God Speaks
Everyone is talking about the terrible thing that has happened there among you, something so evil that even the heathen don’t do it: you have a man in your church who is living in sin with his father’s wife. 2 And are you still so conceited, so “spiritual”? Why aren’t you mourning in sorrow and shame and seeing to it that this man is removed from your membership?
3-4 Although I am not there with you, I have been thinking a lot about this, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I have already decided what to do, just as though I were there. You are to call a meeting of the church—and the power of the Lord Jesus will be with you as you meet, and I will be there in spirit— 5 and cast out this man from the fellowship of the church and into Satan’s hands, to punish him, in the hope that his soul will be saved when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
6 What a terrible thing it is that you are boasting about your purity and yet you let this sort of thing go on. Don’t you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected? 7 Remove this evil cancer—this wicked person—from among you, so that you can stay pure. Christ, God’s Lamb, has been slain for us. 8 So let us feast upon him and grow strong in the Christian life, leaving entirely behind us the cancerous old life with all its hatreds and wickedness. Let us feast instead upon the pure bread of honor and sincerity and truth.
9 When I wrote to you before I said not to mix with evil people. 10 But when I said that I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who live in sexual sin or are greedy cheats and thieves and idol worshipers. For you can’t live in this world without being with people like that. 11 What I meant was that you are not to keep company with anyone who claims to be a brother Christian but indulges in sexual sins, or is greedy, or is a swindler, or worships idols, or is a drunkard, or abusive. Don’t even eat lunch with such a person.
12 It isn’t our job to judge outsiders. But it certainly is our job to judge and deal strongly with those who are members of the church and who are sinning in these ways. 13 God alone is the Judge of those on the outside. But you yourselves must deal with this man and put him out of your church.
Source: The Living Bible: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Immorality in any form (sexual or otherwise) weakens the credibility of the body of Christ to the unsaved world around us. It needs to be dealt with wisely and sternly. It should not be covered up or excused but dealt with firmly and compassionately. Ignoring or covering over sin (except with the blood of Jesus Christ) is not true Christian love. Those who are led by the Holy Spirit need to grieve over their own and others’ sin because it separates us from God. Then we must work toward repentance and reconciliation in the body of Christ and with the Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Dear Creator and Father God, thank You for Your perfect plan of blessing human beings with sexual intimacy in marriage between one man and one woman. You are the one who set the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not. Help us, especially church leaders, to deal compassionately but firmly with those who violate those boundaries (in whatever way). Since Paul counseled us to mourn in sorrow and shame over such behavior in those who belong to Christ, please help us to do the same. Please give leaders Your strength to temporarily set such people apart while they come to their senses in You, repent of their affront to Your holiness and grace, and return to You in humble faith and obedience. Loving Father, help us all to remember that Christ Jesus, the precious Lamb of God, suffered and died for that sin as well as all others. Help us to throw away all wickedness and evil from our minds, wills, emotions, and bodies and nourish our whole beings with sincerity and truth drawn from the Holy Scriptures and fellowship with You in prayer and worship.
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will read and apply Psalm 139:23-24 in my life so that I can be clean to help others.
- I will lovingly (gently but firmly) confront a fellow believer about sin I see in their life so that they can repent and be reconciled to God.
- I will pray for church leaders as they consider actions regarding “sin in the camp.”
- I will pray for friends in the Lord to read and heed Psalms 32 and 51.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.