Saturday, August 28, 2010

Expel

1 Cor 5 deals with a difficult situation in the Corinthian Church.
1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
So I assume from this that there was an individual sleeping with his step-mother. (If he had been sleeping with his mother I assume the passage would have said that rather than 'his father's wife')
I don't understand the 2And you are proud! bit as I can't think what they would be proud of in this situation.
Maybe they knew of the sin and the guy continued in a position of leadership?
Paul said to put him out of the congregation and 5hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature[a] may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
Hand the dude over to Satan? That's pretty harsh!
I assume because the guy was not repentant. Aren't we supposed to try to bring our brother's to repentance first? But it seems this Church had not done anything. And maybe there were some reasons for that. Maybe the father had married a really young wife. Maybe she was younger than the son? Maybe the Church had rationalized it and Paul objected to that?
I might think that the first step would be pray with him, confront him, work with him. But Paul does not deal with him that way- hand him over to Satan!
Was this a cultural thing or is this something that the Church should have in practice today? Because I think the Church today would probably focus more on the redemption of the sinner. But maybe Paul is telling us not to be so soft. To call sin a sin and draw the line in the sand. To say it's not acceptable and go hand yourself over to Satan!

Paul does indicate that the unsaved should not be treated this way. I guess because they don't have Jesus to guide them.

Just your brothers. Turn them over to Satan.

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