Paul
the apostle asked the church members in Corinth what he had “to
do to judge them also that are without” the
church, and he wondered if they “judge
them that are within”
the church. In
chapter five and verse thirteen of First Corinthians, Paul told the
church members in Corinth “them that are
without God judges”,
and to “put away...that
wicked person”
where we read:
But
them that are without God judges.
Therefore
put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
The
verse begins, “But
them that are without God judges.”
Paul began
with the words, “But” which
is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “them
that are without” or
“people who are outside of the church body”
“God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “judges”
which means “separates, puts asunder, selects, chooses, determines,
resolves or decrees”. “God”
“determines, resolves and decrees” concerning people who are
outside of the church body.
The
verse continues, “Therefore
put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”
Paul added
the word, “Therefore” which
means “even, indeed and also”“put
away” which
means “lift up, remove or take away out of a place” “from
among you”
or “out and away from the Corinthian church”
“that”
which means “the certain one” “wicked
person” or
“bad natured, diseased, blind and evil person”. Because the
church members of Corinth were to “judge”
themselves, they were to “remove” the “fornicator”
from the church.
When
we think through these words from Paul, we see how he exercised quick
“judgment”
upon the person within the church who was committing “fornication”
with his “father's wife”.
If the man was not a Christian and was “outside
of the church”,
they would not have needed to concern themselves with him, but since
he was a part of the church, he was to be “put
away”. Let
us keep in mind that Jesus desires to have a “pure” and “holy”
bride or “church”,
and may we keep in mind Paul's words, “deliver
such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the
spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”.
The idea was to “purify” the Corinthian church, and to “save”
the man's “spirit in the day of the Lord Jesus”.
May we keep both of these in mind should we ever need to “discipline”
a person who is part of the church.
Next
time we
begin a new chapter and see Paul address the idea going “to
law before the unjust”,
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment