Dealing with Sexual Sin
One of the reasons that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth was to address the sexual sin that was tolerated by the fellowship. He wrote “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from you” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). Instead of grieving over this sin, the Corinthians actually were “puffed up” (i.e. proud) with their accommodation of this immoral behavior.
The specific sin addressed is incest and Paul reminds his audience that even the surrounding community was not guilty of such immorality. The word for “fornication” in the text is the word from which we get “pornography” and is used for every type of sexual sin in the Scriptures. One wonders if this would raise an eyebrow in our churches today. Sexual immorality is a way of life for much of American society today and, frankly, much of that societal behavior and acceptance has found its way into the church.
Paul takes no time in revealing the mind of Christ about both this sin and the attitude of the believers in Corinth. The next time they met as a group of believers they were “with the power (i.e. authority) of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:4-5). Notwithstanding the questions pertaining to delivering one unto Satan, this professing believer was to be put out of the church, i.e. the body of Christ. The purpose was to maintain the purity of the body and provoke the erring brother to repent and be restored to fellowship.
This kind of action by a church body seems highly unlikely, even foreign, in our present society. The modern church does not take sin very seriously even though Christ, the Head of the church, has not changed in his attitude since Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit about the sale of their property (Acts 5:1-5). Paul admonished the Corinthians with “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).
The believers took pride in looking the other way instead of confronting the sin as needed. But sin demands confrontation and confession. Lest we get too smug and shake our heads at this early church, we are every bit as guilty in the modern church. Surrounded by fornication of every kind and from every medium, we have lost our capacity to be embarrassed at the sexual wickedness that abounds in our society. Gratification of the flesh is king, and the sexual intimacies intended between a husband and wife have been stripped of the sanctity stamped on them by their Creator. Now that which was honorable in its design and context is nothing more than cheap, fleshly trade between any willing parties. But know this that “whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).
Randy Livingston serves as a chaplain for a local police department. He writes devotionals for his ministry which also appear at his blog, From the Chaplain. We republish this post by permission.
Photo by vadim kaipov on Unsplash