This church is worse than the world (Isa 30-32; 1 Cor 5)

The church is meant to be like salt and light to the world, showing the world the blessing of going God’s way, but the church in Corinth was so bad that even the world outside could look at it and say “that’s not right!”

In 1 Corinthians 5 we discover that a man was sleeping with his step mother and the church has not only tolerated it but seems proud of it! Maybe there was a sense of we know we are saved by grace, so it doesn’t matter how we live. Or maybe they were proud that they didn’t judge anyone. Whatever the case, the apostle Paul says, this cannot continue, the purity of the Christ’s bride (the church) is at stake.

Paul says the person living an unrepentant sexually immoral life should be removed from the church. This is in line with what Jesus taught in Matthew 18, that if someone refuses to repent, they must not be allowed to continue in the church. Paul describes the removal in shocking terms, he says such a person does not belong to Jesus but to Satan. The purpose of putting him out of the church is to show the man the seriousness of his sin, so that he might repent and be restored.

But rather than doing this, the Corinthians have been boasting about this man, perhaps about how tolerant they are, or how non-judgmental they are. Perhaps this man was an influential man and they feared refusing him. Paul says if you tolerate sexual immorality (sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage), then this will damage the whole church. Just like yeast works through the whole batch, tolerating sin will affect the whole church. Paul refers to communion in v7, just as he will later tell them in chapter 11, that we need time examine ourselves before taking the Lord’s Supper, so here he says, the church has a a responsibility not to allow those involved in sexual immorality to be taking communion.

Paul tells them that he’s already written to them about this, (v9), he had told them not to associate with anyone who is sexually immoral. Now he clarifies, that he doesn’t mean in the world, but in the church. Corinth was a sexually immoral culture like ours, and Paul says you have to mix with people in the world and show them a better way, and the forgiveness and fresh start that Jesus offers. But if someone is claiming to be a Christian and desires the marks of belong to the church (communion and baptism), but they are refusing to repent of their sexual immorality, or greed or drunkenness, then they are not to be allowed to receive the sacraments. This is for their good, as a loving warning that they are not in a right relationship with God and need to turn back to Him, and it is for the good of the church, so that the church shows she belongs to Jesus Christ.

When we get to chapter 6, we will see that it is possible for those who have been involved in sexual immorality to be forgiven, Paul uses the wonderful words of being “washed, sanctified and justified.” If sexual immorality is in your past, but you have repented, then that is the wonderful description of you. But if sexual immorality is in your present, then you need to repent, and the church should lovingly be warning you by refusing to allow you to take the sacraments. It is far better that you are warned now, while there is still time to turn to Jesus and be washed, sanctified, and justified, than to pretend everything is ok and damage the church and your own soul forever.