Paul Condemns Spiritual Pride
1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.[a] 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.
3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit.[b] And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church.[c] I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. 5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed[d] and he himself[e] will be saved on the day the Lord[f] returns.
6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.[g] 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread[h] of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread[i] of sincerity and truth.
9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer[j] yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.
12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”[k]
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 5:1 Greek his father’s wife.
b. 1 Corinthians 5:3 Or in spirit.
c. 1 Corinthians 5:4 Or In the name of the Lord Jesus, you must call a meeting of the church.
d. 1 Corinthians 5:5 Or so that his body will be destroyed; Greek reads for the destruction of the flesh.
e. 1 Corinthians 5:5 Greek and the spirit.
f. 1 Corinthians 5:5 Other manuscripts read the Lord Jesus; still others read our Lord Jesus Christ.
g. 1 Corinthians 5:7 Greek has been sacrificed.
h. 1 Corinthians 5:8 Greek not with old leaven.
i. 1 Corinthians 5:8 Greek but with unleavened [bread].
j. 1 Corinthians 5:11 Greek a brother.
k. 1 Corinthians 5:13 Deut 17:7.
3 comments:
Morning again.
I have to say I was a little sad after reading this. Maybe dissapointed with myself is a better description. I know that I can some times struggle with my eyes and that in our society it is not considered the same a s adultery, but...........Matt 5:27-8
Father, help me to become stronger and stronger in resisting temptation. Make me a one woman kind of guy. Teach me to love my wife as Christ loves us.
In Christ,
cas
Iron sharpens iron. I love the call to be with sinful non-christians. Paul asks us not to ignore the sinful in this world. We often expect regenerate behavior from non-regenerate souls.
We as Christians tend too often to separate ourselves from the world and live in our holy huddles. But, it is clear God wants us to be hard workers, be in and involved with our communities. Country club members, soccer coaches, school board members. We are all called differently. Service for some may be in Sunday School. For others it may be in the community.
We just had a speaker at a corporate event that was an outspoken Christian (I could not believe it!!!). His name is Ben Carson. He is an orthopedic surgeon from Johns Hopkins. It was amazing how bold he was about his faith, in his life and on the stage.
Having said this, it is clear that our accountability to one another has a higher expectation than what we should have for our non-christian friends. We should exort one another and we should seek to live holy lives. I received mine yesterday. One of my small group accountability partners let me have it for being so irregular with my quiet times. I apologize to you all for my lack of commitment. I am seeking to do better.
Father forgive me for being so committed to excel in many areas while I continually ignore the need to speak with you every morning. Help me not to start any day until I have started it with you. Your son.
1 Cor 5
jmb- I needed your comment today. I have to admit that today was the first day in at least a few weeks where I have had some quiet time with God at all, let alone first thing in the morning. I have no accountability right now, aside from this group, even my small group is only just starting~4-5 people, good commitment from a few, but not many. I've really been struggling, and I'm sure its from my lack of alone time. I'm tired of the excuse that my life is to hectic. The enemy could have written a textbook about how to keep someone distracted and away from God over the last few weeks. I could use a good prayer or three, and a good exhortation as well.
Father, You know my true desires, but You also know my weaknesses, laziness, distractedness, my constant internalization instead of focusing on You. Help me to pull myself back onto Your altar as many times as I need to each day, but help me be more of the man you want me to be. I need you in my life, and I need to break these chains of distraction, depression, and frustration. Thank You Father. In Jesus' name,
Amen
crb
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