Lesson #07

1CORINTHIANS 5
Lesson #07
DISCIPLINE IN GOD’S CHURCH

• Memory Verse: 1Cor 6:18

• Paul has built his case for maturity in Christ because God expects that believers will mature in their faith. With maturity comes character and integrity built on the wisdom of God.
• After believers have gained some sense of spiritual maturity, they can discern matters in the church that need to be handled with spiritual wisdom.
• This is the situation in the Corinthian church:
• The people were still babies in Christ. Therefore, they did not handle correctly a very serious problem of sin in the church. Paul instructs them what they must do.
• Read 1Cor 5:1-8
• What was the problem in the church that needed to be handled with Godly wisdom?
• The problem was fornication among church members. This word, fornication, is not often used anymore, although it is used 32 times in the Bible.. However, Paul uses it 6 times in 1 and 2 Corinthians. (1Cor5:1; 6:13, 18; 7:2; 10:8; 2Cor 12:21). We must understand it because fornication is one of the obvious evidences of a carnal church.
• What is the meaning of the word, fornication?
• The word means = to commit sins of a sexual nature with a person to whom you are not married.
• This definition includes:
• Adultery: any act of a sexual nature committed by a married person with someone to whom he or she is not married.
• Incest: any act of a sexual nature committed with a member of his or her family.
• Pre-marital sex: any sexual act committed by single persons who are not married and either intend to marry or not.
• Co-habitation: persons living in the same household and having a sexual relationship without the benefit of marriage.
• Homosexuality: any sexual act committed by two people of the same gender.
• Bestiality: any sexual act committed by humans with animals.
• The problem with the word fornication, is that new versions of the Bible have changed this word into other words with hazy definitions that lack the strength of the word, “fornication” with its strict definitions. New versions use words like: unfaithfulness, sexual promiscuity, unchastity, sexual immorality, scandalous sex, sexual sin, sexual relations, cheap sex, y etc.
• Read Luk 6:37
• If the believer is not to judge others, then why must the leaders of a church judge sinful behavior in the members of the church?
• There is a difference between judging with the idea of condemning another person, and judging with the idea of discerning righteous or unrighteous behavior.
• These are concepts we discussed in Lesson #06.
• The specific case to which Paul refers in the Corinthian church is that of incest.
• This was not a rumor or gossip that Paul heard. It was a factual case with which everyone was familiar. It was a sinful situation lived out openly by those involved.
• A Christian man in the Corinthian church was sleeping with his father’s wife. (1)
• It does not say that this woman was his mother. Therefore, she was probably his stepmother.
• The definition of the word, incest, is = co-habitation or sexual contact between members of one’s own family, to which law prohibits marriage between these family members.
• However, notice that Paul says that fornication was common among the members of the Corinthian church, (1) of which Paul only mentions this one case as an example.
• Fornication was common in the secular society in which the Corinthian church existed, but the church was supposed to separate itself from the practices of the world. Instead fornication entered the church and was not dealt with by the pastor or leaders of the church.
• The carnal church members did nothing about this situation in the church. They continued as though this situation did not exist.
• Important Spiritual Truths:
• =1= A pure church is a powerful church. A church that tolerates immorality is a stagnant church enslaved by carnality. Such a church as this will never mature until fornication is cleansed from the church.
• =2= Righteousness or holiness in a church is more important than spiritual gifts.
• Therefore, Paul takes it upon himself to judge the situation. (3)
• Paul’s counsel:
• When the church is congregated together in one place, and the presence of God is there, they should pray and deliver this sinful believer into the hands of Satan.
• What specifically does that mean?
• If a Christian does not repent of his sin when confronted by the leadership of the church, the church should pray that the person come to an early death. In other words, the natural consequences of sin are released to bring destruction to this person. God’s physical protection is removed from his life and the destructive powers of Satan do their work to bring about physical death. Notice, however, that the believer’s soul is saved. (5)
• The early death of an unrepentant believer preserves the righteous testimony of the church to the outside world. This is the authority of church discipline that Jesus gave to the church.
• Why is this action important and necessary?
• This action is important in two ways. First it emphasizes and preserves the righteousness of the congregation by making an example of those whose lifestyles are not acceptable. Second, it forces the sinful believer to make a decision for or against repentance.
• The ultimate goal is repentance in the life of a sinful believer. If the believer repents of his sinful lifestyle, he is to be accepted and restored to fellowship in the church. This is the desired goal.
• From the Old Testament times, God told the Israelites many times to remove sin from the camp by removing the sinner from the congregation. (Lev 24:23; Num 12:15; 15:35-36)
• This same idea is carried forward into the New Testament for the protection of the righteousness of the congregation.
• Paul gives the reason in the proverb, a little leaven permeates the whole lump. (6) This Old Testament concept signifies that sin is contagious and spoils the whole congregation.
• Notice that Paul talks about these Corinthian people as puffed up with pride and self-importance. The same is true of leaven (yeast) that makes bread rise or puff up. Open sin that is not dealt with in a congregation becomes an acceptable practice and soon duplicates itself like a cancer. Unrepentant sin in a congregation puffs up people with a false attitude (pride) that mocks God with the thought that because we are believers, God will look the other way and suspend punishment.
• Paul tells this church, “Your glorying is not good…” (6) Paul means that their good intentions of love and tolerance are not benefiting the sinner or the church because that person will never repent if the sin is continually tolerated.
• The symbol of unleavened bread:
• Bread without leaven is like a life without sin. Notice that Paul reminds us that Christ is our Passover. (7) In other words, He redeemed us from our sins so that we can live free from sin in sincerity and truth.
• These symbols of leaven, unleavened bread, and the Passover come from the book of Exodus. (Lessons #12 and #13)

• Read 1Cor 5:9-13
• What is the pattern of church discipline that Paul recommends?
• Paul emphasizes the importance of keeping the congregation free from fellowship with those involved in a lifestyle of gross sin. This is practiced through church discipline. (Mat 18:15-17)

• “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:”

(9)

• Paul refers here to a previous letter he wrote to this church that is a lost letter of unknown content.
• He evidently told the Corinthian church in that unknown letter that they should not have close fellowship with unbelievers who lived a lifestyle of gross, immoral, sinful, sexual behavior.
• Some obvious observations:
• Of course we all sin from time to time.
• Obviously we cannot evangelize non-believers unless we have some kind of contact or fellowship with them.
• Some key words are essential to understanding Paul’s intent:
• The key words are underlined in this prohibition:
• Avoid close or intimate fellowship with non-believers who live an immoral lifestyle.
• Paul makes a list of unacceptable lifestyles:
• A lifestyle of fornication (any sex act outside the sanctity of marriage).
• A lifestyle of covetousness.
• A lifestyle of extortion.
• A lifestyle of idolatry.
• Paul says that God will judge the non-believers and their lifestyles (13). The church does not have to do this. Believers are only to witness to the non-believers and get them saved.
• Frequently Christians do just the opposite, they judge non-believers for living like non-believers and tolerate the believers who live a lifestyle like that of non-believers.
• Paul says that believers in a church should not include in their fellowship any believer who persists in a lifestyle of sin. In other words, before accepting a believer into church membership who is living any of these unacceptable lifestyles, that believer should repent of his sinful lifestyle.
• Paul makes a list of unacceptable lifestyles which is more inclusive than that for non-believers:
• A lifestyle of fornication.
• A lifestyle of covetousness.
• A lifestyle of idolatry.
• A lifestyle of a railer (someone who scoffs, insults, or reproaches using offensive language)
• A drunkard.
• An extortioner.

• Application:
• We have dealt specifically with fornication in this chapter that includes a large number of sexual sins.
• How do these sexual sins enter the church?
• They enter when people in the culture of the world become saved. They bring with them into the fellowship of believers their worldly lifestyles. When a person is born again, he is supposed to give up his worldly lifestyle. There are some reasons why believers do not give up these worldly lifestyles:
• =1= They are not taught that these lifestyles are not pleasing to God.
• =2= They do not realize the damage they do to their own lives and the life of the church.
• =3= They are never confronted by those in authority in the church to repent of their sinful lifestyle and replace it with the blessings and life in Jesus Christ.
• =4= Sometimes they are unwilling to repent of their lifestyle. In this case, the church should use church discipline as discussed in this chapter.
• =5= Sometimes churches do not insist on the pursuit of holiness. Instead they either look the other way, or they openly contribute to a lax attitude in the church.
• For example, when we celebrate with parties the birth of babies born outside of marriage, we present a model to our youth that single pregnancies are acceptable.
• When we do not teach our youth the damaging consequences of the sins of fornication, we perpetuate it.
• When we do not teach parents how to deal with these sins within the family, we perpetuate it.
• In theory these scriptures are easy to understand but take courage and the wisdom of God in applying them to a congregation of people.
• Sometimes churches become so legalistic in these areas that judgment and condemnation come down heavily on those believers who do not conform to strict codes of righteousness.
• On the other hand, there are churches that look the other way in regards to sinful lifestyles in the church in the same way as the Corinthian church.
• The ideal lies somewhere between the two where the goal should be to work toward repentance and restoration in the lives of sinful people, and still maintain standards of righteousness in the church through teaching and exhortation. (Gal 6:1)To do this:
• We must recognize sin for what it is. We must see sin from God’s perspective which is opposite from the world’s perspective.
• We must affirm people who repent and stop affirming people who are living in sin.
• We must recognize that tolerating people’s lifestyle choices is not a Christian option, even though the world proclaims tolerance as an admirable character trait.

HOMEWORK
1CORINTHIANS 6
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of 1Cor 5
• In what ways has this lesson on fornication touched your life?
• What will be your plan of action to maintain purity in your personal life and in the church?

• Preparation for 1Cor 6
• Read 1Cor 6:1-8
• What was the serious problem that Paul addresses in this passage?
• How does Paul tell them to solve this problem?
• What principle does Paul give for maintaining unity in the church?
• Read 1Cor 6:9-11
• Why does Paul tell them what their lives used to be like before coming to Christ?
• Read 1Cor 6:12-20
• What should be the Christian’s attitude toward his own body?
• What difference will this attitude make in how the Christian lives his life?

• Memory verse: 1Cor 6:20