Paul Judges though Absent 1 Corinthians 5:3

“Fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife” was in the church of Corinth, and some in the church were “puffed up” and had “not rather mourned” because of it. Paul the apostle declared, “that he that has done this deed might be taken away from among” the church, and in chapter five and verse three of First Corinthians, Paul told the church members in Corinth though, “as absent in the body” he had “judged already” concerning this person where we read:

For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already,

as though I were present, concerning him that has so done this deed,

The verse begins, “For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already,...” Paul began with the word, “For” which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “I verily” or “Paul truly, certainly, surely and indeed”, “as absent” which means “like one who has departed and away” “in body” or “in a physical living corpse”, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “present” or “by, at hand, arrived and ready” “in spirit” which means “the rational spirit and power by which the human being feels, thinks and decides ”, “have judged” or “separated, put asunder, picked out, selected, chose, determined, resolved and decreed” “already” which means “even now at this time”. Paul was not physically with the Corinthians at this time, but he “determined and chose” what to do at that present time.

The verse continues, “... as though I were present, concerning him that has so done this deed,” Paul added the words, “as though I were present” or “as though Paul was at hand, arrived, ready, in store and command” “concerning him that has” or “about the person who has performed, accomplished, achieved, worked out and fashioned” “so done” which means “performed, accomplished, achieved, worked out and fashioned” “this deed” or “this same act”. Paul already knew what to do with the person who committed this act of “fornication”.

When we meditate upon these words from Paul, we notice whether “present” or “absent” he made a “choice and decision” about what to do with the one who committed “fornication”. Paul obtained adequate and conclusive evidence that this “sin” was true, and it was time to “act” against it immediately even if Paul himself was not there. Jesus Christ came into the world to “save sinners”, and sometimes people who have received Him as “Savior and Lord” go on a pathway of “sinfulness”. As a church, the Corinthians were to “judge” this situation, and they were not to wait for Paul's “presence” to do so. Jesus desires for His bride, the church, to be pure and without blemish, and even though their “father” in the faith, Paul, was only there in “spirit”, they were to address this problem as though he was.

Next time Paul refers to how the church members gather “in the name and power of the Lord Jesus”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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