God's Word to the Wise

A Word to the Wise

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. (1 Corinthians 5:9-13a)

The Apostle Paul had just commanded the Church who resided in Corinth to deal with a sexually immoral person who was attending, (Evidently in good standing) the local assembly of the visible church. What Paul writes beginning in vs 9 hints that some took, “Not keeping company with sexually immoral people.” to mean anybody who is sexually immoral and worldly. He was not!

Today’s evangelicals are preoccupied with people outside the visible church; those who do not identify with a visible church or the Church. Evangelicals today are putting in a great effort to expel those outside the visible church from society all together. And Paul writes, Leave them to God who judges righteously. The church (The visible body of believers) is to judge those named a “Believer.” My personal observation is that there are plenty of “Believers”  who are sexually immoral, covetous, idolaters, revilers, drunkards, and extortioners to keep the visible church so occupied there wouldn’t be time to be concerned with what their neighbor is doing or not doing.

Believers, let us turn our attention within our own ranks and deal with those whom God commands us to judge; turning them over to satan; putting them outside the church, where than God will judge them, hopefully not unto condemnation, but to repent of their sin and be restored to a right standing before the Head of the Church, Christ.