[:en]SCRIPTURE: 1 CORINTHIANS 5
“Let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8)
“You must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother, but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat” (1 Corinthians 5:11)
“God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:13)
EXPEL THE IMMORAL BROTHER (vs. 1-13)
Immorality was rampant in the Corinthian church and the leaders refused to deal with them. Paul wrote this letter asking the church to exercise loving but firm discipline to the offending member so that the testimony of the church would not be ruined.
WHY IS DISCIPLINE NECESSARY IN THE CHURCH?
- To bring repentance to the sinner by dismissing him from fellowship.
- To avoid the yeast of sin to grow quietly and produce shame and wickedness.
- To protect the spiritual holiness and the reputation of the church
- To make a difference between believers and unbelievers. God expects Christians to be different from the world so that sin should not be condoned.
SUMMARY:
Sins in the lives of Christians are worse than the sins in the lives of unbelievers. Jesus tells us not to judge in Matthew 7. But it does not mean that we close our eyes and not to deal with sin that is known by sinners and saints. We cannot judge the motives of believers, but we must judge the actions of the believers.
Discipline in church must be handled with care, love and firm action. The sinner must be dismissed from fellowship in order to bring repentance. If he confesses his sins, he must be forgiven and be restored to fellowship.
The church belongs to Christ, and God is holy. So each church member must not allow sin to grow in his life. He must show good testimony to the world by obeying God’s Word.[:]