1 Corinthians 5:9-13 “Inside Outside”

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 “Inside Outside”

Last time we talked about the immorality in the church. Paul continues his teaching about how the church deals with sinfulness with in the church. Notice in verse 11 these judgements are for those who bear the name “brother”, they claim to be a follower of Jesus and are a member of the church. So today we will look at sin inside the church and outside the church.

Paul says in verse 12 we do not judge those outside the church. To the world outside the church we are to be a lighthouse, showing the way to forgiveness and grace. God judges them and we call them to repent and be forgiven. Once you have responded to God’s call to forgiveness (salvation), then you are called to transformation. Romans 8:29&30 predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, and be glorified. God’s call is to both forgiveness and transformation, a new life and a new ways of living.

A lighthouse is only a lighthouse while it’s light shines in the darkness. If the people of the church are not transformed, they are no longer a light in the darkness, it’s just more darkness.

The sin Paul started talking about was sexual, now he includes all sin. This is not the occasional sin; this is sin that defines a person’s life. Immoral, greedy, swindler, reviler, drunkard, these are terms that describe a life style. We all sin and are surrounded by sinners, but these people have made sin a part of their way of living. They are not repenting, struggling to stop their sinful actions, they embrace them.

The command here is to remove them from the church, to not even eat with them. Do not let them associate the church or the name of Jesus with their sinful actions.

Known sinful life style, not gossip or inferred, but known. The victim of disaster.

How do we do this and still be a place of grace?

1.       Call yourself to transformation. Clean up your own house and fight your own sin battles.

2.       Preach and teach the expectation of transformation.

3.       Call each of us to self-evaluation.

4.       Prayer for wisdom and guidance.

5.       Make a way back.

I call you today to honestly look at your life and see if there is sinful part of your life that your two comfortable with, where you have not been transformed. Psalm 139:23&24 says “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any grievous (sinful) way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Will you make this your prayer today?

The world outside the church is looking for a light from us to shine out in the darkness. Let each of us be transformed from the darkness of the world into the light of God, to show the way back home to them.

 

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 “The Problem of Tolerance”

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 “The Problem of Tolerance”

Jesus taught that a person needs to repent, be baptized, be forgiven, then be transformed. In Matthew 28:19&20 Jesus commanded the disciples to make more disciples by baptizing them and teaching them to obey.  To leave part of the process out is fail in the whole thing. Imagine a cake recipe where the person who wrote it down left something out. Anyone following the written recipe will have a cake that is ruined. All the ingredients must be there.

The Corinthians emphasized that Jesus forgives and that Jesus calls even the worst of sinners to be forgiven. They were even bragging about how Jesus can forgive this guy who the world would not accept. The trouble is they left out the rest of the Gospel. It is not what the man has done past tense that is at issue, it is his failure to repent and change his present actions. The churches failure to call this person to repent and change his actions is what Paul is addressing here.

It appears that the man is sleeping with his step-mother or his actual mother, we only know that she is married to his father. What the actual sin is, is irrelevant. The sin could be greed, immorality, incest, lying, theft, or any other sinful action. The issue is the failure of the church to call people to stop doing what is wrong and do what is right. The message of Jesus is to forgiveness and transformation.

Isaiah 1:15-17 Transformation has always been God desire.

Paul tells them to put the man out of the church, ask him to leave until he changes his actions.

Repentant vs unrepentant sin.
in the batter’s box. Called to hit the ball, but only do 30% of the time.

Forgiveness vs license.

When the church fails to confront sin, fails to call people to repent, fails to transform the way people act, it fails to complete the mission Jesus assigned to it. Not only do the people committing the sinful action fail to become disciples, the people in the church stop being disciples of Jesus.

This whole issue is important to the church today. We live in a time that stresses tolerance of sinful behavior. The church fails to confront heterosexual immorality; how can it confront homosexual immorality. If the church fails to confront immoral behavior how can it confront greed, theft, lying, idolatry, or any other sin. When the church stops calling people to transform how they live and act it stops being the church.

The descending or ascending church.

The Corinthians not only failed to confront sinful actions they were bragging about their failure. This starts with yourself. Today is there a sin in your life you have been tolerating. Is there a sin where you keep claiming forgiveness, yet never challenge yourself to leave it behind, to be transformed by Jesus as well as being forgiven? Stop doing what is wrong, start doing what is right.

When we take a swing at transformation we may not hit the goal most of the time, but God calls us to swing the bat, to make our best effort, then add forgiveness and grace.