Transcript

Confusion Clarified

1 Corinthians 5:9-13
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Pastor Randy Smith

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Last week we dealt with a rather sensitive topic: church discipline. Church discipline is a foreign concept to many Christians and is rarely practiced in most churches - all this against clear commandments in the Bible to do so. We cannot "pick and choose" from God's Word. Anytime human authority usurps the authority of the Scriptures and human wisdom trumps the wisdom of God, the church is headed for trouble. Could it be that the evangelical church is drifting aimlessly in the 21st century revealing not only a loss of purpose, but also a loss of power, purity and progress, because we have foolishly discarded the practice of church discipline?

Is church discipline really that important? Greg Wills has written that, to many Christians in the past "a church without discipline would hardly have counted as a church." John Calvin taught that the three marks of a true church are: Faithful preaching, participation in the Lord's Supper and the commitment to practice church discipline. John Dagg said, "When discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it."

From the onset, we must remember that church discipline is not cruel. As the Puritan John Owen once said, "The nature and end of judgment or sentence must be corrective, not vindictive; for healing, not destruction." Punishment is designed to avenge a wrongdoing. Discipline, on the other hand, is corrective in nature. Therefore, the goal of all church discipline is ultimately restoration. The goal is to see one who is not only destroying the testimony of the church, but also destroying his own life, repent from his sins and be restored to the body of Christ. Jesus Christ commanded church discipline (Mt. 18:15-17). How can anything commanded by Christ be unloving and cruel?

Last week we examined many reasons for church discipline:

• To maintain a pure testimony to the world (5:1).

• To follow the command of God (5:2).

• To restore unrepentant sinners (5:5).

• To prevent sin from spreading to others (5:6).

• To emulate the holiness of our Lord (5:7-8).

Now, whenever we deal with a subject of this nature, our discussion often raises more questions than answers. Fewer issues have been shrouded with more confusion than the topic of church discipline.

Immediately after Paul's discussion on this subject in verse 8, we will see this morning in verses 9-13 that he needed to bring some clarification himself. Quite often these are the same questions we struggle with two thousand years later. For instance: Now that I am in the church, what is my relationship to the world? What sins require church discipline? And am I expected or forbidden to judge others? Have you ever contemplated these questions? Are you equipped with biblical answers? These are the three questions we will seek to answer in today's message which will be primarily informative in nature. I have entitled this sermon: Confusion Clarified.

1. WHAT IS MY RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORLD?

Let's look at the first question: What is my relationship to the world?

Every person alive either belongs to the church or the world. Throughout the history of the church, Christians have fallen into great error by not understanding their relationship to the world.

On the one hand, some, in an effort to pursue purity (or simply to avoid the inconveniences of associating with nonChristians), have removed themselves from contact with virtually all unbelievers. They have engulfed themselves and their family in a so-called "Christian cocoon." Although this attitude has the appearance of personal piety, it contradicts the prayer of Jesus Christ. "I do not ask You," said Jesus, "to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one" (Jn. 17:15). And then three verses later He prayed, "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world" (Jn. 17:18). We have a place in this world.

On the other hand, some have gone to the opposite extreme. They profess Christ and claim to be part of His church, but act no different than unbelievers in the world. There is no moral transformation. There is no change of behavior. This attitude is wrong as well as Jesus called us out of the world to be holy or "set-apart" for His purposes (Ac. 26:18; Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9). As He Himself said, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you" (Jn. 15:19b). We are not of this world.

So here's where it gets confusing. We have been called out of the world only to be called into the world. How do we make sense of this? I believe the best one-sentence explanation I have ever heard was, "We are in the world, but not of it."

In other words, we are called out of the world by Christ. In doing so, we are to forsake its attitudes, thought patterns, and values (Jas. 4:4; 1 Jn. 2:15). Our master is no longer Satan, "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4), but Jesus Christ, who has condemned and overcome the world. He is King, and those who belong to His church are expected to submit to His rule and authority, showing allegiance to Him and His ways which are diametrically opposed to the ways of the world.

But once we come into His kingdom, He has given us the assignment to bring others in as well through the Gospel (Mt. 28:18-20). We called to share our faith through our words and changed lifestyle. And in order to do so we must be sent into the world to function as Christ's ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) - Always careful to witness to the world without being corrupted by the world (Jas. 1:27).

Confused? Don't feel too bad. The Corinthians struggled with this concept as well. In verse 9 the Apostle Paul said, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people." What we have here is Paul referring to a letter ("the lost epistle") that was written to the church of Corinth prior to the writing of 1 Corinthians. His admonition was clear: The church was not to associate with immoral people.

Like it commonly happens in written communication, the recipients of this letter misunderstood Paul's intentions. The church was well aware of the gross immorality in Corinth and therefore began to withdraw themselves from society. Again, this is contrary to our command to associate with unbelievers for the purpose of evangelism.

Once Paul caught wind of their error, he took the opportunity in verse 10 of this letter to clarify himself. "I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world."

That phrase "out of the world" was used in secular writing during this time as a euphemism of death. In other words I believe Paul is saying that the only way to avoid complete contact with the immoral and ungodly is to die and go to heaven! No, we must stay in the world until our appointed time and win these folks to Christ. And in doing so we must have personal contact with them if we wish to function as "salt" and "light" (Mt. 5:13-15). No, avoiding contact with the unbelieving segment of society was not what Paul intended to communicate in his letter.

Verse 13, "But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler - not even to eat with such a one."

Paul's intention was that the church not associate with one who professes to be a Christian, but leads an immoral lifestyle conducive to the world and refuses to repent after repeated reproof. This is not a person who denies the Lord, but rather a person who professes to be a Christian and claims to belong to the church. In Paul's words, this is a "so-called brother."

Any person who leads this type of lifestyle (and you can see that the lists in verse 10 and 11 exceed sexual immorality) is a walking contradiction. The Scriptures are replete with examples declaring that those who persist in this unrepentant behavior do not belong to the church and they do not belong in the church for that matter either! We cannot claim to be a Christian and act like a pagan!

1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God."

Galatians 5:19-21, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Ephesians 5:5, "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."

Back in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is saying that these individuals are blurring the distinction between the world and the church. They are destroying your testimony and therefore need to be removed from the church if they choose to profess Christ and persist in this behavior. Furthermore, as the Apostle says in verse 11, the church is "not even to eat with such a one."

God wants us rubbing shoulders with those in the world in the hope that He might draw unbelievers to Himself. However, God does not want us to fellowship with anyone who claims to be a Christian (a "so-called brother") but lives like the world by remaining in unrepentant sin. If they act as an unbeliever, they must be treated as an unbeliever.

This would include withholding his privileges at the Communion table and the fellowship we enjoy with another in Christ. The individual is to be treated, in the words of Jesus as a "tax collector" (Mt. 18:17). We all know Jesus dined with the tax collectors (Mt. 9:10), but He did not have Christian fellowship with them. Our attitude must be the same. There is nothing wrong in spending time with these individuals in the desire that they will repent (Lk. 5:30-31), but we must not associate with them in the sweetness of Christian fellowship, says Paul, while they deny the fundamentals of Christian teaching.

So as we conclude the first point, we must see and preserve the clear lines of division between those in the world and those in the church. And if we are in the church, we are to minister to the world, whether they are a staunch unbeliever or a "so-called brother" who falls into unrepentant immoral sin and fails to represent what it means to be a Christian.

2. WHAT SINS REQUIRE DISCIPLINE?

Now, as we move to the second question we ask, "What sins require church discipline?"

Before I continue, please allow me to say, once again, that church discipline has the sinner's best interest in mind.

Yesterday I was fishing with a few of the brothers in the church. One of the men snagged another line that was discarded on the bottom for quite some time. As I pulled on the line, I came across four Spider Crabs intertwined in a bird's nest of thread. To save them from their imminent doom, I began to cut the line and untangle their bodies. But while I was trying to help, they continually reached over their heads trying to pinch my fingers. Though I had their best interest in mind, they believed I was only seeking to make their life miserable!

Along the same lines, how many children really appreciate their parent's discipline? While mom and dad are acting in the child's best interest, how many kids think they are cruel and unfair?

Church discipline has the sinner's best interest in mind as well. It is not a means of vengeful punishment. It is a means of love.

Any church that is eager to discipline understands nothing of the procedure. We are not called to be the "sin-police." If anything, we should spend our time evaluating our own hearts as compared to looking for the faults in others. It's only when another's sin presents itself to our attention that we are to act in a corrective manner through discipline. And prior to the final stage of excommunication are many steps of warning and reproving and teaching. And all these steps are to be done in humility and love, exercising great patience and prayer for God to move upon the individual's heart causing repentance.

We are to practice grace and mercy with one another, but that does not negate the Lord's command to exercise church discipline when necessary. Though each of us is guilty of sin and each of us often needs to be reproved and each of us is called to repentance, certain unrepentant sins need to be addressed through church discipline after repeated counsel and warning if one professes to be a Christian (1 Cor. 5:12).

Let me give you four key concerns that guide us in this area:

• Anything that publicly shames the holy character of God

• Anything that hinders the witness of the church to the world

• Anything that destroys the unity or purity of the church

• Anything that causes a believer to shipwreck his or her faith

Often times a case of church discipline will involve all four of these guidelines.

You can see in verses 10-11 that Paul lists various unrepentant sins that need to be addressed. Again, the concern is not one-time offenders, but those who have a publicly known lifestyle marked by these sins and a refusal to repent. We are talking about patterns of behavior. In verse 10 he speaks of the covetous (NIV-greedy), the swindler (KJV-extortioner) and the idolater. In verse 11 he repeats these sins and adds the immoral person (which may be a general category), the reviler (NIV-slanderer) and the drunkard.

Let's look at the Scriptures and see what others sins incurred church discipline. You will see how these sins fall into the four categories mentioned earlier.

Last week we learned about the sexually immoral needing to be disciplined. 1 Cor. 5:1-2, "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst."

Twice in Scripture we hear about divisive or factious people needing to be disciplined. Romans 16:17, "Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them." Titus 3:10-11, "Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned."

Once we read about those who refuse to work. 2 Thessalonians 3:10-15, "For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Often we read about the need to discipline false teachers. 1 Timothy 1:20, "Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme" (cf. 2 Tim. 2:17-18).

3. AM I TO JUDGE OR NOT?

We have sought to answer our relationship to the world. We have sought to answer the sins that require church discipline. And finally, possibly the question I receive most often, "Doesn't church discipline violate Jesus' command to avoid judging another person?"

Some use this as a cop-out to evade church discipline. "They church discipline over there, but we do not believe in judging one another." That sounds very noble! Unfortunately theses individuals have submitted more to the tolerance of this age then they have submitted to the teaching of God? Yet many well-meaning Christians in a desire to be obedient to the Scriptures see what appears to be a contradiction.

Let's first look at Jesus' command to avoid judging one another. Please turn with me if you would to Matthew chapter 7. Beginning in verse 1, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Mt. 7:1-5).

What Jesus is condemning in this passage is a hypercritical attitude that puts down others to elevate oneself. He is forbidding the human tendency of self-righteousness, seeing another's minor faults but ignoring the major ones we possess. He is warning against going after someone's motives which we cannot see and someone's opinions with which we may not always agree. He is calling us to avoid judgment that is hasty and unmerciful and prejudiced based upon human standards and human understanding, and not on the Word of God. I believe Jesus is saying all these things and we would do well to heed these warnings at the Grace Tabernacle, but Jesus is not calling for us to suspend judgment altogether.

For instance, verse 5 implies the approval of appropriate correction only after we have removed the log from our own eye - "then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Mt. 7:5). Verse 6 calls us to "not give what is holy to dogs" and "(and avoid throwing our) pearls before swine." Naturally, this calls for some judgment on our part, as does our need to identify false prophets by their fruits in verses 15 and 16.

There are also countless other verses in the Bible, many of which we have looked at these past two weeks that command us to make a judgment about other individuals (Lev. 19:17; Pr. 9:8; 19:25; 27:5-6; 28:23; Mt. 18:15-17; Gal. 6:1; Jas. 5:19-20). But what could be clearer than the one we find right here in 1 Corinthians 5? Verses 12-13, "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. (Here's the judgment the church was expected to make.) Remove the wicked man from among yourselves" (emphasis added).

In these verses Paul is clearly calling, not just the leadership, but the church body in general to pass judgment on this unrepentant sinner and expel him from the flock. He makes it crystal-clear that when done in the correct way, Christians are to have a say in what other Christians do. And when we fail to respond in this manner, we not only do an unloving service to the individual and the testimony of the church, but we also side with the sinner falling under the judgment of God for refusing to follow His Word.

God's Word is the key, for it is the Bible that warns us about improper judgment. And it is the Bible that calls us to execute proper judgment when necessary. Again, the Bible is the key. For when we bring someone and his or her sin to the Word of God, it is not us passing judgment, but rather the living God passing judgment as He speaks through His authoritative Word.

The Apostle Paul needed to clarify his original letter to the Corinthians. I hope I was able, through the Spirit, to bring some clarification to three areas that are often clouded with much confusion in today's church: Our relationship with the world, the sins that require church discipline and the proper and improper ways to judge another.

I'd like to close with a poem by J.A. Fletcher from "Grace at Work." I believe it will serve as a fitting conclusion to our discussion regarding church discipline.

Think gently of the erring;
You know not of the power
With which the dark temptation came
In some unguarded hour;

You may not know how earnestly
They struggled, or how well,
Until the hour of weakness came
And sadly thus they fell.

Think gently of the erring;
Oh, do not now forget
However darkly stained by sin,
He is your brother yet;

Heir of the self-same heritage,
Child of the self-same God.
He has but stumbled in the path
Which you in weakness trod.

Speak gently to the erring;
You yet may lead them back,
With holy words and tones of love,
From misery's thorny track;

Forget not you have sometimes sinned,
And sinful yet may be;
Deal gently with the erring, then,
As God has dealt with thee.

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APPENDIX:

In what manner should church discipline be conducted?

1. In love for the goal of restoration and healing (1 Cor. 5:5b; 2 Cor. 2:6-8; Gal. 6:1).

2. With humility, patience and gentleness (Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; 4:2).

3. With much prayer knowing that only God can bring about true repentance (Ac. 8:22).

4. Without partiality or bias (1 Tim. 5:21).

5. Without gossip and slander (2 Cor. 12:20).

6. Without being hypercritical, hasty, unmerciful, prejudiced, self-seeking and self-righteous (Mt. 7:1-5)

7. In conjunction with the four steps outlined by Jesus (Mt. 18:15-17).

8. In conjunction with the teaching of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-4:2)

9. When repentance occurs, we must forgive (2 Cor. 2:7a), comfort (2 Cor. 2:7b) and love (2 Cor. 2:8).

Who is responsible to exercise church discipline?

It is becoming increasingly common today to interpret "tell it to the church" (Mt. 18:17) to mean telling only those leadership or a small circle of personal acquaintances. I am of the conviction that this is inaccurate. I believe we should take this command of Jesus literally, and make the whole church aware of both the individual and his or her offense.

1. The goal of this step in discipline is to have Christians call the individual to repentance. How much more effective will this step be if the individual receives multiple calls from all in the church (not just the leadership) standing in unity on this decision?

2. Church discipline is to restore the erring sinner, but it is also intended to keep the church pure (1 Cor. 5:6) through removing the infected body part and warning others to avoid such behavior. "Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning" (1 Tim. 5:20, emphasis added). Informing the whole church engages them in self-examination and reminds them of their own accountability to live holy lives.

3. The word "church" (ekklesia) is only used three times in the Gospel according to Matthew. Twice in this account of church discipline (18:17) and once in 16:18. There can be no doubt that the author in 16:18 used it as a reference to the entire church, not just an isolated segment.

4. There can be no doubt that Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 rebuked the entire church for failing to exercise church discipline. In the same way, he rebuked the entire church for failing to receive the repentant brother back into fellowship after receiving discipline (2 Cor. 2:6). The whole church in Rome (Rom. 16:17) and in Thessalonica (2 Thes. 3:6) was to take action against divisive and unruly individuals.

Should we discipline those who do NOT profess Christ?

If someone at one time professed to be a believer, but now has denied his or her Lord (a much more frightening predicament than church discipline), I believe the church should warn, reprove and drop the individual from membership, but refrain from formal church discipline.

1. As humans it is not our responsibility to play God and determine who belongs to His church (2 Tim. 2:19). All we have to go on is an individual's profession. Professing Christians are to be disciplined (though they may be "tares") and those who do not profess are not to be disciplines (though they may be "wheat").

2. Church discipline is intended only for believers (Mt. 18:15; 2 Thes. 3:15; Jas. 5:19) for the purpose of restoration (2 Cor. 2:7; Gal. 6:1). How can we restore and unbeliever to the church? Such a person needs first to be converted.

3. How can we hand an unbeliever over to Satan (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20) when such a person is already in allegiance to him and existing in his domain (Eph. 2:1-2)?

"We cannot know who is and is not a true believer, but discipline is to be administered to any who profess to be a Christian. …Anyone who carries the name of Christ is subject to discipline" (John MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, 131)