A Tolerance We Mustn’t Tolerate
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
We live in times when tolerance is considered virtuous. In many ways, tolerance is in fact a virtuous response to what is going on around us. For example, there are things that people do and ways people think that are different than us. In those cases where there is nothing wrong with these unique ways of thinking and doing things, it would be inappropriate for us to pick on, discriminate against, and separate ourselves from people just because they are different from us. We need to exercise proper tolerance.
However, tolerance is not always virtuous. It is not virtuous to tolerate sin. God never encourages us to tolerate sin. When churches today advocate tolerance of those things that God’s Word clearly calls sin, such tolerance is unacceptable. There is a tolerance we mustn’t tolerate—We mustn’t tolerate tolerance of sin. Tolerating sin is a problem we find in the Corinthian church.
In the past several weeks, we have been looking at the first issue Paul addresses in the book of 1 Corinthians, which is divisions and personality cults in the church. We learned last week that the root cause of this problem is pride. The Corinthians exalt one preacher over others as the expression of their pride in themselves. One group considers themselves better than all others because they regard their favorite preacher as the best of all options. Another group thinks their preacher is the best. Still another group thinks their preacher is the best. Paul admonishes the church for its pride and calls its members to imitate his example of Christ-like humility as the means for repairing their division.
Pride of course isn’t the only one of the Corinthians’ root problems. There is a second and equally destructive core issue—the lack of love. The absence of love and the presence of pride are demonstrated as problem after problem surfaces in the body. There is indifference to sin and a lack of concern for the brother involved. There are legal feuds. There is misuse of the body through sexual immorality. There are unhealthy attitudes about marriage. There are fights over rights. There is selfish, inconsiderate hoarding surrounding the observance of the Lord’s table. There is the exalting of one spiritual gift over another.
Pride and the lack of love are destructive to and cause division in the body of Christ. If these are the root issues behind our problems, then certainly love and humility are critical virtues for us to embrace by the Spirit’s power if we are to see our divisions mended.
During the next three weeks, including today, we will consider Paul’s treatment of three cases where the church fails to exercise its proper role in discipline. The first case concerns known, gross, sexual sin within the church.
There is a report of gross sexual sin in the church (5:1)
The fact that a report has reached Paul about the problem at hand indicates that the sin going on isn’t a secret, but is widely known. What does everybody know is happening at the church in Corinth? Porneia is going on! The Greek word porneia is of course the word from which we get our word pornography. The most common use of this word during Paul’s time was to convey the idea of selling bodies for lustful purposes—in other words, it was used of prostitution. What is going on in Corinth is terrible, awful, gross sexual sin. How bad is it?
Even pagans normally don’t commit this sin
We expect pagans might act immorally. Pagans don’t have the Spirit’s power to help them; therefore, we can’t expect them to act like Christians. In the situation at Corinth, what we might expect from pagans, they aren’t even doing, but a man who professes Christ is. A professing Christian is committing a sin that even Pagan Gentiles consider morally repulsive and refuse to condone. There is a scandal in the whole neighborhood. Whereas God would have His people to be holy and stand out as different in a sexually immoral society, this man is acting worse than worldly pagans.
A man is sexually involved with his father’s wife
Apparently, this man is having a sexua0l relationship with his stepmother. Is the father still living, we don’t know? Either way, it doesn’t really matter. This relationship is clearly forbidden in Scripture (Leviticus 18:8; Deuteronomy 22:30). Paul also informs us that this is not a “one night stand.” “A man has his father’s wife” and the sin continues even as Paul is writing.
Why is the man addressed and not the woman? We really don’t know. Maybe only the man is a professing Christian and the woman isn’t. Regardless, something needs to be done about this man who professes to be a Christian and yet continues to commit this gross sin.
The church fails to respond appropriately (5:2)
It is important to observe here Paul’s main concern. He isn’t nearly as concerned about the sin itself as he is about the church’s reaction or should we say inaction toward it. They don’t care enough about the offender to try to correct him. They don’t care enough about the church to be concerned about how this sin might contaminate the body.
How is it that a sin is so commonly known in the church that no one doubts it and yet no one is doing anything about it? What is keeping the church from taking action?
They are proud of their tolerance of what is going on
They boast in their open-mindedness and tolerance toward this unrepentant, immoral man. God has clearly defined what is going on as sinful and horrible, yet the Corinthian’s pride has blinded them to the truth. Because of their pride, they don’t see the reality of how they are hurting this man and how they are hurting themselves.
They should’ve mourned this sad situation and removed the one living in sin from their fellowship
The appropriate response to sin is genuine mourning over its presence. We should express sorrow over how sin hurts the individual involved and how it negatively affects the church body as a whole. Mourning over sin is not enough. Mourning sin must lead us to take action and deal with it. The appropriate response to flagrant and severe sin, as is the case here, is for the church to remove from their fellowship anyone involved in such practices. Without having to be told, the church should have already taken this action.
Notice here that Paul is not calling for vindictiveness. The church isn’t encouraged to think, “We’re out to get him!” The action being called for is one that shows love for this man and demonstrates appropriate concern for both his spiritual well-being and the spiritual well-being of the church.
Paul commands the church to take corrective disciplinary action (5:3-5)
In sharp contrast to the Corinthians failure to act, Paul has already acted in this situation.
Paul has already judged this man
Paul commands the church to take disciplinary action the next time they assemble
When sin is an expression of willful rebellion and has become public knowledge, then the discipline of that sin should be just as public and should involve the whole church. It is not just the leadership’s responsibility in this case, but it is the obligation of the entire church body to be part of this process.
If there was any hesitation to discipline this wayward brother in the past because Paul wasn’t physically present, Paul makes clear there is no reason to delay. They don’t have to wait for Paul to be physically present to take action- “I am with you in spirit”
Even though Paul isn’t physically present in Corinth, it doesn’t mean he is uninvolved. In fact, he has already made his preliminary judgment, being with the Corinthians in spirit. He would be present in spirit once again when the church gathered to exercise discipline.
Not only is there no cause to wait, but there is also no reason to fear. The Lord will enable them to take this difficult action together- “and the power of the Lord Jesus is present.” In disciplining this man, the church would be acting in behalf of the Lord. This being the case, the church could count on His enabling power to help them.
What corrective disciplinary action needs to be done?
The sinning man is to be handed over to Satan in order that:
his flesh might be destroyed
his spirit might be saved
What does it mean to deliver him to Satan for the destruction of his flesh?:
There are two views I came across in my study. One common view understands the destruction of the flesh to mean death. If this is the case, then this man was to be put out of the fellowship and handed over to Satan, who would be allowed to kill him unless he repented of sin. As a believer, his spirit would be saved, but he would go onto eternity prematurely. Those who hold this view support it with references such as 1 Corinthians 11:30; Acts 5:1-11; and 1 John 5:16 where sin unto physical death is mentioned as the consequence of sin.
The second view of this passage understands delivering this man over to Satan to involve his excommunication from the church and his being handed over to the realm of Satan, that is the world. Those who hold this view regard the flesh not as the physical body, but as that part of us that incites us to do our own thing independent of God’s help and in violation of God’s will.
When a person is cast into the world, he or she is separated from the worship, fellowship, and close associations in the church that serve to provide a certain shelter and level of protection from Satan’s attacks. The brother or sister in Christ who is excommunicated is thereby put in a very dangerous and vulnerable position as Satan is a destroyer who delights in destruction.
The purpose of excommunicating a person from the church’s fellowship is the destruction of the flesh. The intent is that the separation from the church body will cause the erring brother to experience enough hurt and such a feeling of loss that he would want to repent and come back to the church to get things straightened out.
Whichever view a person holds, this is clear-- the overall goal of discipline is repentance and deliverance. Church discipline is ultimately an expression of love that seeks the highest good for the sinning saint.
Paul illustrates the importance of their action (5:6-8)
The principle involved in discipline is illustrated by the purging of yeast from a lump of dough
Paul opens verse six with the words, “Your boasting is not good.” Why not? Because it is destructive. The proud attitude of the church is destructive for the man living in sin and it is destructive for the church that fails to deal with him.
A little yeast quickly works through the whole lump of dough
Paul turns to the imagery of leaven or yeast—just a little bit of yeast can change the whole lump of dough in which it is found. Or as we say today, “A single rotten apple in a barrel of good apples can spoil the whole bunch.” If left for long, a little yeast will quickly affect a whole lump of dough. In the same way:
A blatantly sinning and yet undisciplined church member quickly contaminates the entire church
It doesn’t take much tolerated sin to start the process of infecting the whole church body.
Purge out the old yeast
The old yeast must be completely removed. Paul here calls for decisive, thorough action. The church must:
Withdraw fellowship from the sinning brother
By removing this man from their midst, the church at Corinth not only seeks the sinner’s restoration, but they also promote their own purity.
Put your position into practice
The purpose of the action of discipline is, “that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are.” Through discipline the church would return in practice to a morally pure state (“a new batch”), which they had lost through their toleration of public sin. Paul doesn’t say that they will become a new batch without yeast because of the action they take. They are already a new batch without yeast! In Christ, they are righteous, set apart, and accepted. Paul wants the church to put their position into practice—to act in a way consistent with their position as new creatures in Christ. They are already pure, but need to start acting like it.
Now Paul begins to fine tune his yeast and lump analogy by making reference to a specific celebration in the Old Testament. Paul reminds his readers of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was to begin immediately after the Passover lamb was sacrificed. This Old Testament feast has application for the Corinthian saints.
After the Passover was celebrated, the Feast of Unleavened Bread commenced. The Israelites were to go throughout their dwellings, seeking to find any leaven and remove it. The removing of leaven reminded Israel of the haste from which they exited the land of Egypt. It reminded them of the need to cut themselves off from dependence on Egypt—there needs to be separation from dependence on the old life. The feast reminds God’s people of the need for separation and purification—for a complete break from the old way of life. Paul makes the observation:
Jesus, the Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed and the time has come to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Since Jesus, the Passover lamb has been sacrificed, it’s time for a celebration—one that involves a complete break from the old way of life. We need to identify sin and make sure it is removed.
Celebrate without the old leaven—the old life of sin
We need to separate ourselves from any vestige of yeast—from our old lifestyle. Paul is not content to allow us to think that the principles here only apply to the man in sin and his expulsion from the church. Yes, the sinning member needs to be removed. But the church also has yeast to deal with. They have the yeast of their proud toleration of sin in their midst that needs to be removed. They also have the yeast of malice and wickedness that needs their attention.
Celebrate without the leaven of malice and wickedness
Celebrate with the unleavened bread of sincerity (pure motives) and truth (pure actions).
Paul clarifies the principle of separation (5:9-13)
Paul wrote in another letter—Don’t associate with sexually immoral people
The Corinthians misunderstood Paul’s instruction or purposefully twisted it and misapplied it to mean that believers should withdraw from all immoral people—including those who are unsaved. The reason I suspect the church purposefully twisted Paul’s instruction is because of the obvious hypocrisy and inconsistency—the church is avoiding those sinful pagans while embracing an immoral brother who is acting worse than they do. What’s wrong with this picture?! This is exactly opposite of what Paul intends. Paul therefore has to correct the Corinthians’ misapplication of the stated principle: “Don’t associate with sexually immoral people.”
He didn’t mean they should stay away from unsaved people who are immoral
We would have to go out of the world if this is the case
While we are not to be of the world, we still need to be in it. It is not practical nor is it God’s intention that we go out of the world. He has left us here for the purpose of ministry. We have a God given mission to minister to the immoral, greedy, swindlers, and idolaters who still need Christ.
Our contact with the world can’t and shouldn’t be avoided—In fact, interaction with people of the world should be welcomed as an opportunity to witness—Unsaved people can’t be led to Christ if we don’t have contact with them
Lest there be any confusion, Paul explains that he doesn’t have in mind the immoral people of the world when he speaks of the need to stay away from immoral people. The people Paul has in mind are professing believers who act in a blatantly sinful manner.
The church must refuse fellowship with those who profess faith in Christ who commit blatant sin of whatever sort it is
If a person claims to be a Christian, he or she should be disciplined for blatant sin
Notice that it is not the church’s role to determine whether or not a person in blatant sin is or is not a believer before carrying out discipline. If a person identifies with Christ’s body by professing to be a believer in Christ, and commits blatant, continual sin, then discipline is necessary.
Church discipline isn’t only for sin of a sexual nature
Paul takes the need for discipline further than just in the case of porneia. Discipline is also needed in the case of the covetous, greedy person—the materialist who is possessed by the lust to have more money or property—he always wants more, he is always hoarding everything for himself, and thereby shows heartless disregard for the needs of others. Discipline is needed in the case of the blatant slanderer—the person who speaks with evil intent—the gossip, the critic, the one who is characteristically tearing others down with his words. Discipline is also needed in the case of the idolater, the drunkard, the swindler and Paul doesn’t stop with these.
“With such” indicates Paul doesn’t intend for his list of disciplinable offenses to be exhaustive. Any notorious sin that is blatant in nature needs to be dealt with before it hurts the person committing it any further and before it is allowed to contaminate the body.
Remember again, it is believers we need to deal with, not unbelievers.
It’s not our place to judge those outside the church, God will take care of them
The job of judging the world for its immorality is God’s—we need to leave that responsibility to Him. It isn’t our place to try to “Christianize” unbelievers by forcing biblical standards on them. The church’s responsibility is to spread the gospel to unbelievers while also taking careful measures to purify and correct itself.
We are responsible for cleaning up our own house--for judging those in the church—for expelling the wicked from our midst
We are not to get mixed up with or have close associations with professing believers in the church who blatantly and continually sin. We aren’t even to eat with these individuals. These people need removed from the church in pursuit of their repentance and restoration. There should be no initiation or toleration of fellowship with this person until he or she repents.
Central Truth:
It is both proud and unloving of the church to be tolerant of sin and let it go on when it is hurting the offender and contaminating the church
Implications for today:
When is, what is in our thinking, the worse case scenario necessary? When must the church exercise discipline by removing a sinner from the fellowship? Let’s consider together the following:
The sinner and his offense:
He is a professing believer
He’s living in continual, blatant sin and is acting worse than the pagans around him
He’s getting away with scandalous sin that is hurting himself and the church’s testimony and no one is stopping him
He’s negatively affecting others by his sin, encouraging them to become contaminated
The proper response in this case:
Recognize it is an expression of arrogance to think it a good thing to tolerate sin
Love the sinner enough to discipline him—Discipline is an expression of love!
Cut him off from close associations and fellowship with the body
Focus on the redemptive, restorative purposes God intends for this process
The purpose of church discipline is to restore, not to destroy!
Improper responses to avoid:
Not caring enough about the sinning individual to do anything to stop him
Becoming proud because of how we tolerate sin in our midst
Separating ourselves from the world that needs the gospel while identifying with a professing Christian who in practice, mocks the gospel
How will we react when faced with the circumstances of a brother or sister in Christ who needs to be disciplined? Will we care enough about those who are wrecking their lives by sin that we will take a risk to correct them? True, Biblical church discipline is never easy. Properly applied, the church will feel in the time of discipline—“This hurts us worse than it is hurting you!” It’s painful, but it is in the only way to demonstrate our love for one another when one of our church family is in blatant sin.
How might the worse case scenario be avoided?:
Personally—Let’s confess our sin to God and remain in close fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9)
Corporately—When we observe a brother or sister in Christ who is caught in a sin, a sin that is hurting him or her and the body, we should (Galatians 6:1):
Love that person enough to confront their sin before it gets worse, before it becomes a habitual offense that requires more serious action.
Make sure we are under the Spirit’s control
Gently restore all that has been hurt and broken by sin
Have a humble attitude, recognizing we can be tempted to fall into the same trap
It is both proud and unloving of the church to be tolerant of sin and let it go on when it is hurting the offender and contaminating the church
There is a toleration we mustn’t tolerate. We need to love one another enough not to tolerate blatant sin in our midst, but to deal with it in hopes of repentance and restoration for the erring brother or sister in Christ and in passionate pursuit of the holiness God desires in His church.