I Corinthians
Chapter 5
Vs. 1 Paul tells the believers at Corinth: It has been reported to me that there is sexual sin (fornication) among you.
Some of the things that are happening even the non-believing Gentiles would not do it.
For example: A man in your church group is having sex with his father’s wife.
Even non-believing Gentiles do not do that.
You are so proud of yourselves as Christians. You should be sad and sorry.
Why have you not gone to this man in your church and told him to stop this or if he does not stop he should leave the church.
Vs. 3 I am not there with you in my body, but in my spirit I am with you.
I have already decided what should be done to this person.
Vs. 4 When you are come together in a group, may the Lord Jesus Christ be with you (and my spirit) with the power of the Lord tell this person he must stop doing this.
Tell this man to leave the church and let him be in the hands of Satan . This sinful behavior Satan will use to destroy the “earthly” man and maybe when the man sees the pain that his behavior causes he will turn back to God. And the Holy Spirit will bring him back into the fellowship of Jesus again.
(All of us have a choice about doing sin. God does not stop us from doing sin. He warns us. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in our mind and spirit to stop. But we can keep on doing sin if we choose.
God lets us keep sinning. After awhile sin begins to show its ugly bad side. It causes us pain it causes pain for others.
Many bad things can happen when we keep on sinning.
The Holy Spirit will keep on calling to us to stop sinning and come back to Jesus.
After a while, when all the bad things make so much pain for us we may listen to the Holy Spirit and come back to Jesus for forgiveness.
That is what Paul is telling the people of this church. If the man will not stop sinning then tell him to leave the church and go on a sin.
Maybe when his sin brings enough pain to him and others he will turn back to God.)
Vs. 6 You are proud of how spiritual you are. Yet you let this kind of sin go on. This is not good.
Vs.7 Sin is like yeast (leaven) in bread dough. A little bit of yeast goes through all of the dough. Sin is like that. If you allow sin to go on in your group and no one stops it you will see others sinning, too. Soon everyone will think it is okay to sin.
Vs. 8 Christ is our Passover Lamb. At Passover time no bread with yeast is eaten. Just flat bread with no yeast. Yeast represented sin.
Christ is our Lamb, now. He was sacrificed for us. We do not want to celebrate Christ with “yeast–sin” and wrong doing. We want to eat new bread of being pure and true and holy.
Vs. 9 When I wrote to you before I told you not to keep company with those who do sexual sins.
I did not mean not to be with unbelievers who did sinful things. As Christians, we have to go out into the world.
But I was talking about “brothers” in Christ. Those who called themselves believers and followers of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus taught against sexual sin.
If a person who says he is a follower of Jesus and a believer but he does sexual sin,
or is greedy, or worships idols, or abuses others, or gets drunk, or cheats and is not honest, Do not be friends with them. Do not eat with them. (“Break bread”—fellowship).
Vs. 12 It is not our job to judge people who are not believers. But people who say they are believers and followers of Jesus’ teachings but do not follow the teachings and are sinning—-and are part of the group of true followers those we judge.
(If they want to belong to a group of followers then they need to be following what Jesus taught. If they are not following what Jesus taught—they are not a follower.
And they do not belong in the group.)
Vs. 13 People who are not believers or followers we do not judge them.
So put away this person in your group who is sinning.