“Glorify God in Your Body” (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:12–20, NASB95)

Apparently, there were some in the church at Corinth who thought or at least chose to live as if their being forgiven of their sins meant that they were then free to live in those sins and indulge their fleshly desires. In these verses Paul confronts that idea head on. He did so by first returning to a foundational principle of freedom properly applied. This is not a declaration that he was not responsible to live according to the laws set in place by those in authority over him, nor was it a declaration that he was free to ignore the statutes and ordinances of God. Rather, it was a clear declaration that neither obeying nor disobeying was going to save him but having been saved he was now called to live according to his new identity and not the things that may have marked him in the past.

In addressing this, he spoke to the issues of food and sex which are both good things. They were both designed by God and given to man for a good purpose. But man has abused that purpose and severely distorted what God intended for good. God made His good intent clear from the very beginning of the Bible, as we see in Genesis chapter 1: “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:28–31, NASB95)

There it is. The two subjects that Paul went to in this response to the Corinthian church abuse are found in God’s summary statement of creation on day six that He declared was “very good.” But of course, we know that Adam and Eve sinned and were removed from the garden and subsequently everything was then stained indelibly with sin. But let us not lose sight that food and sex were given to us by God and in their best form were included in His “very good.” Yet, man has turned what was meant for good and has become a slave to it for destruction. It was to this slavery that Paul said, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.” He wrote to them of a standard that went beyond legitimacy and desire to that of what was right and in its proper place. He recognized his freedom in Christ, but he also knew that this freedom could easily become slavery if not properly controlled. He was committed to not letting even these most basic things have mastery over his life, and this was his charge to a people who had fallen into that trap.

First, he went to food as out most obvious necessity. After all, if we don’t eat we starve and we die. But on the other hand, if we abuse that eating we also die. In the culture of the day and consistent with the cults that were present, food and sex orgies often went hand in hand. These were times of totally letting go of morality and pursuing whatever pleasure was present before them with the preference being all of the above. This is the background of these believers and this is surely some of what influenced their interactions even in the church.

When it comes to food there are many things that I could easily binge on and go after. However, in 2005 I was told by my doctor that I have diabetes. What followed was a process of retraining myself not only in eating but how I thought about eating. My body was at war with my habits, and I had to get serious about which one I wanted to protect. I have come a long way and there are days that the candy and the chips are more prevalent, but overall a process of taking control rather than letting my diet control has proven to be a very good move. It is amazing how strong cravings can be, and sometimes we need to stay completely away. Other times we are enabled to moderate them knowing that properly controlled we wind up having a much greater freedom than when we were slaves to the demands of our minds and our bodies.

One day our bodies will be stuck in the ground (if Christ doesn’t return first), and food will no longer be needed. It is a temporary good given us by God to not only sustain our bodies but to also enjoy the flavor along the way. God will do away with stomachs and it seems that he will also do away with food. I don’t pretend to know what this looks like in eternity, but I do know that when I leave this body the tie that this body has with food will once and for all be broken, and I will be set free to enjoy God’s perfect plan in His presence.

Next Paul went after sex. With food it doesn’t seem like eating or not eating and even how we eat is really in its essence a morality issue, but sex is. In Genesis 1:27 and 28 we read, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” (Genesis 1:27–28, NASB95) Then in Genesis 2:18; 21-25 He added, “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”” (Genesis 2:18, NASB95) … “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:21–25, NASB95)

God made man. Male and female He made them. He also made them to come together as one man and one woman in the lifetime oneness relationship of marriage with the purpose in part of being fruitful and multiplying. And this part does not come without sex or as Paul said “join[ing] together. Though sex is a significant part of marriage, it is and always has been about more than sex. It is a oneness relationship where the husband and wife are made to be suitable for each other to walk side by side with each other through life. And, not getting into the fact that some don’t marry and some who do never have children either by choice, infertility or some other reason, this was and remains God’s design for man and woman as male and female, husband and wife.

I know that our culture is fighting this and that laws are even being changed in some places where you cannot speak or write openly a different opinion than that of the culture. This issue has even surfaced in the church where people have stepped away from the authority of God’s Word. But, this is God’s design declared by Him in His Word. It was established at creation and reaffirmed by Christ. It is not something that God intended to morph or change. It is the same from beginning to end, and its instruction is wide swept throughout Scripture. And, I choose to accept His Word to be fully inspired by Him as truthful, accurate, and dependable. Peter spoke very strongly to this issue. “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20–21, NASB95)

From that position, Paul declared that anyone who goes against this and specifically here joins himself (speaking to men) to a prostitute violates the relationship that we also have of being united in Christ. Being united as a husband or wife properly in the marriage relationship and simultaneously with Christ are not incompatible. This is God’s design. But bringing anyone else into that relationship not only violates the human plain of relationship but it also violates the vertical with our Lord. We in essence take these bodies which are temples of His Spirit and we join them with the spirit of one who is not properly ours. To this Paul wrote that everything else we do we commit outside the body, but when we engage in sex in conflict with God’s design we bring a oneness with that outsider into the same body as our oneness with Christ. And to this Paul says, “May it never be!” 

When we trusted Christ for our salvation we became new creations in Him. His Spirit became a permanent resident in us, and we are to live according to what is right before Him. Knowing this, we do sin and we do have forgiveness. These passages are not given to beat us up, but to bring us to a point of thinking soberly about how we might be living and to turn from those things toward living right with our Lord who purchased us with His body.  “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Having Identities Changed by God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11, NASB95)

Having just addressed the Corinthians believers taking their matters to the courts of the land to decide their internal conflicts, Paul now turns to the difference in their identities. This does not mean that all judges in the previous context were unbelievers. I imagine that there were some believers just as there are today, and that their faith influenced their practice. The real issue here as it was there being that those of the world are markedly different from those in the church. It is not because Christians have achieved some form of moral superiority on their own from which they can look down at the rest. No, it is because of what Jesus Christ has done in us.

Those who the Corinthians believers had been taking their conflicts were not influenced by God. They were counted among the unrighteous and engaged in the deeds of the unrighteous. They had no place in the kingdom of God? There was nothing that they were going to do in their lives that would make them good enough to inherit His kingdom, to receive His forgiveness and to obtain His gift of eternal life. Those who have not placed their trust in Jesus Christ for His sacrificial gift of salvation are the unrighteous. These believers and us are not to confuse this matter. Those who are lost in their sins are marked by their sinful actions, and this list was provided as proof of that. This was not a list of man by which men were to be judged. It is a list given by God which is representative of what was some of the more notable sin issues. But this list was also not exhaustive. Everyone is lost and will be judged apart from Christ. It is simply their identity, and unless it is changed it will result in eternal judgment and separation from God.

Indicating the partial nature of the list, Paul then wrote, “Such were some of you.” Sure, there were likely some who read this letter who were still identified in this way just as there were some who may not have identified with any of the things on the list. Paul did not use the term “all” as exhaustive, but as indicative of where they all came from. Every single person who read this letter at one time had the identity of being “unrighteous” and as such had no place in the kingdom of God. This part is exhaustive without exception. And what moved them from the camp of the unrighteous to the camp of the righteous was not ceasing whatever activity they were engaged in but them being saved by Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul wrote to these same believers, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB95) When we are saved we receive a new identity. We are no longer counted among the unrighteous and we are no longer marked by our sins. We become a new creation in Christ and all things do become new.

One evening Nicodemus came to Jesus to talk to Jesus. In that conversation Jesus told him that he must be born again, and not understanding what Jesus was saying He asked how this was possible. “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” (John 3:3–8, NASB95)

Jesus told Nicodemus that he must have a spiritual rebirth. Paul breaks this into pieces for us in our passage for today. First, he wrote, “but you were washed.” The first step in the process was being cleansed of sin. Jesus’ blood shed for us cleanses us from all unrighteousness. The hope that Israel had been longing for was realized for all of us in Christ. “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7, NASB95) … “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12, NASB95) … “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19, NASB95) We needed to be cleansed to be made righteous, and it was Jesus who shed His blood for us that accomplished this perfectly.

He also said that they and us have been “sanctified” (Greek: hagiazo). This means that we have been made holy. This is our new identity. We are God’s holy ones, cleansed and set apart for Him to live holy before Him. It represents both what He did in our salvation such we are called “saints” (Greek: hagios). When Paul wrote to the saints in the churches he was specifically writing to them referring to their new identity in Christ, and when we look at the term “sanctification” today we are speaking of the continued process of growing as we live and breathe into the identity that we already have. Another term spoken of in Scripture is transformation into the image of Christ. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;” (1 Peter 1:14–15, NASB95) And, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1–2, NASB95)

We do not need to justify our identities before any court, nor will we have to suffer eternal judgment for our old identity or for what we do even as newly identified. Paul added that we “were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” Remember, that this letter was written to a group of believers that were really struggling and who had not grown in Christ. Paul did not identity them for who they were before, but who they currently were in Christ as their new identity. This identification is something that we all need to remember even when we struggle with sin today. We do not lose our identity. It is established for us by Christ. The scars that Christ bears for us and the proof of the resurrection stands to declare the truthfulness of our being justified. This case has been closed.

Paul clearly presented this case in Romans chapter 3. “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21–26, NASB95)

Paul wrote these things not to minimize the sins on the list or any other sin, but to clearly draw a line between them and our identity as Christians. Throughout Scripture we read the continual call for us to set aside the sins of the flesh and live according to Christ and the character of God revealed in His Word. But knowing that we all sin, we are also never to forget that our identity is not based upon our actions, but on Christ and His work to justify us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB95)

Pursue Peace Within (1 Corinthians 6:1-8)

“Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.” (1 Corinthians 6:1–8, NASB95)

Among the other issues that Paul was dealing with in this letter to the Corinthian believers was their inability or unwillingness to deal with quarrels and disputes biblically between each other. For the Jews there was an extensive system of laws put in place from God through Moses. This, aside from what may have later been added by the rabbis which was extensive, gave the Jewish believers a framework from which they could walk through issues. Aside from the Jewish believers there were also the customs and laws in their culture which formed a framework of civility which could guide them in their disputes.  But, beyond all of this was the basic principle of God that they were to love Him first and foremost and then to love each other. “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”” (Matthew 22:37–40, NASB95)

On all of these levels they were failing. Instead it seemed that they were allowing things to fester and then running off to the courts for a resolution. Consider that they were not acting competent to “constitute the smallest law courts.” They were, probably along with more significant issues, taking even the small stuff to the courts and not working together among themselves to apply biblical principles to resolve their conflicts of whatever nature they were. They were evidently taking things that biblical principles would even have differed from the principles of their world.

Typically, the courts are not concerned with bringing people back together in peace and oneness before God as they work together to resolve their conflicts in biblical ways. The courts are rightly concerned with the black and white of the matter. This does not mean that the court does not consider and encourage restoration, but it is not their primary purpose, and in some places and some cases it may even be adjudicated in ways contrary to the principles of Scripture.

So, where is your starting place? The starting place of Scripture should always be considering whether this is something to work out between yourselves as people called to love each other and to be longsuffering and forgiving of each other. It is not a “sweeping things under the carpet issue,” but one of before God working it out where needed and not bringing it to the level of something greater than it is when not. Then from there, is it something where you might need some godly biblical counsel for yourself or between yourselves as to how to move forward. And, beyond that is it something that the leadership of the church might need to get involved in or you might before God after prayer decide to drop and even be defrauded as it were.

There is a lot in this passage that is not being dealt with and there are countless biblical principles that could be considered. But the real heart of the problem here is that there was apparently little to no effort among these believers to figure out how to walk with each other before God. Instead, they were running to those who did not know God to get the advice and even the judgment that should be coming from Him. When this passage speaks of the church it speaks not only of the collective body of believers united in Christ, but it also speaks of the authority of those appointed to leadership in the church as His overseers and shepherds. A couple of posts ago I cited Matthew 18:15-20 which is probably the most used passage dealing with the progression to resolution (or discipline) in the church (see April 18). We live under two authorities. One is appointed by man in our criminal and civil systems in which we live—the world, and the other is under God as appointed through His people—His church.

I know that the pledge of our country includes the words “one nation under God,” but this should never be confused as being according to God’s will. They each have their place, and even the authorities that rule over us in the world are here because God instituted them as we read in Romans 13:1-3, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;” (Romans 13:1–3, NASB95) This does not mean that these authorities seek after God or apply His wisdom to adhere to His principles. In fact, we don’t have to look too far to see just how far off they can be. But the basic structures of authority are to protect those who do good and to prosecute those who don’t while working to make the whole system flow whether through laws, taxes and more. Courts do exist for a reason and the have their appropriate place. This is especially true when it comes to matters of harm and abuse.

In this land we can sue and be sued, and we may need to walk through the paths of the courts. But this is not to be the primary place to where we who are Christians run to resolve our issues, especially for what Paul called the “smallest.” God’s Word is filled with His principles for how we are to walk with each other. There are those in the church who can help us with it, and there are even those who have made it their live ministry and even for some their livelihood to help Christians resolve conflict. (https://pm.training/about/)

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1–6, NASB95)

Living Right in the Body (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

“I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.” (1 Corinthians 5:9–13, NASB95)

In these verses Paul draws a line between those outside the church and those inside the church. There is an expected different standard of faith and practice between them, and we are to understand that in our dealings. Those who do not know Christ and make no pretense otherwise really should not surprise us when they do not live as one who does. If one does not follow after God, then it is reasonable to assume that they also will not obey God. This does not mean that they won’t be so-called good people from the world’s standard and that they won’t do measurable good on that level.

Paul describes this state and how it was changed in his letter to the Ephesians, where we read, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” (Ephesians 2:1–5, NASB95)

Jesus Christ makes the difference in us who are saved by His grace. Knowing this we understand that there are many around us who have not undergone spiritual rebirth. It is among them that we live, and it is to them that we have been sent. We live in the world, and we are sent out into that same world as His ambassadors with the hope those we encounter will also be saved. So, Paul did not write to these Corinthians believers that they were to stay away from all unbelievers. To do this would thwart the purpose for which we are sent so that they might see Him in us and we might be able to share the hope that we have in us (1 Peter 3:15).

Ultimately God is their judge, just as it is His Spirit that works in their hearts for them to see and understand. In that sense, we are not their eternal judge and we are not their savior. This does not mean that in a civil or criminal sense that we are not to prosecute or even to sit as jurors and for some even as duly appointed judges. It also does not mean that we don’t’ speak for those things that are good and right in the world. All of this comes with us being a part of the world into which God has placed us knowing that all of this other stuff is second to His sending us into the world to make disciples who observe all that He has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).

It is this part of His commission to us—the making disciples who observe or obey—that leads to the real focus of where Paul is addressing in these verses. He wrote, “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.” In general, the Corinthian believers had not grown in their faith and they had not held one another to the need for that growth. It was the stuff that “so-called” brothers in the church were doing that Paul took issue with. They were allowing it to continue in their midst without taking any corrective action. These things were not to be tolerated as ongoing practices in the church. Sure, every single one of those believers, just as is true for us, sinned and continued to sin. It wasn’t coming up short in growth in Christ as they daily dealt with the sin in their lives and put things aside in favor of how God has called us to live. Instead, it was the continual practices without change or even a call to change that were the issue. Those who called themselves believers yet who held onto these current on-going practices were to be dealt with appropriately. It wasn’t a do it once more and you’re out of here issue as much as it was a lacking continual and sincere movement toward living according to God’s truth. It is this sincerity and truth that ended verse 8, and it was the lack of it that marked those who continued in their midst in open sin.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers, “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” (2 Thessalonians 3:13–15, NASB95)

There is a process which we are to personally engage as we put off those behaviors that are not reflective of our identity in Christ and put on those that are based upon His word hidden in our hearts (Eph. 4:22-24 and Psalm 119:9, 11). There is also a process that goes beyond us to other believers which involves encouraging and admonishing one another, but which might ultimately lead to the kind of action we see in these verses today when Paul told them, “REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.” (For more on this discipline process read Matthew 18:15-17 knowing that it was preceded by Jesus speaking to them about going and looking for the lost sheep so that it might be restored.)

Cleaned to Live Clean (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)

“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6–8, NASB95)

Generally speaking, we think of leaven as a good thing. It is the leavening agent in bread that causes it to ferment and rise. Most commonly we use yeast in order to accomplish this. When it comes to breads like sourdough with its wild yeast starter they can be passed down from generation to generation as long as they are properly tended to. While there is no real record of the oldest starter, there is one that I read of that is over 122 years old which is kept in a refrigerator and re-fed every time its owner uses it. The small amount that she removes is then mixed with flour, sugar and water to make a dough for her bread. She then lets that dough sit for a couple of days, and then before using it she takes a portion of it and puts it back into her starter jar. In that time the amount that she took out, in order to make the dough, became so thoroughly permeated by the growing yeast that she was then able not only to make new bread but to re-feed and keep her old long-protected starter alive and well.

Looking back to the instructions given Israel for the Passover, they were to clean their homes and remove even the smallest portion of leaven. In the same way, leaven is used to refer to sin or in this case an individual engaged in persistent sin. Just as the leaven grows and ferments the entire loaf of bread causing it to rise, in verse 6 we see that their own harboring of this individual in their midst had led to their own swelling attitudes and the resulting boasting. The whole church was becoming infected, and Paul stepped in to take the drastic step of telling them to get him out of there.

The Corinthian believers were to become serious about the new life that they had been given resulting in their full and complete forgiveness of sin. This is who Christ made them to be, and this is how they were to responsively live. No longer were they slaves to sin. Its power over them had been broken at the cross. This is what we read when Paul wrote, “just as you are in fact unleavened.” This was a present condition statement that was to result in a life that reflected their current state.

Jesus Christ is the once and forever perfect Passover Lamb. No longer was an inferior sacrifice to be made. Jesus did it for us, and in Him we have been cleansed. We have become “unleavened.” We have been made righteous with His righteousness and set apart as His holy ones or saints (hagios). And, this truly is something to be celebrated, but not in the old ways that they celebrated and not doing those activities that they previously engaged in. We have not been set free in order to return to the muck. We have been set free to live free from that muck. We are made new creations in Christ to live purified of the old leaven as new unleavened loaves bursting at the edges of the pan of sincerity and truth.

“that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22–24, NASB95) 

Do the Hard Things with Hope (1 Corinthians 5:1-5)

“It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. 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. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 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.” (1 Corinthians 5:1–5, NASB95)

Having read and taught on this letter I know that there is a turning point, but these first chapters are so hard as we read verse after verse of things that were going on in Corinth that needed attention. These five verses are no exception when we read that there was open immorality going on in the church and they apparently did nothing about it. In fact, as we will see later in verse 9, Paul had written to them previously about this issue and apparently his words fell on deaf or intimidated ears.

Rather that shining the light of Christ on the world around them, at least one person in the church had been engaged in an open sexual relationship with his father’s wife. This was something that crossed every boundary, even that of the unbelieving world. And, the church (as a collective) had become so arrogant or puffed up (as we looked at last) that they seem to feel themselves immune from not only walking right before the world around them but God as well. They had seemingly become callous to sinful actions and rather than mourning this man and his actions they tolerated him and what he was doing in their midst.

This should not have been so. Instead, they should have gone to the man in an effort to correct him, and if the man did not repent they should have stepped up the efforts eventually leading to separating him form their fellowship. Not having done that, as an outsider Paul was now stepping in as an apostle sent by Christ to take action from a distance. While he could not physically deal with the man, he wrote, “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.” Then he charged them with, “In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 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.”

What they did not do through their leadership as a local church, Paul stepped in as an apostle to the churches and put on them his authority to take the necessary action. When they got together after having read this letter they were, knowing that he was with them in spirt and according to the power of their (and ours) Lord Jesus Christ, take definitive action against the man. They were to deliver this man over to Satan to do to his flesh as he desired. But note, that this was a limited deliverance. God has only granted Satan limited power. He could not touch his spirit, but he could inflict great harm on his body and maybe even his physical life. But the power of salvation rests only with Christ, and it is hopeful that through the affliction that the man’s heart might be softened, his eyes opened, and he see the truth. Then, if he has not already been saved (as the wording seem to indicate), he would become saved such that he is received again in the church and one day joyfully meet Jesus face to face.

This passage has nothing to do with the man losing his salvation, but on limiting his damage to the fellowship by his open and blatantly wrong living. Jesus taught on this process in Matthew 18, where we read, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”” (Matthew 18:15–20, NASB95)

These believers were directed by Paul and empowered by Christ. Now it was up to them to take the action. We can hope that the man heard the rebuke, accepted the correction and returned. We don’t know who Paul later wrote about or if he was writing about anybody specific at all, but consider these words to the same group of believers found in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, “But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:5–11, NASB95)

The purpose of church discipline is multi-faceted. First, it is about protecting the flock and secondly, it is about the hopeful and eventual restoration of the believer. If it were one without the other, it would be very easy to forget about the balance between the truth and grace in which our Lord perfectly came. Grace without truth leaves the door open to people doing whatever they want to do and the erosion of the entire body. Truth without grace leads to a harshness that forgets that our Lord came to seek and to save those who were lost which includes every single one of us.

No Room for Arrogance (1 Corinthians 4:18-21)

“Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?” (1 Corinthians 4:18–21, NASB95PARA)

In verse 6 Paul wrote that he had written to them so that none of them would be puffed up against another. Here he is addressing those who had gone past that. They had already become puffed up. The word translated here as “arrogant” is the same Greek word previously translated as “puffed up”, with “puffed up” or becoming inflated being more descriptive of what was happening. These people had an inflated view of themselves and they were pressing their views on others. It’s as if they took their pushed-out chests and forcibly backed others down.

The reason given that they felt free to do this is that they believed there was no one with any authority who would stand against them. In their eyes someone with the authority of Paul wasn’t going to return, and they were free to press their own views in their own ways. But Paul was not intending to let them continue in their bullying. It was his intention, if the Lord willed, that he would come and see for himself what was actually happening and deal with it firsthand. Then their real power, or lack thereof, would be revealed as their words gave way to the God-given authority of Paul who came in the power of Christ.

Words might seem powerful, but in reality, they are nothing compared to the power of God. Jesus did not come and talk a good show. He went to the cross, was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead. He proved that as “the Word” He had the power not only to forgive sins but to give life and direct the steps of those lives. These self-exalted believers were going to be brought face to face with the real power of God unless they changed.

It was their choice how they were going to be met by Paul at his coming. He could either come as their disciplinarian appointed as an apostle of Christ or as someone who loved them dearly and treated them gently. The amazing thing is that if they turned they would not have to answer for what they had done but for how they responded once having received this written reproof. If they continued in their haughtiness then they would be brought low, but if they accepted his correction, softened their hearts and walked rightly with one another then they would be met as brothers in Christ.

In the church this is probably the most difficult thing to deal with. When one person stands in open opposition it is the role of church leadership as shepherds and overseers to call them back to right walking before God and with one another. This does not mean that every disagreement is a matter for church discipline. What it does mean is that when one becomes openly and persistently disruptive, including the teaching of contrary doctrines, that the leadership is put in a place that some form of action needs to be pursued.

God’s desire for us is that we learn His truth and walk in it. When we see where we have gone off track, we are make the effort to get back on track. Then we are to continue to walk accordingly. This is what we read in passages like 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God [literally “God-breathed”] and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, NASB95)

Paul wrote these words to Timothy and he encouraged others to respond to them even here in the midst of a church that was in real need of growing up in Christ. These principles were true for them, and they are true for us whether these points of change are big and blatant or small and not seeable by others. God’s plan is that as we are shown something inconsistent with His way according to His Word given to us that we then move to change such that we align ourselves with His truth.

It is the principle of putting off, having our minds renewed, and putting on that Paul wrote of in Ephesians 4:22-24 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22–24, NASB95)

This was Paul’s instruction to the puffed-up people of Corinth and it is our instruction for change as well.