4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 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: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:4-8).
Paul is trying to have the church at Corinth expel an immoral church member (member committed adultery with his own father’s wife). Paul is not condoning hypocrisy or arbitrary judgment but rather is exhorting believers to eliminate intentional sin from their midst. Believers cannot continue in blatant and obvious sin without repenting. Once a sin is committed and known it must be dealt with preferably first by the one that committed it, but if not, then by the church. The actions though of the church are always with the purpose of restoring the individual to fellowship through repentance. The problem with not dealing with these issues is that the whole church can be corrupted by the actions of a few.
Paul is trying to have the church at Corinth expel an immoral church member (member committed adultery with his own father’s wife). Paul is not condoning hypocrisy or arbitrary judgment but rather is exhorting believers to eliminate intentional sin from their midst. Believers cannot continue in blatant and obvious sin without repenting. Once a sin is committed and known it must be dealt with preferably first by the one that committed it, but if not, then by the church. The actions though of the church are always with the purpose of restoring the individual to fellowship through repentance. The problem with not dealing with these issues is that the whole church can be corrupted by the actions of a few.
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