1 Corinthians 5

Defiled by Sexual Sin

Pray

Intro

√ Defiled by sexual sin

You may recall that when we began our study in Corinthians that I told you the purpose for which Paul wrote was to deal with the many problems in the pews because the church in Corinth was…

Defiled by the open practice of sin by members in the fellowship.

Divided over petty issues and by personal agendas.

Disgraced as a witness for Jesus because their sin, pride, and selfishness had spilled out into the world.

So, here in chapter 5 Paul turns his attention to addressing some of the specific issues the defiled the church and disgraced their witness to the world.

The first sin issue that he deals with is sexual immorality in the church…

…thankfully that’s no longer an issue in the Church today! (right!)

To help you remember the Bible’s admonition and exhortation on the subject I’ve broken chapter 5 down into three points with the acrostic SEX!

Sin ~ defined

Exhortation ~ instruction regarding how to deal with sinner

Xplanation ~ limitations on the instruction

Hopefully that makes it easy for you to remember!

Ap. Sex in the city ~ I mean Church!

This is a great chapter, but it will also step on some of your toes and may challenge your beliefs and practice.

That’s because whenever the Bible talks about sexual immorality and defines what is and is not moral…

…people get angry and defensive.

Worse, people in the Church get angry and defensive!

That’s because both in the 1^st Century and the 21^st Century many Christians have been seduced by the lies of Satan don’t want anyone…

…including God, telling them what is and what is not acceptable with regard to sexual practice and preference!

In short society at large and much of the Church today suffer from confusion about what is sexually moral and what is sexually immoral.

That’s because so many Christians today struggle with their own sexual expression because they’ve allowed the world to influence their moral compass.

We’re surrounded by media that appeals to and encourages our sex drive.

The current political and academic climate wants to redefine both our ethics and morals about sex.

Even segments of the Church have rewritten the scripture and reinterpreted the clear teaching of the Bible to accommodate their sexual sin.

The sad result is that many Christians today don’t know, or don’t want to know what the Bible says about human sexuality and thereby run headlong into ruin.

Ex. M’s view on homosexuality blurred by her brother’s lifestyle choice.

May I encourage you to look at God’s word and let Him be your final authority on sexual behavior?

Remember God is the One who designed our bodies and knows best how they should work!

It makes sense to listen to Him and surrender our feelings and desires to Him so that we can enjoy life as He designed it.

Ex. Brad

Sin (vs. 1-4)

1Cor. 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!

1Cor. 5:2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

1Cor. 5:3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed.

1Cor. 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

√ The sin

Paul cuts to the chase and identifies the sinful behavior that had defiled the church…

Sexual immorality, specifically that one of the believers in the church was involved in an on-going sexual relationship with his stepmother!

Reading vs. 1 you get a sense of Paul’s shock, both at the level of depravity being practiced and the church’s response to it!

Ex. Incest condemned by both sacred and secular peoples

This type of sexual immorality is condemned by God in the Bible as…

Incest ~ Lev. 18:8

Adultery ~ Deut. 22:22

And, by Roman Law!

That is, even the pagan culture of the day recognized the inherent wrongness of this type of sexual relationship.

Yet here the believers at the church in Corinth boasted about their open-mindedness toward the man involved in this sin and allowed him to participate as a member of the church in good standing!

Ap. The witness of God’s people

By the time the unbelieving world is shocked by the immorality practiced and approved of God’s people we’re in trouble!

That was the issue in both Judah and Israel during the times of the kings.

We read in Chronicles and Kings the sad history of the Jewish people embracing the sexual sin of all of the peoples that God destroyed in Canaan.

Yet, the Jewish people went beyond what even the pagans did and disgraced their witness of God to the peoples around them.

Ultimately God sent pagan nations (Assyria and Babylon) to destroy His own people because they had descended to an even lower level of sexual depravity than those who didn’t know God!

The unfortunate truth is that the Church today is quickly approaching that same level of depravity!

Ex. Widespread child abuse in the Catholic Church

The media and secular society bashed the church and its leadership for turning a deaf ear and a blind eye toward a problem they knew about but did little to nothing to stop.

Ex. Jimmy Bakker

The world recoiled in shock when his relationship with Jessica Hahn was revealed and the way in which he used faith to manipulate her, he told her…

“When you take care of the shepherd you take care of the sheep.”

That was supposed to be the spiritual grounds for endorsing his unwanted adulterous advances!

The point is that sexual sin of all kinds is spreading through the church today as it was at Corinth and even the world is shocked by it!

May the Lord bring the conviction of His Spirit on the Church today and bring us back to His standards for sexual expression…

…which is one man and one woman in the context of a marriage relationship.

√ Their reaction to the sin

As I mentioned it wasn’t just the sin that was shocking to Paul it was the reaction of the Church toward the man involved in the sin…

“And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.” ~ vs. 2

Rather than being grieved by the sin in the fellowship the Corinthians found the situation another opportunity for boasting!

Perhaps they saw themselves as so filled with God’s grace that they could be open-minded toward sin that even the world condemned!

However, Paul points out that the godly response is to “mourn” over such sin!

The word “mourn” in vs. 2 is the Greek word for the deepest form of mourning used the dead!

In other words Paul is saying that the godly response is one of deep heartbroken sorrow for a brother that has left the path of life for sin that would lead to death!

So, having exposed the sin in the church and reminding his friends at Corinth that such sin has no place in the life of a believer Paul now tells the Corinthians how they should handle the situation.

Exhortation (vs. 5-8)

1Cor. 5:5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

1Cor. 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

1Cor. 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

1Cor. 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

√ The exhortation

Without apology Paul says…

“Get the guy out of the church!”

Note vs. 5…

“deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” ~ vs. 5

Vs. 7…

“…purge out the old leaven”

And vs. 13…

“put away from yourselves the evil person.”

The reason?!

Because un-repented sin by a person in the church spreads to infect the others in the church!

Note Paul’s illustration in vs. 6-9…

“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” ~ vs. 6

Using the Passover celebration as an illustration he tells the church how to deal with an unrepentant sinner.

Ex. Passover

Throughout the Bible leaven (yeast) is a type or picture of sin.

Just as a small amount of yeast in dough quickly spreads through the dough and “puffs it up”…

…so it only takes a little sin to “puff up” a person or church with pride and rebellion.

Under the Old Testament Law every Jewish family was required to purge their home of all leaven before they participated in the Passover.

By so doing they were symbolically showing that their homes and hearts were set apart from sin and ready to worship God.

The New Testament application is that the sinning church member is like yeast that works its way through the whole loaf of bread (the church).

If it’s not dealt with the whole church will be effected by the sin.

Thus Paul exhorts the church to get the sinner out of their fellowship!

Ap. The churches responsibility

Church discipline is never fun!

However, as we learned in our last study a loving father (natural or spiritual) is faithful to discipline his children for their own benefit.

So, in the church it is our God given responsibility to deal with church members who are involved in sexual immorality.

Please understand we’re not looking for sin!

However, when it comes to our attention that a person is involved in sexual sin then we will approach him/her.

If they receive instruction (remember our study last week and the need to remain teachable!) and they repent of their sinful behavior…

…then it doesn’t need to go any further.

However, if they reject the clear instruction of the Scripture and refuse to change their behavior…

…that we have to follow Paul’s admonition and remove them from fellowship.

Typically all of that can be handled privately, however, in a case like the one in our text where everyone in the church was aware of the situation then it has to be dealt with publically.

Ex. David

God tried to get his attention regarding his sin with Bathsheba for over a year and when that didn’t work He took it public through Nathan’s prophecy.

The lesson ~ better to respond to God while He’s still whispering rather than ignore Him and have your sin show up on the 5:00 news!

So, Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit instructs the church at Corinth, and all churches, to remove unrepentant sinners from their fellowship so as to protect the rest of the church from becoming infected by that sin.

√ Deliver him to Satan!

Before we go any further in our study we better look at vs. 5…

“…deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

Wow! What in the world is Paul talking about here!

Lots of opinions and commentary but the general consensus are that Paul is describing a spiritual truth that is often overlooked.

That is, that the believer finds spiritual protection from the Devil within the fellowship of the Church.

However, once a person is thrust out of the flock (the local church) because of a lifestyle of sin then they find themselves at Satan’s mercy!

The goal of excommunicating a sinful brother or sister isn’t to destroy the person, rather it’s their restoration!

That is, that once they find themselves without God’s protection they will recognize that it’s only in the fellowship of the saints that they’re safe from the physical harm of the Devil and will then repent of their sin.

However, if they continue in their sin it is possible that God would allow Satan to destroy take their physical body ~ not their soul.

That person would be saved, but would not enjoy any of the rewards that God promises to those who are faithful.

Such a person would be a painful illustration of the price of self-centered indifference and a powerful reminder of the demand for holiness in the life of the believer.

Ap. The Church today

It is a sad commentary on the spiritual condition of the Church today that many who call themselves “Christian” are embracing, encouraging, and even celebrating sexual immorality!

Part of your homework this week for your Growth Groups will be to look up the scriptures that deal with sexual sin and see how God defines it.

You can also visit our website and read my editorial “Human sexuality, divine love Cross examined”.

Once more my encouragement is that you let God’s Word by your standard by which you judge all human behavior rather than the ever-changing morals of society.

Xplanation (vs. 9-13)

1Cor. 5:9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.

1Cor. 5:10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

1Cor. 5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

1Cor. 5:12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

1Cor. 5:13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

√ The xplanation

In Paul’s closing comments on how to deal with those involved in sexual sin Paul clarifies by way of explanation his comments in a previous letter that the Corinthians misunderstood.

Apparently in his previous letter Paul had written that the believers should not hang out with anyone involved in sexual sin.

Those who still looked to Paul as their spiritual father thought he meant that they should isolate themselves from everyone involved in sexual sin!

That would mean they would have to withdraw from everyone in Corinth because it was the capital of sexual perversion!

Ex. Think of Miami Beach during Spring break!

But that’s not at all what Paul meant as he clarifies here.

Rather, he meant that we shouldn’t continue intimate fellowship and friendship with a person who claims to be a Christian…

…but who is continuing in sexual sin (or any other sin!)

So, he’s not calling Christians to isolate themselves from the world for then we could not be salt and light.

Rather, he’s simply telling Christians not to hangout with those who claim the Lordship of Jesus in their life while living a life of open sin.

Why not?

So that we don’t get pulled into their sin.

And, so that we don’t disgrace the witness of Christ.

So, Paul encourages the Christians at Corinth and us today to withdraw from those who claim Christ as Savior and Lord but who are involved in continual willful sin.

Ap. Sexual holiness

In the almost 15 years we’ve been in ministry here in Arkansas we’ve only three times had to dis-fellowship someone.

Two times it involved people who were heavily involved in drug use and who were leading other Christians into their sin.

Once was for sexual sin.

My point is that we’re not out looking to cast people out of the church!

Most of the time when someone in the fellowship gets involved in sin they repent when confronted and their sin never becomes public.

So, don’t get paranoid and start worrying that when you run into me at Wal-Mart that I’m following you!

Close

√ Defiled by sexual sin

We need this reminder of God’s standard for sexual expression because we live in an over-sexed society that is constantly challenging God’s standard.

God’s design is that sex is for the mutual enjoyment of a married couple…

…that’s one man and one woman as we read in Genesis and as Jesus Himself confirmed in the Gospels.

So, if you’re involved in sexual sin then repent so that you can enjoy God’s favor!