about, you should be ashamed of your state, humbled that you have not matured spiritually and you have allowed such grotesque sin to go unconfronted. I have hundreds of people at my work who want to be foremen. They want the title, and now adays it comes with a hefty raise. The title thing I don't get, wanting to make a better living for your family, totally understandable, but the title and the money represent taking on a greater amount of responsibility, including confronting others about their performance, and no one wants to do this. I hate having to do it too, but I agreed to the position I am in, and part of that agreement is that I hold the foreman to the expectations for his job description. We have already discussed before that people will sacrifice the truth for unity, overlook things because of title or nepotism, and just to avoid the uncomfortable nature of confrontation, but this ultimately destroys businesses, churches and nations. 

…17The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life. 18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.… Proverbs 16: 17-19

…15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.… James 4: 15-17

V. 6b Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough - Yeast represents influence and this can either be good or bad. Paul's use here is in the negative, that this unconfronted sin, though not all are were participating in it, yet it was permeating the whole church and destroying it's testimony to the world. Preaching the gospel of repentance and salvation, but then doing nothing about this case of incest is like digging a trench while someone else is filling it in behind you. Those outside rightly shake their head.

32Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” 33He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.” 34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.… Matthew 13: 32-34

…6“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They discussed this among themselves and concluded, “It is because we did not bring any bread.” 8Aware of their conversation, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you debating among yourselves about having no bread?…
…9Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”…
12Then they understood that He was not telling them to beware of the leaven used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16: 6-12


MacArthur - A large congregation, an impressive Sunday school, active witnessing and visitation and counseling, and every other sort of good program give no protection or justification to a church that is not faithful in cleansing itself. When sin is willingly, or even neglectfully, allowed to go unchallenged and undisciplined, a larger church will be in danger of a larger malignancy. - PA

V. 7 Get rid of the old yeast - When the people of Israel left Egypt they had a Passover feast, where they ate a lamb without blemish, painted the blood of the lamb on the door posts of their houses, and they ate unleavened bread. The dietary restrictions of the Jews didn't make them holy, it didn't change their inward being, but outwardly it taught of that particular need, and it brought in the concept of clean and unclean. The yeast there was the influence that their captors had become to them. They were slaves in Egypt, not only because of force, but because they had adopted the culture and sins of that people. The bread had no power in itself, but was a great learning tool and pointed to the bread of heaven, Christ.

Krell adds that "In 1 Cor 5:7-9 Paul couples the imperative to the indicative: Clean out the leaven so that you can start over unleavened bread, because that is what you are. The imperative to clean out the old leaven is predicated on the indicative: they are unleavened. In other words, Paul tells them to be who they are, to live like Christians. Who they are is revealed in what they do. What they do comes from who they are. Paul’s point is clear: Sin spreads in the church as leaven does in dough (cf. Gal 5:9; Mark 8:15). Sin always spreads and contaminates if left alone, just as poison, weeds, and cancer do. Eventually the whole moral fabric of the congregation would suffer if the believers did not expunge this sin. Thus, we must purge the church of sin for the church stands or falls together. (How to Handle a Scandal) - PA

14And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come. 15For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.… Exodus 12: 14-16


…34“Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.” 35 Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. 36But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.… John 6: 34-36


…16So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:… 2 Corinthians 5: 16-18

…18For I tell you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.… Luke 22: 18-20


But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth - God does not want a mere outward ceremony, a festival. He desires and demands actual changed hearts. Nodding your head in agreeance or saying yes, but not doing what you agreed to is not sincere, not honest. 

Let us (present tense - continually) celebrate the feast - What did the Passover Feast remind the Jews about? The fact that they had been delivered from bondage in Egypt and thus they were commanded to celebrate this feast yearly as a memorial of their deliverance. Paul continues his use of the analogy of the Passover in the lives of the Corinthians, but uses the present tense which calls not for an annual remembrance, but for a daily remembrance! The saints were to make this their lifestyle. "Our every thought, every plan, every intention should be under Christ’s control." (MacArthur) - PA

…20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? 21“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. 22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.… Amos 5: 20-22


…7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”… Matthew 15: 7-9


Vs. 9-10 Not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral - They are not a shame to you. They do not claim to be born again, children of God, belonging to the same body as you. We are actually commanded to take the gospel to the lost, to give the message of repentance and reconciliation. 

14Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.… Mark 16: 14-16

…31Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Luke 5: 31-32

More on Luke 5

V. 11 Do not even eat with such people - If they claim to be a Christian and continue in unrepentance, then do not associate with them. Some churches will not do this, and even say that this is not required because they hold a hyper dispensationalist view that says, "we are now in a dispensation of grace so we will just love them through it." They will allow these people to still participate in home groups and I have even seen them be deacons and Sunday School teachers. There is nothing in Scripture to indicate such a change in stance, this goes back to their desire to be like being greater than their ability to love. They are kinder than God I suppose; it again makes light of Christ's life and death. 

1What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? 3Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?… Romans 6: 1-3


…15Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him. 16He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing.… 2 Peter 3: 15-17

Vs. 12-13 Expel the wicked person from among you - Plain and simple, that's your job. It's not what you may want to here, not what you may want to do, but if you won't then you need to step down, you are not a shepherd. You are not about God's honor, but rather your own. 

…8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.… 2 Peter 2: 8-10

…4You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you. 6If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,… Deuteronomy 13: 4-6


Craig Keener - The Old Testament often commanded God’s people to purge evildoers from among their ranks, normally by execution (Deut 13:5; 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21, 24; 24:7). Otherwise, the unrepentant offender could remove God’s blessing from the whole community and bring about the death of others (Josh 7:5, 25). Here the evildoer is purged from the community by being banished; banishment was a common punishment in the Roman period. In Judaism, exclusion from the community was a spiritual equivalent of execution, applied in the New Testament period to capital crimes of the Old Testament (see comment on 1 Cor 5:2; capital sentences of Jewish courts could not be legally carried out without Roman permission).( IVPBBCNT)

Wicked (evil, bad) (4190)(poneros from poneo = work or toil, Robertson says the idea is that labor is an annoyance, bad, evil; Noun poneria derived from poneros) means evil including evil, malignant character, pernicious (see Webster 1828 definition below), that which is morally or socially worthless, wicked, base, bad, degenerate. Poneros denotes determined, aggressive, and fervent evil that actively opposes what is good. Poneros is not just bad in character (like kakos - see below), but bad in effect (injurious)! Poneros describes evil in active opposition to good. It means not only evil in its nature but viciously evil in its influence and actively harmful. Poneros used to describe Satan (ho poneros = "Evil one"), the god of this age, who is corrupting man and dragging him to destruction. This denotes someone who is not content in being corrupt themselves. They seek to corrupt others and draw them into the same destruction! - PA

















































































































Sunday, August 23, 2026

#1673 1 Corinthians 5 Part 1 A Sad Report

 




It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. 2 And you have become puffed up and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

3 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 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. 1 Corinthians 5: 1-5 LSB

1 Corinthians 5: 1-5

We left off in the previous chapter with Paul correcting the arrogance of the Corinthians, and also talking about what it is to be an actual steward of the mysteries of God. He says, "it is required of stewards that one be found faithful," and for the thousands that think they have been called to this, well now we get to see the part of shepherding that everyone wants to avoid. Instead of heaping compliments like so many churches do, instead of sweeping things under the rug, Paul has addressed their pride, and now he is going to show them even more reason to be humble. They haven't done their jobs as stewards; they haven't guarded the body of Christ. Everyone has been more interested in showcasing their talents and performative art, what makes me more special than everyone else, but this is not the call of Christ. I have been around countless Pentecostals who always go to Corinth for their defense, my dad calls himself a Corinthian Christian, as some will say Carnal Christian, but they say that thinking that it is okay to play down pride and immorality. They say that thinking that this is an acceptable church type, and that you should be able to find a church like this, live in sin, but be complimented for your voice, or ability to play piano, to give a Ted talk, or for being an "encourager". They put more upon feeling than believing the word of God. I remember when they lost a pastor at a church in N.C., a church that was built upon the principle of making everyone feel comfortable, having a light hearted fun message, good music that was entertaining, and every idea that anyone had or said was a good one, unless it made someone feel bad. The pastor was involved with women at the church, and I think there were some money issue too, but the people's worry was "he is such a dynamic speaker, what will we do, how will we replace him, will this cause us to lose membership?" When he was confronted by elders there he said that there was no one there mature enough to deal with him. He was arrogant in his sin, and sadly a lot of the people, my father and stepmother included, would have been okay with him staying there as the shepherd of that church. The Corinthian church is not the model of what we want to be; Paul is going to model for us how you deal with Corinthians.

John MacArthur gives us an interesting background and cultural context to help us understand the prevalence of immorality among the Grecians considered by many to be the intellectually elite - "The Greeks’ view of life was that sex was a biological urge, as much as taking a drink of water or getting sleep or exercise or eating. Sex just was there and whatever happened, happened, and it was fine. Live it up, no hang-ups. And that doesn’t sound like it’s too old fashioned, really. It sounds like kind of up-to-date. I remember seeing a quote from Hugh Hefner, “Sex is a biological necessity. Find yourself a girl who’s like-minded and let yourself go. It’s no different than eating and drinking.” Well, that is exactly what the Greek view of sex was."

But interestingly enough, though they gave absolutely no sacredness to it, though they gave absolutely no assent to the fact that it had some kind of a pure context, they also forbid any woman to do it outside of her marriage, while a man could do anything he wanted. That’ll give you some idea who ran things in those days.

The chapter breaks (not inspired) unfortunately often cause us to lose a sense of context and continuity in the flow of the Biblical text. The chapter break here while not necessarily bad, might result in us forgetting what Paul had just declared, having just given the church a strong, clear warning in the form of a question, asking "What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?" And then we read about we read about this flagrant sin which the church is in effect almost flaunting! In effect in his question in this context he was saying "Clean up this immorality and I’ll come lovingly. If it’s still there when I get there, some heads are going to roll.” (MacArthur)

 V. 1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you - There must have been some real believers there, people who were unwilling to live like this, to have what Christ did be made of low account. Someone was bothered enough to report the sin, and this isn't them being unloving, and what follows from Paul will only pick up what Christ had already instructed. The leaders of this church, and probably many of the people, had become more interested possibly in "unity", the favorite word of those who sell out the truth, who will trade being righteous for being liked. It's not an uncommon thing though, and I want to hold myself up to this mirror, and whoever reads this, please, don't think of this as applying to some people in the distant past that were only guilty of one sin that you would never do. Lets be clear, to God sex is sacred, and they had lost the understanding of sacredness. How many times have you joked about sexual things? How many times have you watched a movie that had sex scenes in it, making light of what God is saying is no light matter here? But you didn't watch it for that, I know, it was for your favorite actor and the well written plot. How many times have you made fun of someone who is gay, mocking them rather than praying for them? How many times have you asked someone to quit being a prude, a legalist, when they brought up the inappropriate nature of your talk or behavior? Sometimes we just loathe them in our head. The culture holds the sexual no higher than a hand shake, and are we proud because we hold it a little higher than that? What does the Bible say about sex?

…3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. 4Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it. 5Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.… Genesis 49:4


…7You must not expose the nakedness of your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. 8You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father. 9You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.… Leviticus 18: 7-9


10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death. 11If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them.… Leviticus 20: 10-12


…28If a man encounters a virgin who is not pledged in marriage, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are discovered, 29then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives. 30A man is not to marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s marriage bed.… Deuteronomy 22: 28-30


…19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ 20‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ 21‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’… Deuteronomy 27: 19-21


The Bible deals with incest, with adultery, and even fornication, which a lot of the so called church no longer considers a sin worth confronting. Now we are fortunate not to live in a theocracy like Israel did, because stoning is pretty brutal, and the open and honest account that the Bible gives us about Israel, shows that this wasn't enough of a deterrent. You actually need a changed heart, but in the church that comes with wanting to keep the sacred sacred, whether doctrine or living, and Paul is going to give direction in how to handle this. We no longer require the boy our daughter sleeps with to pay us fifty shekels of silver, but it shows that there was a violation of God's design for marriage in having sex outside of that relationship.

…23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.” 24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.… Genesis 2: 23-25


27You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.… Matthew 5: 27-29


As John MacArthur (in a sermon preached in 1975, almost half a century ago!) said that "The Corinthian church was truly an island in a sea of paganism, and particularly the waves of immorality were washing over this little island, and the Corinthian church had been infested with immorality. And more than that, it had become tolerant of it." He goes on to state a very important point "that one of the securities that we have against sin is our being shocked by it....But in our society...nothing really shocks us anymore." (1 Cor 5:1-5 Immorality in the Church - excellent sermon - you need to listen to this one!) (As an aside I know from discussion with a local pastor that a number of his congregation were actively engaged in a lengthy series called Game of Thrones that apparently is filled with pornographic images for lack of a better word). MacArthur's comment is reminded of the fable of the frog in the kettle of water. The heat is turned up so slowly that the frog fails to perceiving the rising, dangerous temperatures and before long it is too late and frog is boiled alive! Are Christians in America becoming like this frog? The Corinthian church was an island in a sea of immorality. Not only had many of the member actively participated in this lifestyle before conversion (cf 1 Cor 6:9-10+), the cities of Corinth and Athens were "the seat of most of the immorality (IN THE ANCIENT WORLD). They, according to historians, were the two most immoral cities. Even their worship was immoral. They had prostitutes in their temples where the people went to worship." (John MacArthur)

“Our security against sin lies in our being shocked at it.”

V. 1b Such a kind that does not exist even among the gentiles - They had become so much like the culture that they even passed it up. I remember as a teenager being at a friend's house whose dad was the head deacon at a megachurch and when we were preparing for a fishing trip my buddy opened up the trunk of his dad's car and it was loaded with porn. Call me a legalist, but I don't think he should have been a deacon. Paul is not going to let this smear on the body of Christ remain unchallenged. The damage is astronomical, and our playing it down also plays down the Cross. It makes light of the eventual sacrifice of the innocent that always follows. Abortion has nothing to do with women's rights, it has to do with selfishness, a loss of the sacred, and our desire to have immoral relationships without repercussions. 

Pornography Stats:

1. At 13.3 billion, the 2006 revenues of the sex and porn industry in the U.S. are bigger than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball combined.. Worldwide sex industry sales for 2006 are reported to be 97 billion. Perspective? Microsoft, who sells the operating system used on most of the computers in the world(think all of India & China)reported sales of 44.8 billion in 2006.

2. The porn industry made more last year than: “Microsoft, Google, Amazon, E-bay, Yahoo, Apple, Netflix, & Earth Link”...combined.

3. Pornography is scarring lives, destroying marriages(lying/trust issues, hurt, forgiveness, how many times. Feelings of: “being cheated on”, “lack of her self-worth”, “I’m not good enough”), corrupting the church and destroying our nation; without action the problem will only get worse.

G. We are going tonight to have a serious talk about real life issues. (Stats: about 50% men in churches; 17% women struggle w/pornography)

H. A serious talk about the bondage, addiction and trauma that so many people are struggling with today.


1. Hopefully, those who are struggling with this (a family, husband, wife, oldest son, single man/women) you’ll be challenged to open up these areas of their lives to God, so He can heal you and set you free.

I. How do we deal with then, sexual immorality in the church today? Like Paul did.

V. 2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst - Even heathens find you repulsive, but you still go around pounding your chest, saying you are spiritual when you are worldly. You think you are more mature when you are really just disobedient and self serving. You haven't withheld correction for the sake of love. If you really loved the person you would have mourned over this grotesque sin and removed the guilty from your midst. Look at what Phineas does in a Theocracy, and consider that all God is asking of you now is to tell the truth about sin, give the whole counsel of God and confront the sinner, excommunication is way easier than execution. 

6Just then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 7On seeing this, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,…
…8followed the Israelite into his tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman. So the plague against the Israelites was halted, 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. 10Then the LORD said to Moses,…
…11“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal. 12Declare, therefore, that I am granting him My covenant of peace. 13It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”… Numbers 25: 6-13


…9And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.… 2 Corinthians 7: 9-11

Vs. 3-4 When you are assembled - This takes us back to Christ's instruction about 2 or 3 gathered together in His name, that He is there in the midst of them. The context in that chapter is about this very thing, church discipline, yet I have heard whole sermons about it applying more for health, money and all sorts of things, but context is king. 

15If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. 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, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.…
…18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. 20For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”… Matthew 18: 15-20


V. 5 Deliver such a one to Satan - You treat him as an unbeliever, but as a brother in that sense as well, that you treat him as someone lost, as someone like your family member who you would want to see come to Christ. You witness to him. He is turned over to the world though and like Job, often God will let a man be tested by Satan, by way of his health. 

…19holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith. 20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1: 19-20

1Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.… Galatians 6: 1-2

…5But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” 6“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.” 7So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.… Job 2: 5-7


…5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?… Hebrews 12: 5-7

As Wayne Barber says "Two things happen when sin is not dealt with within the church. First of all, the testimony of believers is damaged outside the church. But secondly, the purity of the believers is affected inside the church. You see, you have young people growing up, you have people that aren’t mature in the faith, and when you allow sin to go on and you don’t deal with it, it’s sending a message it must be okay. So a younger person says, “Well, if it’s okay for him, it’s okay for me.” The purity of believers within the church begins to decay. Paul, as an apostle under the authority of Christ Himself, says, “I’m making a decision and this decision is not based on my own opinion. It’s based on the fact of the authority of Christ. It’s God’s idea. It’s not man’s idea.....when we begin to tolerate sin in our lives, we’re going to begin to tolerate it in others lives. Then it begins to get in the church. It just decays our testimony in the world. The world looks at us and laughs and says, “You’re spiritual air bags. You know what to say but your life does not show us that you really love the Lord Jesus Christ.” - PA

To deliver (paradidomi) means to give one over to the power and authority of another, in this case Satan and from 1 Cor 5:2+ we know one thing deliver means is that the man is to be removed from the church. Paul uses deliver (paradidomi) in Romans 1 (Ro 1:24, 26, 28+) for turning God rejecters (Ro 1:18-23+) over to "the lusts of their hearts to impurity....to degrading passions....to a depraved mind." So in Romans the delivering over is not for restoration but for retribution, divine judgment. In another use of deliver (paradidomi) in the context of discipline in 1 Ti 1:20 Paul writes "Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme." So in this passage the delivering over is intended to have a restorative or remedial effect which is similar to Paul's intent of the deliverance in 1 Cor 5:5 "so that his spirit may be saved." In other words, whatever the disciplinary action God allows Satan to carry out, the effect is that while Satan means it for evil, God means it for good. Whether the final outcome will be good however depends on the response of the sinning man. Will he repent and turn from his sin and unto God? Or will he willfully refuse to repent? If he does the former, his spirit will be saved. If he does the latter, the implication is that his spirit would not be saved.

The question also arises as to how could the church deliver such a one to Satan? First of all, this deliverance to Satan clearly does not mean the church had the authority to send the man to hell, for no individual or church has that authority. Only God has such authority. So almost every commentator agrees that the deliverance is carried out by expelling or removing the man from fellowship with the church He would then in effect be in the world, the domain controlled by Satan ((Col. 1:13+, John 12:31). John adds that "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (1 Jn 5:19+). The sinning man would be under the dominion of Satan. And this is where we have to speculate. Would Satan be able to inflict physical harm as he did to Job (Job 2:4-7)? Would Satan be allowed by God to take the man's life? Or would God take the man's life if he refused to repent? I cannot be dogmatic. - PA