The context of this passage in 1 Corinthians 5 is the sexual perversion openly practiced by a member of the congregation, AND the acceptance of that perversion by other members of the Corinthian church.
Here is the text in
part. It’s important to my point, so please read it thoughtfully: “For I, on
my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged
him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In
the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in
spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I
have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction
of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus.
Your boasting is not
good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole
lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven .
. . Remove the wicked man from among
yourselves.”
St Paul could not have
been any clearer about their options. He ORDERED them to excommunicate the man openly
living in sin.
Oh, but how things have
changed in today’s church, haven’t they? We now permit men and women openly practicing
sexual sins and perversions . . . we permit them to pastor churches, sing in
choirs, teach Sunday School and Catechism classes, act as ushers in the church,
assist with Holy Communion, and so on. We give flagrantly godless men and women
positions of authority and service in the church, although they remain
unchanged and unrepentant of their sins.
Christian! Does that not GRIEVE your heart? Meditate awhile
on the eventual results of such damnable, demonic examples that these people
are to your children and grandchildren, your teens and young adults.
God was not ‘suggesting’
through Paul to be ‘tolerant’ of open sin in the congregation. God COMMANDED the
church to exclude them from their fellowship.
Christian, if your
church leadership refuses to obey God's words, then the only thing left for you
to do is “come out from among them and be separate.” (See, for example, 2
Corinthias 6:14-18)
Christian, this is very
serious stuff. Please, treat it seriously. The eternal destiny of your loved
ones – indeed, even your OWN eternal destiny – might very well hang on your
decision whether to follow God or the culture’s idea of ‘tolerance.’
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