Paul
the apostle became aware of “fornication
among” the
church in Corinth, and this “fornication
as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have
his father's wife.”
In chapter five and verse two of First
Corinthians, Paul told the church members they are,
“puffed up, and have not rather
mourned”
where we read:
And
you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned,
that
he that has done this deed might be taken away from among you.
The
verse begins, “And
you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned,...”
Paul began
with the words, “And you are puffed
up” which
means “the church members were inflated, blown up, swollen, proud
and lofty”, “and have not rather”
which means “have not to a greater, much, by far and more willingly
and readily” “mourned”
or “lamented and grieved”. Rather than being “saddened greatly
and grieved” over these people, the church members were “proud”
concerning them.
The
verse continues, “... that
he that has done this deed might be taken away from among you.”
Paul added
the words, “that he that has done”
which means
“the person who has made, produced, constructed, formed, made ready
and prepared” “this deed” or
“this business, enterprise and undertaking” “might
be taken away”
or “removed and put away” “from
among you”
which means “from being with the church members”. Paul's idea was
this person should be “removed” from the church.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we see how quickly he was to
address this “fornication” problem within the church. The
church members were actually “proud” of their “tolerance” for
such behavior, but Paul said they should be “lamenting and
grieving” over it. We notice that he doesn't promote
“vindictiveness” or “indignant behavior”, but “grief”.
Jesus Christ desires for His church to be “pure and holy”, and it
“grieves” not only Him but the Holy Spirit when “sin” such as
this enters His church. Paul's solution was to “remove” this
person from their fellowship, and should this occasion ever arise for
us, let us “lament” and “grieve” rather than “boastfully
tolerating” it in our presence.
Next
time Paul told the Corinthians he had “judged
already, as though I were present, concerning
him that has so done this deed”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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