A Church Response to Immorality

What do you imagine it would have been like to be part of the church when the Apostles were still around? This wouldn’t just be a church from a different century or millennium; this would be the very first time the church had come into existence.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He instructed His disciples to teach people from every nation of the world, and He promised that they would receive the Holy Spirit. He also promised that one day He would return in power and glory.

All that to say, the early church was an expectant church. Part of their expectations were fulfilled when the Holy Sprit came upon the 120 people gathered in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. Something like glowing fire appeared over them, and they began to speak in languages that they had not learned. This was God’s plan to use them to preach the message of Jesus Christ to those who had come from all over the Roman Empire.

Eventually a crowd gathered, and Peter preached a sermon which ended with about 3,000 people being converted and baptized. So, not only was this an expectant church; it was a growing church.

We also find out very early that it was a powerful church. Through the Apostles, miracles were taking place, and it didn’t take long for their number to grow to about 5,000.

The rapid popularity of the church brought persecution, but the people were undeterred. They remained faithful and bold, which means this was also a persevering church.

Now, since many people had travelled to Jerusalem from other parts of the Roman Empire, they didn’t have supplies to stay very long in Jerusalem. So, people began selling their belonging to provide for one another.

What an amazing community it would have been. It was an expectant church. It was a growing church. It was a powerful church. It was a persevering church. And it was a loving church.

With that amazing community, however, came a problem. The danger was that people would be enamored with the external, visible aspects of the church and lose sight of heart of the church.

God is pleased with an expectant church. He is pleased with displays of His power and with a growing church. And He delights in a church that perseveres and demonstrates love. But what God also wants is a pure church.

And so, we have the story of Acts 5—the story of Ananias and Sapphira. They lied to God and to the church so that they would appear more pious than they were. As a result, God strikes them dead in the assembly.

Acts 5:11 tells us the immediate result—And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Why would God do that? He did it because He is holy and pure, and He wants a pure church. God made that clear to Israel, and He made it clear to the church early on. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira were a reminder to everyone that God desires a pure church. There is to be, among the people of God, a holy fear.

I remind of these things because this is the principle behind what we see in First Corinthians chapter 5. God is pure, and He desires a pure church. He desires a holy church.

And that was the desire that motivated the ministry of the Apostle Paul. In Second Corinthians 11, he says to the church, “I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

The church is not an independent entity. We are connected to one another, and more significantly, we are united to Christ. We belong to Him. And therefore, we are to be pure. Again, this is the principle behind First Corinthians 5.

As we look a little more closely at this chapter, we are going to divide our time into three headings. First, we’ll see an application of this principle. Then we’ll see a motivation for it. And lastly, we’ll see a clarification. An application, a motivation, and a clarification.

Let’s start with the application. This comes in verses 1-5. The application of this principle is that whenever someone in the church demonstrates a clear disregard for the commandments of the Lord, that individual is to be removed. That’s the application—remove this person from the church.

Let’s read it one more time, and see what’s happening. Verse 1 says—It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.

I don’t want to spend too much time on the background, but basically what you’ve got is a man in the church having an incestuous intimate relationship with his stepmother, and everyone knows about it. This is clearly outside the boundaries of God’s design. Not only would it have been scandalous in Old Testament Israel, but Paul says here that even among the Greeks, it would not be tolerated.

But the Corinthian church decided not to do anything. Look at verse 2—And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

How are they being arrogant? They are taking pride in how tolerant and accepting they are. “Who are we to judge?” they might have said. “Jesus welcomes everyone by grace!” Verse 6 says they boasted. But rather than see this as an occasion to be proud, Paul says the church should be mourning. They should have been weeping, not celebrating.

They should mourn because of their impurity which dishonors Christ. They should mourn because of their damaged testimony before the world. And they should mourn because a so-called brother appears to have been enslaved to sin. This is a disgrace. And so, Paul says he needs to be removed.

The Bible never uses the phrase “church discipline,” but that’s the common phrase people use to talk about this today. As many of you know, Matthew 18 speaks about this. And it highlights the general pattern that should be followed.

If someone is caught in a sin, they should be approached gently and privately. This is done with the hope that they will repent and be won back as an effective part of the body. The goal is not to shame them or humiliate them; it is to open their eyes to their sin.

If that person refuses to repent, however, Jesus said, “Take one or two more with you.” Those additional people would serve as witnesses, and they would help in gently calling the person back.

If the sinning brother refuses to listen to the two or three of you, then, Jesus said, “Tell it to the church.” Include the rest of the congregation so that there can be a corporate call to repentance.

Lastly, if the sinning brother refuses to listen to the church, Jesus said, “Let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

For the Jewish community, Gentiles were unclean. Tax collectors were traders who had committed to serve the Roman Empire. They were shunned. They were not recognized as part of the community.

We know that Jesus ate with tax collectors, and He ministered to Gentiles. But that was not to affirm them; it was to call them to repentance. Apart from repentance, these people remained as outcasts, separate from the blessings and the acceptance of the people of God.

You see the same principle in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. Some people in that church were leading an flagrantly lazy life. They were unwilling to work, and they might have even spiritualized their laziness.

Here's what Paul says to them in Second Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 6—Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

This was something Paul had already taught them about. Don’t abuse the love of others in the church. Work with your own hands. So, concerning those who had been warned repeatedly, and yet continued in this kind of rebellion and laziness, verse 14 says this—If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. [15] Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

There is always to be love. There is always to be gentleness and tenderness. They are a brother. But there is to be also a solemn warning and a clear distinction. You will not be recognized as one of us as long as this continues.

In that culture, eating with someone was a way of accepting him; it was a waying of saying you and I are family.

In our culture today, eating doesn’t always carry that idea, but it does when we take the Lord’s Supper. That is why, if someone is removed from the church as an act of discipline, they are barred from taking the Lord’s Supper with the church until they demonstrate repentance.

In terms of our relationship with someone who has been removed from the church, what does that look like? Well, it means you still talk to them in love and gentleness. But you cannot ignore the seriousness of the problem. They believe they are saved, while their life gives evidence to the contrary. In love and in gentleness, we can’t support that. For the sake of that person, and for the sake of the church’s testimony, we need to act.

That’s what we’re seeing in 1 Corinthians 5. Paul is moving to the final step of what we see in Matthew 18 and Second Thessalonians 3. The sin is already known throughout the church, but they hadn’t done anything about it. And that was going to have a devastating effect on the church.

Paul’s command here is not to the immoral man; it is to the church. Remove him. That is the application of the purity of God.

Look at verse 3—For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. [4] When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, [5] you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

 Paul says, “I am with you in spirit.” I think that’s a way of him pressing his apostolic authority upon them so that they would pursue corporate purity. It’s like he’s saying, “I will find out whether or not you have obeyed the command I’m giving you on behalf of the Lord Jesus.”

And the heart of this command is verse 5—You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

What does it mean to deliver a man over to Satan? It means the same thing Paul has already been saying: remove him from the church. Remove the church’s external affirmation and acceptance of this man. The church is the people of God. But outside the church, we have the people of this world, and they belong to Satan.

Satan is the god of this world. First John 5 says the world lies in his power. Ephesians 2 says he is the prince of the power of the air. And Paul says, cast the man out into the realm of Satan. In First Timothy 1, Paul uses similar language to talk about men who had seemingly abandoned the faith. He handed them over to Satan.

Go with me for a moment to Matthew chapter 18. I want you to see Jesus’ own words about this. Matthew 18:18. This is what Jesus says after He describes the fourth step which is removing someone from the congregation. Matthew 18:18—Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Literally, the Greek says that what the church binds and looses shall have been bound or loosed. What that means is that the church isn’t declaring or determining something on its own authority. It is simply reflecting the realities of heaven. We are announcing what God has already stated in His word, which is that if anyone repents of sin and trusts in Christ, he is a Christian. And where there is no fruit of repentance, the church will not give its affirmation.

No local church does this perfectly because only God knows who truly belongs to Him. But the church bears the responsibility of giving an earthly affirmation of God’s people. Back in Matthew 16, Jesus used the language of binding and loosing, and he connected that to having the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Keys represent authority to enter and exit. What that means is that the church, founded on the teaching of the Apostles, has a delegated authority to proclaim who shall enter the kingdom of God.

In the final stage of church discipline, when an individual is removed from membership, the church is removing its earthly affirmation of salvation. And we do it with the hope that that individual will realize his lifestyle is not consistent with the word of God. It’s a wake-up call to what may be a false profession. And how does Jesus feel about that?

Look at Matthew 18, verse 19—Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

This is one of those verses that is taken out of context so many times. People don’t even realize what Jesus is saying. What is Jesus talking about? He’s talking about removing someone from the church. And he has just said that when a church makes a declaration about someone’s eternal status, that declaration is a reflection of a heavenly reality. And now, what Jesus is saying is that when the church makes a decision like this, Jesus Himself stands by the decision of the church.

This is a passage about church discipline. “When two or three gather”—that’s talking about the corporate gathering of the church. And more specifically, here, it’s being applied to the church gathering to remove someone.

When that happens, Jesus says, “I stand by the decision of the church. And I receive their prayers. What would those prayers be? That the person experiences the discipline of God and comes to repentance.

This world might say that announcing someone’s name to the church and then removing them from church is mean or harsh, but Jesus says, “I stand by your decision.” He’s the One that told us to do it in the first place.

Now, why do we do it? What good would it do to throw a man out of the church?

This brings us to the second portion of our message. Go ahead and turn back to First Corinthians 5. We saw the application or the instruction of purity, which is to cast an unrepentant, flagrant sinner out of the church. But now let’s see the motivation for purity. Why should the church do this?

Paul gives two motivations in this chapter. The first motivation is the salvation of the sinner. The salvation of the sinner. That’s where verse 5 ends—the salvation of a man on the final day of judgment. In other words, an earthly judgment is being made in the hopes that this man will be spared eternal judgment.

How can removing someone out of the church lead to their salvation? Well, according to verse 5, to get there you have to have the destruction of the flesh. That is talking about some kind of divine discipline. Their actions will have consequences. Some of those consequences may be direct physical results of a sinner’s actions; others may be direct acts of divine discipline.

If God was willing to kill Ananias and Sapphira, what makes you think he wouldn’t be willing to inflict any other kind of punishment to bring about repentance? Jonah’s disobedience led to him almost drowning. In First Corinthians 11, we see that some people were sick and had even died because of their sin. In Hebrews 12 we read about God’s fatherly discipline for our holiness. Those are examples of God’s judgment for the eternal good of His people.

The destruction of the flesh, then, would be some difficulty or pain coming upon this person because of his actions. And it might even include that person’s death. But the pain is not intended to be vindictive; the aim is still restoration. The goal is their salvation on the last day. The motivation is the salvation of the sinner.

A second motivation is the protection of the church. The protection of the church. I won’t spend too much time here, but read with me verses 6-8. First Corinthians 6:6-8—Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? [7] Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. [8] Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In the very first Passover, on the night the Jews were going to be freed from Egypt, they killed a lamb, and then they had to eat unleavened bread. We don’t have time to talk too much about this, but unleavened bread was symbolic of a clean break, a new start.

And leaven was a symbol of influence. It only takes a little bit of leaven to make an entire loaf. And in the same way, Paul is saying it doesn’t take much to corrupt a church. So, you need to deal with this. Remove this man from the church for his own salvation and for the protection of the church. Don’t corrupt the church by giving the impression that this kind of life is acceptable. God wants a pure people. God wants a people committed to repentance and holiness.

Now, as we come to the end of the chapter, we come to a very important clarification. This is the final part of our message. There was the application of purity. There was the motivation of purity. And now we have a clarification.

Look at verses 9-13—I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— [10] not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. [11] But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. [12] For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? [13] God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Here's the clarification: This idea of separation and removal is not supposed to be applied to the people of this world. That’s the mistake the monks made. They wanted to cut themselves off from the world. Some Christians act like that too. I don’t talk to anyone who’s not a Christian. I don’t talk to anyone caught up in adultery or fornication. I don’t talk to anyone in the LGBT spectrum.

Is that what God is saying here? No, he’s not. In verse 10, Paul says if that was the case, we’d have to leave the world, because everyone is a sinner of some kind.

Our purpose for being here is to evangelize the world for the glory of God. God has placed us where he’s placed us so that we can tell people about Jesus, not avoid them. This world is our mission field. We are called to speak to people with respect and gentleness, calling them to repentance and faith.

What Paul is talking about in this chapter is how we respond to someone who has formally expressed their commitment to walk with Christ and yet refuses to repent. And Paul repeats what he said to the Thessalonians. Don’t even eat with such a one. We treat this person with respect and with gentleness and love, and yet we make it clear to them that as long as they are unwilling to repent, we will not accept them as one of us. They are not walking in a manner worthy of the calling of Christ and they will be a corrupting influence on the church.

So, we don’t need to judge the people of this world. God is going to do that. But for the people in our own church, for those who have made the commitment of membership, if they stray into a pattern of unrepentance so that their life is characterized by their sin, we will obey Jesus Christ by corporately calling them to repentance and then, if they are unwilling, by removing them from membership and removing our affirmation of their life.

This is how we purge the evil from among us. This is how we demonstrate a commitment to purity, an obedience to Jesus Christ, and a love for a straying brother or sister in the faith.

In the mercy of God, that man or woman may come to realize the seriousness of their error and repent. And on that day, like the father of the prodigal son, the church of God will be there with open arms welcoming back a brother whom we have won back.