1 Corinthians 5 is not the kind of passage we might like to start our day with. There is a lot of Law here. A lot of judgment. But this, too, is God’s inspired Word. What would He have us as His servants receive from Him here?
This section begins with a scandal that is so bad, that even the pagans in Corinth, who did all sorts of shameful things, were offended by it. One of the men of the congregation had “his father’s wife.” He was having sex with his step-mother. And apparently everyone was cool with it . . . except for Paul and, more importantly, God.
Sometimes we display a cavalier attitude toward sin. “I’m forgiven. It doesn’t matter.” While it is true that Jesus died to pay for all of our sins, and we are completely forgiven, God does not think sin does not matter. In fact when we live openly in rebellion against God’s will, we endanger our salvation. Sin is poisonous and deadly.
When we don’t feel social disapproval it becomes easier and easier to push back the boundaries into deeper areas of sin. There is a cycle of escalation. Today it may be something that seems small in our eyes – a look at a web site, a flirtatious conversation, even a desire for something (or someone) you don’t have the right to have – but tomorrow (or many tomorrows later) it could take the next step to the point where you look at yourself and wonder, “How did I ever get to this terrible place?”
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” That yeast works its way into the whole loaf. Sin will work its way into every nook and cranny of our lives. We must take this seriously. This is about our relationship with our Lord and Savior! When Luther addresses how we should look at the Law in the Small Catechism, he starts the meaning to each of the Ten Commandments with, “We should fear and love God so that . . . .” Fear of God’s wrath and punishment are legitimate motivators for us as sinful people to do what God demands of us.
But thanks be to God that fear is not our only motivator. Love is there too. And a loving word of Gospel is in this chapter as well. “. . . you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, (that’s Law) so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” (That’s Gospel.) The purpose for this harsh application of judgment is this: man (and his step-mother?) would turn away from their wicked behavior and be restored.
God always has at his heart the desire that we turn receive his salvation and turn away from our sin. He makes pure, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed,” and he has atoned for our sins. We want to live in that forgiveness and love. Sometimes people need to hear a harsh word of God’s Law to wake them up. They need to feel the consequence of their behavior before they recognize their sin. We do not apply this gladly, but we do give (and sometimes receive) the message of God’s Law out of love.
The man mentioned here got the message. In 2 Corinthians we will read that Paul urges the congregation to receive him back as a brother in the Lord. There is not sin that God will not forgive – except the sin of unbelief.
An important note here: What we’re looking at here is in our dealing with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot expect non-believers to conform to God’s will. They neither fear nor love God. We must not shun those who have scandalous sin in their lives when they don’t know God. These are the people we want to reach with the Gospel so that God can transform their lives.
Live in forgiveness, but don’t use forgiveness as an excuse to sin.
This section begins with a scandal that is so bad, that even the pagans in Corinth, who did all sorts of shameful things, were offended by it. One of the men of the congregation had “his father’s wife.” He was having sex with his step-mother. And apparently everyone was cool with it . . . except for Paul and, more importantly, God.
Sometimes we display a cavalier attitude toward sin. “I’m forgiven. It doesn’t matter.” While it is true that Jesus died to pay for all of our sins, and we are completely forgiven, God does not think sin does not matter. In fact when we live openly in rebellion against God’s will, we endanger our salvation. Sin is poisonous and deadly.
When we don’t feel social disapproval it becomes easier and easier to push back the boundaries into deeper areas of sin. There is a cycle of escalation. Today it may be something that seems small in our eyes – a look at a web site, a flirtatious conversation, even a desire for something (or someone) you don’t have the right to have – but tomorrow (or many tomorrows later) it could take the next step to the point where you look at yourself and wonder, “How did I ever get to this terrible place?”
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” That yeast works its way into the whole loaf. Sin will work its way into every nook and cranny of our lives. We must take this seriously. This is about our relationship with our Lord and Savior! When Luther addresses how we should look at the Law in the Small Catechism, he starts the meaning to each of the Ten Commandments with, “We should fear and love God so that . . . .” Fear of God’s wrath and punishment are legitimate motivators for us as sinful people to do what God demands of us.
But thanks be to God that fear is not our only motivator. Love is there too. And a loving word of Gospel is in this chapter as well. “. . . you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, (that’s Law) so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” (That’s Gospel.) The purpose for this harsh application of judgment is this: man (and his step-mother?) would turn away from their wicked behavior and be restored.
God always has at his heart the desire that we turn receive his salvation and turn away from our sin. He makes pure, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed,” and he has atoned for our sins. We want to live in that forgiveness and love. Sometimes people need to hear a harsh word of God’s Law to wake them up. They need to feel the consequence of their behavior before they recognize their sin. We do not apply this gladly, but we do give (and sometimes receive) the message of God’s Law out of love.
The man mentioned here got the message. In 2 Corinthians we will read that Paul urges the congregation to receive him back as a brother in the Lord. There is not sin that God will not forgive – except the sin of unbelief.
An important note here: What we’re looking at here is in our dealing with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot expect non-believers to conform to God’s will. They neither fear nor love God. We must not shun those who have scandalous sin in their lives when they don’t know God. These are the people we want to reach with the Gospel so that God can transform their lives.
Live in forgiveness, but don’t use forgiveness as an excuse to sin.
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