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INTRODUCTION
Imagine if a Christian we know, one who is in membership of an Evangelical church that we also know goes out
and commits immorality by choosing to sleep with his Stepmother. How would we expect that church to react? How would that church react? What if it was our church and one of our members how would we react as a
church? Well I hope that we would be horrified and disgusted and angry for that is what you would expect but not at
Corinth.
Even though someone in the church was involved in an incestuous relationship the church at Corinth does not
seem to be shocked or disgusted. The church had become very complacent, as indeed had the sinning brother for he continues to meet with the church every Sunday and nobody seems to mind.
The standards in the church had slipped to such a degree that such behaviour had become acceptable or at
least such behaviour was not dealt with because the church were complacent and careless about such issues.
This is why Paul writes to the church at Corinth he wants to give them and indeed all churches clear
guidance about how to deal with sin in the church.
1. THE NEED FOR DISCIPLINE IN THE CHURCH (vs. 1-2a)
The first thing that the Corinthians needed to see was the need for discipline because they apparently had
rationalised the immorality so that they did not see a need for discipline. Paul's first task is to get the church to see that immorality is sinful, serious and should not be tolerated within God's church.
Of course the church knew this but the spiritual state of the church was at such low ebb that they had
somehow reasoned away this man's sin so that they did not see the need for church discipline. This man's sin was not a secret for Paul says that "it is reported" in other words this is common knowledge that is being
passed around and yet the church does nothing about it even though its testimony is being spoilt.
Now the church at Corinth had been well taught by Paul and others they knew this man's sin was wrong, they
also had been instructed by Paul about church discipline (v 9) but sadly the church had allowed the general culture of Corinth to creep into the church. They simply had become use to immorality and therefore were
blasé about it. The city of Corinth was well known for its immorality and the church had allowed the standards of the world to be implemented in the church. But although immorality was normal in a city like Corinth
the type of immorality that this professing Christian was guilty off was of a kind that is not usually found in a pagan city like Corinth.
Even the residents of Corinth would find sleeping with your stepmother repulsive. This type of incestuous
relationship was actually against Roman law which says something about how it was viewed by the unbelieving world yet the church accepted it and allowed it to happen without taking any sort of action.
The tense used in the Greek suggests that this relationship had been going on for some time (is) and was
still going on. This is not a one-time affair that can happen on the spare of the moment but this was continuous and open. They may even have been living together as man and wife. There is no mention of discipline
for the woman involved here which might suggest that this woman was not a believer.
If this is so then not only is the man involved in a sinful relationship but also he is also involved with
an unbeliever which of course is against God's word (2 Corinthians 6:14).
However as far as Paul is concerning the thing that is more shocking if anything could be more shocking is
the fact that the church is tolerate of this man's sin. By refusing to act in discipline they are by implication condoning this man's sinful behaviour (v 2). The church had become so proud and arrogant that nothing
seems to break through their pride.
They as a church were so self-satisfied and self-confident that they probably excused or rationalised this
man's wicked behaviour. Perhaps they looked upon this man's relationship as an expression of Christian freedom or liberty or perhaps they looked at their toleration of this man's sin as an expression of Christian
love. Whatever their reasoning was Paul says that it's their pride that has blinded them to the clear truth of God's word and to his moral standards.
But Paul tells them that they should have been filled with grief. Paul knows that a church that does not
grieve over sin especially sin within its own membership is on the verge of disaster. When Christians cease to be shocked by sin then we are losing a strong defence against it. It is so easy to become less shocked
than we should be when we see sin rampant in our society and when it is glamorised on the television and is encouraged by our Government.
The church at Corinth had become so like its own culture that it proudly followed its own feelings and
rationalisations rather than God's word and as a result the church found itself ignoring and perhaps even justifying flagrant sin in her midst.
God takes the sin of his people seriously and he expects his people to take it seriously. Sadly when sin is
not repented off and is tolerated then it increases and spreads like an infectious disease therefore the church must not tolerate sin in its midst, this is why church discipline is necessary.
Sin must be exposed and dealt with and this is not just the job of the Pastor or Elders but every church
member has a responsibility to make sure that church discipline is exercised in the church. Ultimately discipline in the church is to be done by all the members of the church. It is so easy to leave it to others and
to wash our hands of such actions but according to the bible it is the whole church that acts (Matthew 18:15-20). If we fail to do so as individual members then the truth is that we are tolerating and rationalising
sin in the church. It was not easy for the church at Corinth to take action because the church knew the person who is sinning. They had sat around the Lord's table with him, enjoyed bible studies with him and had
prayed with him perhaps this is why the church did not act as they should have because they knew the person involved in this sin.
But Paul establishes this point and we must establish it in our minds that when a fellow member is guilty of
public sin and refuses to repent then the church must take action otherwise we are as guilty as the person involved in the sin.
God's honour is at stake and the church's reputation is at stake so learn this principles and understand
that exercising discipline is never easy but is always necessary for the good of the sinning Christian and for the good of the church and ultimately for the glory of God.
2. THE METHOD OF DISCIPLINE IN THE CHURCH (vs. 2b-5)
Paul does not mess around by hinting or suggesting what should have happened in this situation. He is clear
that the man who refused to repent of his sin and forsake his immoral relationship should have been removed from the membership of the church (2b). Now we need to be clear that this sort of discipline is not
inconsistent with love in fact it is lack of discipline that is inconsistent with love. If we love our children we will discipline them and our failure to discipline children is because of our failure to really love
them.
Is this not the way the Lord treats his people (Hebrews 12:6). He disciplines us because he loves us and
therefore churches will discipline sinning members who remain unrepentant because we love them. Perhaps the lack of real discipline in our churches today says something about the lack of real love in our churches.
Now even though Paul is not present in the church at Corinth he has already decided what should happen just
as if he was a member in the church (v 3). There is nothing hard about this case says Paul this is clear-cut. The brother is sinning it is clear that he is refusing to repent otherwise Paul wouldn't even mention it
and if it is clear to him from the distance of Ephesus then surely it should be clear to the church. Therefore Paul is urging the church to take the appropriate action.
How are they to do it, how do they exercise discipline? Paul says that when the church gathers they do so in
the name of the Lord Jesus and therefore Jesus is among them in power (v 4). Therefore they must come together as a church and do what they know is Christ's will in this situation. They are to do what He would do if
he were physically present with the church. He is present with them by his Spirit therefore they must act in his name and with his power.
The church would have known the principles taught by Jesus (Matthew 18:15-20) but now Paul wants them to
apply those principles in the situation at Corinth. When they do act in Jesus name, that is according to his word and will; then they can be sure that they are acting in his power. You see a powerful church is a
church that exercises discipline when a church carries out discipline then it is the same as the Lord Jesus disciplining the sinning person.
They are to put the sinning man out of the church and Paul is not talking about the church building here but
the church membership. To do so is to hand the man over to Satan (v 5). Now to hand a person over to Satan simply means to hand him over to the realm where Satan rules and we know that Satan is the god of this world
(2 Corinthians 4:4). So Paul is saying that to remove someone from church membership is to place that person back into the world with all the other unbelievers, it is to withdraw from him the care and support that
belonging to a church offered him.
The purpose of such discipline is corrective. It is for the purpose of seeing "the sinful nature may be
destroyed," which means that this action of discipline is done so that the sinning man sees the seriousness of his sin and turns in repentance to God. His sin is dealt with and he is restored again to church
membership. Therefore he will prove himself to be a true believer and he will be saved on the judgement day.
Paul is probably talking about this same sinning brother in 2 Corinthians 2:7-8 where he pleads for the
church to forgive and comfort this man who has now repented.
Therefore the point of church discipline is to see the sinning brother restored to full church membership
again. This is why such action is a demonstration of love. If the church at Corinth continues to allow this man to remain in this sinful relationship without doing anything about it, then the man might begin to
think that his sin is OK that it is acceptable and that it is not serious. However the church by taking action says to the man your sin is serious, your relationship with this woman is wrong, therefore you must
repent and turn back to the Lord and back to the church again.
All church discipline is for the good of the sinning brother or sister. When we as a church have to act in
discipline we are saying to the sinning person that we take sin seriously and that our church does not tolerate sin because sin is serious to God and He does not tolerate it.
You see if we fail to act in church discipline then we are telling sinning Christians and the world that sin
is not that serious. If we give that impression then that also dilutes the glorious work of Christ on the cross. If sin is not serious then Christ's death for sin is minimised and the gospel is emptied of its power.
So I hope you can see that church discipline is important.
The next time we have to exercise discipline in our church I trust that we will be courageous enough to do
what is right and remove an unrepentant and sinning member from our membership in order that that person may come to their senses and repent. If that happens then I trust we will be gracious and loving enough to
welcome repentant ones back into our church membership once again.
3. THE REASON FOR DISCIPLINE (vs. 6-8)
Paul has already given one reason for church discipline by implication in the previous verse but now he
gives the church a very clear reason why the exercise of church discipline is vital. The removal of someone from church membership might seem severe but Paul here warns that refusing to do so will be much more
severe on the church.
However the Corinthians found the truth hard to face and one reason for this is because of their boastful
attitude (v 6). Perhaps they boasted about their tolerance or of the liberty that their members exercised or just about their wisdom in this situation. Paul does not tell us directly what they boasted about but he
does tell us that their boasting is not good (v 6).
Their boasting is leading the church down a dangerous path because of its failure to exercise discipline;
the church is in danger of being destroyed. Paul uses the illustration of yeast in dough. It only takes a little yeast to work through a whole batch of dough and so in the same way it only takes one sinning brother
who is left in the church to corrupt the whole church. Now yeast or leaven as it should read is used in the bible to illustrate influence. Most of the time is represents evil influence.
Paul's point is very simple if sin is allowed to exist unchallenged in the church then it won't be long
before the influence of one sinning brother begins to influence others and before long the whole church will be corrupted. If sin in not taken seriously in a church then others will notice and they will begin to
take sin less seriously than they did before and before we know it the church is rife with sin. One bad influence can have an incredible affect upon a good solid Evangelical church.
This is why church discipline is vital. It sends out a message to other members in a church who might be
tempted to sin in the same way and therefore acts as a restraint within the church. It removes the sinning person so that they cannot influence the rest of the members in their sinning ways.
Therefore the church at Corinth must act and get rid of the sinning person who is like old yeast that
corrupts the whole dough of the church (v 7). If they do act in church discipline then they will be like a new batch of dough which does not possess any yeast (sinning and unrepentant brothers). In other words
deal with sin and the sinning brother and the church will be preserved as pure. For this is exactly how the church should be. Did Christ their Passover Lamb not die for them in order that they could be made pure? (v
7).
Now it is clear that Paul has the book of Exodus in mind here. According to Exodus 12:39 on the
occasion of the first Passover Israel left Egypt so rapidly that there was insufficient time for that day's quota of bread to be leavened. Had the people delayed in order to prepare their loaves they would have been
held up which would have implied a desire to remain in Egypt?
In the event they came out of Egypt "in haste" because they knew that this was their only sensible option
(Deuteronomy 16:3); they could not afford to waste time. So taking that background Paul asserts that if the Corinthians do not remove the sinning brother from the church they will demonstrate that they wish to
belong to the world from which their Passover Lamb has redeemed them.
Therefore Paul's conclusion is found in verse 8. Again he is thinking of the Passover Festival which was
kept every year. Well says Paul let us be like those in the time of Moses and keep the Passover Festival without yeast. Let's remove from our lives and church the yeast of malice and wickedness and instead celebrate
the festival with bread without yeast the bread of sincerity and truth.
Obviously the things mentioned were problems in the church and probably were problems in the life of the
sinning brother who is to be put out of the church. The church will never deal with malice and wickedness by allowing it to stay in the church. The church will never be sincere or truthful by allowing unrepentant
sinners to remain within its membership.
I know Paul's argument is a little hard to follow but what he is saying is that the church at Corinth must
remove the sinning brother from its membership and in doing do so it is doing the will of God and is exercising God's power in the church. Its reason for doing so is to restore the sinning brother by making him
realise the seriousness of his sin and ultimately in exercising church discipline they will be helping to keep the church pure from sinful and evil influences.
As I finish let us be clear about the need for church discipline in our time. Let us be clear about the
method that needs to be applied and let us never forget that any action of church discipline is done in love, for the good of the sinning person and for the purity of Christ's church. Ultimately church discipline is
to be exercised to the glory of God
Amen
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