When Love Demands Judgement

Judge not. Of course, that's one of the few Bible verses that it seems like almost everybody knows. We hate hypocrisy, we hate judgmentalism, and we especially hate any hint of pharisaical self-righteousness that scrupulously and proudly judges others while turning a blind eye to its own sin. And so we find the mantra, don't judge me, on t-shirts, in songs, in media, in almost anywhere you look. And of course, judge not is a biblical command. Jesus himself warns us that with the judgment we judge, we will be judged. And with the measure we use, it will be measured back to us. And so if we are unmerciful toward others, we should not expect God to be merciful to us. The Bible also commands us to love others. It tells us to treat them as we would want to be treated. And it reminds us that ultimately, judgment belongs to God alone. Romans 14.4 tells us, who are you to judge another servant? And actually just the chapter before, in 1 Corinthians 4.5, Paul writes, therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time. Before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. then each one will receive his commendation from God. All right, so you and I are not the final arbiters of right and wrong. God alone is. However, does this mean that we should never judge at all? Well, I've titled this sermon, When Love Demands Judgment. Because I think 1 Corinthians 5 teaches us that sometimes judgment is necessary. In fact, love demands it. Look again at verses 12 and 13. Paul says, is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you. And this is every bit as much the word of Christ as when Jesus says, by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. There is a time when love demands judgment. Now before we unpack this, I'd like to remind you of where we've been. Some time ago, I began a series through 1 Corinthians. So just whenever I preach, I'm picking up where we left off. And Lord willing, next week we'll be looking at the first half of 1 Corinthians 6. And what we've seen in the past is 1 Corinthians was written by Paul while he was staying in Ephesus. So earlier, Paul had gone to Corinth, and he had actually established the Corinthian church. You can read about that in Acts chapter 18. Then Paul had gone on to Ephesus, and he stays there for about three and a half years. And during that time, we know that Paul had written at least one earlier letter to the Corinthians. In fact, if you look at verse 9 of chapter 5, you see him make reference to this earlier letter that the Corinthians had misunderstood. Then we know that Paul also had received at least one letter from the Corinthians. So if you flip ahead to 1 Corinthians chapter 7, you will see Paul begins that section by saying, now concerning the matters about which you wrote. So he's responding to a letter he received from them. And Paul has received personal reports about what was going on in Corinth. So if you flip back to chapter 1, verses 10 and 11, You see Paul make reference to what has been reported to him by Chloe's people. So these are evidently members of the church that have come and visited Paul in Ephesus and told him what's going on. And in fact, the whole book of 1 Corinthians can really be divided into two halves. So in chapters 1 through 6, Paul is responding to the reports he's heard. And then in chapter seven through the end of the book, Paul is responding to the issues raised by the Corinthians letter that he had received. Now we have already spent four sermons dealing with chapters one through four in which Paul deals with the issue of disunity. So he's heard, the first thing he says he heard from Chloe's people is that there are divisions among them. And they're quarreling over which preacher is the best. And this reveals in them a real infatuation with wisdom, or logos, eloquence, rhetoric. They're being drawn to preachers that they think are particularly persuasive. And meanwhile, they've actually become rather sour toward Paul. They seem to think that they have matured and become so sophisticated that Paul just doesn't measure up. And so in that section, Paul reminds them that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. I mean, how foolish he says it is to think you are going to impress the world into believing in Jesus because of how persuasively and wise the message sounds. Because the message itself is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. And so again and again, Paul rebukes their pride and arrogance. And what we see today, even as we turn to a new topic, is that the root problem remains the same. It is once again pride and arrogance that is at the root of the problem in Corinth. And so we will begin with point one, the problem. What is the problem that Paul is addressing? And we're gonna look at verses one and two. Paul writes, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife." So once again, this is Paul responding to a report, and presumably it was Chloe's people that told him, hey, by the way, there's this situation where there's a man, a member of the Corinthian church, who has his father's wife. And that is a euphemistic way of speaking about an ongoing sexual relationship. Now we don't know what happened to the father, whether he died, whether he's absent, or what. And we really don't know anything more about this wife. She's evidently not a member of the church because Paul doesn't say anything about her. He focuses on the man. But what we do know is that as sexually permissive as the Corinthian culture was, not unlike our own culture today, This is something that even in the eyes of pagans, even then, was scandalous. This man is in an ongoing sexual relationship with his own mother-in-law. And apparently this has been going on for long enough and openly enough that it's widely known. And Paul clearly doesn't think he's informing the church about this situation. He knows they already know about it. And yet what most outrages and exercises Paul, even more so than what this man is doing, is the response of the church. Or lack thereof, I should say. Look at verse two. Paul writes, and you are arrogant. Are you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. And so just consider the church's attitude toward this. One of their own members is committing this egregious sin in an unrepentant way. Rather than grief and mourning, rather than being heartbroken, rather than being shocked and humbled, rather than being outraged that this sin would happen among them, they're arrogant. And they're just tolerating this sin in their church. Now I want to pause here and think more deeply about two questions. And the first question is this, why is this such a big problem? I mean, isn't the gospel all about grace? I mean, isn't the church supposed to welcome sinners? I mean, it's not that we believe we're saved by works, right? So why really is this such a big problem? Well, it's a problem because the grace of the gospel is a grace that necessarily produces holiness. Jesus did not die on the cross so that we could be forgiven and then go on sinning. He died on the cross so that we could be freely forgiven and reconciled to God by the sheer grace of God and then granted power by the Spirit of God to walk in newness of life. Flip ahead to chapter six and look at verses nine through 11. Paul writes, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. The Corinthians had practiced all of those things. That used to characterize their behavior, that used to be their identity, but then Paul says, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. You see, the gospel is a gospel of grace that brings forgiveness and washing But it's so that we might now walk in newness of life so that we might no longer be characterized by the sin that once enslaved us. We might have a new identity. We might be holy unto the Lord. Now, if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, well, I want you to know that the gospel is for you. Maybe you're living in sin every bit as egregious as this man. Well, the church is supposed to be A safe place for you to confess your sin and to repent because we are all sinners in need of grace. We welcome every kind of sinner who comes to repent. Maybe you're here and you are a professing Christian, but you're struggling with sin. And you're hearing this with trepidation because you just don't feel good enough. Well again, friend, I want you to hear that the church is to be a safe place for you to come and confess and repent. I mean, we're to be a place that help one another strive after holiness. But maybe you're here and you claim to be a Christian, but you've just decided to surrender to sin. Instead of fighting sin, instead of repenting of sin, you're just embracing it. And friend, you need to hear that the church is not a place that welcomes you. It is not a safe place to come and harbor sin. Maybe you look at your life and you think, well, my sin is much less significant than that man sleeping with his mother-in-law. But friend, whatever the sin is, if you are refusing to repent of it, your heart is the same. Like him, you have rejected God. You've rejected God's authority, and you have said, I am going to embrace sin. I'm going to embrace my own way. And that is necessarily denying the gospel. You see, Jesus has come to welcome every kind of sinner who comes in repentance. But he rejects every kind of sinner who refuses to repent. Now, a second question I want us to ask, in what way exactly is the Corinthian church demonstrating arrogance. Now this charge from Paul is striking because normally we think of those who are, you know, quick to judge, those judgmental people as being the proud, arrogant ones. But here, Paul actually is saying that it's the Corinthians' failure to judge. It's their toleration of this man's sin which shows arrogance. So how is that? Well, first of all, as I already pointed out in Chapters 1 through 4, boasting is a major theme. The Corinthians are very proud of their wisdom, they're very proud of their spiritual maturity. And then you look at that and then you look at what's going on in the life of the church and you see this man in this kind of sin. It just reeks of hypocrisy that they would be proud of their spiritual maturity while this is happening in their own church. Secondly, look ahead to verse 6 of chapter 5. Paul writes, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? And I think this tells us that part of their pride in boasting is revealed through a complacent attitude towards sin. They seem to have no appreciation for the way that the leaven of sin, if not dealt with, if tolerated, will gradually pervade everything. You see, when we as a church just tolerate sin in our midst, it desensitizes the conscience. It diminishes zeal for holiness. It weakens spiritual vigilance. And in time, it will erode and weaken the whole church's posture towards sin. And inevitably, that sin will begin to spread. They are complacent. Third, and one final way that I think we see their arrogance, look back at 1 Corinthians 4, verses 3-5. Paul writes, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. So there, just one chapter before, the Corinthians are judging Paul and Paul tells them, stop judging me. And now here, one chapter later, the Corinthians are failing to judge this member of their own church and Paul rebukes them for not judging him. So what's the difference? Well, I think it's that the Corinthians are judging Paul by their own human standards. And then they are refusing to judge this man by God's. You see, really the root problem is the same as it's always been. They have imbibed this worldly wisdom. And this is the worldly wisdom by which, you know, they are saying we know what's right and wrong. We are going to use our wisdom to judge whether someone is a good enough preacher. And then we are going to use our wisdom to decide, well, this man, what he's doing is OK. We can just tolerate him to be in the church. And that reveals pride. It is human pride exalting itself against God and his word. And you see, when we exalt our own wisdom above God by accepting what he calls sin in the name of tolerance, that's not love or humility. It's arrogance. And so brethren, how will we as a church respond to sin in our midst? Will we arrogantly tolerate it, replacing God's holy standards with our own, and pretending that the grace of the gospel somehow excuses sin? Or will we arrogantly and self-righteously condemn it? Judging others as if we have no sin of our own and conveniently hiding and excusing the sins in our own lives. Or will we be a church that humbly invites confession and repentance? Not diminishing sin, not tolerating it, but boldly affirming that there is abundant grace in Christ for all who repent and call upon him. May we be that kind of church, a church where confession and repentance is what characterizes us so that we may seek after true holiness for the glory of God. Well friends, we've seen the problem. Let's turn now to the solution. So this is point two, the solution, verses two through five. Yes, there's overlap with verse two. And I want you to notice here that a mere change in attitude is not enough. Paul actually calls upon the church to take action. So picking up partway through verse two, Paul writes, let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. So Paul insists here that the Corinthians take action by, verse two, removing this man from among them. And then in verse five, delivering this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. And I think these are actually parallel statements. They're two ways of saying the same thing. What Paul is basically saying is put this man out of the church, remove him from your fellowship in the spirit, and release him back into the realm of Satan, which is the world. Now, to better understand what exactly this means, I think we have to understand the concept of church membership. So think with me for a moment. What is a church? I mean, a church, is it a building? You know, is it some sort of corporation? Well, I would argue that a church is a body of believers. The members themselves, the people themselves constitute the church. They are the church. And therefore, those members represent the church. And therefore, to have a church, you have to have some way of determining who's in and who's out. Now, does that mean in the first century they had a membership list? I actually think they probably did. But whether or not you agree with that, I think there's another way we can see membership in the New Testament illustrated. Now think for a moment, if you are in the first century and you're trying to figure out who are the Christians, who is the Corinthian church? Well, one approach could be, well, who shows up to hear the preaching? But we know that wouldn't be a good way to do it because Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 14 that he expects unbelievers to come hear the preaching, right? Like us, they want unbelievers to come hear the gospel so that they might repent and believe. So it's not just whoever comes to hear the preaching that constitutes the church. No, I think the way you tell is you ask, number one, who has been baptized? Who has publicly professed their faith in Christ and been baptized in the name of Christ to be united with Christ and baptized into the body of believers? And then number two, who is it who gathers together to partake of the Lord's Supper? This meal that represents the communion and the fellowship of believers. You see, in other words, what I'm saying is that the ordinances of baptism in the Lord's Supper visibly define the boundary of the church. In baptism, the one is bound to the many. And in the Lord's Supper, the many are bound together as one. And so what it means to be a member of a church is, number one, to be a Christian, to believe in Christ. Number two, to publicly profess faith through baptism. Number three, to be in a covenant relationship with a particular body of believers with whom you regularly gather for worship and discipleship. And number four, to formally express that unity in an ongoing way through partaking of the Lord's Supper or the communion. Now with that in mind, let's look back at what Paul commands the church to do. Look in verse four. He says, when you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. And so Paul is telling the church that they need to gather together. When they are gathered, they need to take some sort of formal action. collectively as a church, as the body of believers. And I think that formal action is removing this man from membership. They are formally removing him from belonging to their number to not belonging to their number. And so that would mean that he would be officially excommunicated or uninvited from the Lord's Supper. Because the Lord's Supper symbolizes the membership and so he is to be removed from that. He's no longer a member of the church family and therefore entitled to the intimate fellowship and discipleship of the church. It means that he will no longer be held accountable as a Christian. He's handed over to Satan in the sense of released into the world. This is something like God exiling Israel to Babylon. or like the father of the prodigal son, just giving him his money and letting him go. It means he will no longer be regarded as a brother in Christ, but treated as a heathen or a tax collector, like an unbeliever. And for the purposes of this sermon, I will refer to someone who is removed from membership in this way as someone who's been disciplined or excommunicated. Now before we move on, I want to pause and clarify two things that church discipline is not. First, church discipline is not revoking someone's salvation. It's a declaration that the evidence of this person's life suggests that they never were a true Christian. So the church cannot grant or withdraw salvation. The church can only recognize whether or not someone's profession is consistent with their life. In Matthew 16 and 18, Jesus gives the church the keys of the kingdom, which impart the authority to bind and loose. But it's a declarative authority. It's the authority to declare who is in and who is out. It's not an authority to dispense or revoke salvation. So can a genuine believer be disciplined? I think the answer is yes. However, for a genuine believer to go through this process where they are so hearted in sin that even when an entire church is telling them, brother, you're wrong, brother, you're in sin, you need to repent, and they still say no, and therefore become dismal from the church, I think that's relatively rare. And I think if it happens, we have every reason to expect that God in his time will bring that lost sheep back to repentance. Now, a second clarification. Church discipline is not the same as shunning. Now, we're going to talk about this more at the end when we really think about how do I relate to someone who has been excommunicated from a church. But for now, I just want to say that it doesn't mean we can't look at them, we can't speak with them, and we can't remind them of the gospel. I mean, just like with any other unbeliever, we love them, we want them to hear the gospel, we want them to repent. In fact, I would say in most cases we would even welcome someone who's been excommunicated to continue to come to the public gatherings of the church so that they can hear the gospel. Now, there are ways in which our ongoing relationship with the person will need to change. But again, the fundamental thing Paul is commanding the Corinthian church to do here is this formal act of removing the person from membership in the body so that this person is no longer representing the Church of Christ. So that there is no longer this formal association. This person is no longer part of their body. Now, one other question I want us to think about here. Who has the authority to discipline? Who actually has the authority to do this? And I think the clear answer we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 is that it is the gathered assembly of the whole church. Look at what Paul says, pick up in verse 3. He says, for though absent in body, I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. So here's Paul who's an apostle. Here's Paul who has already prophetically determined what needs to happen. And yet Paul says, verse 4, When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. I mean, he's calling on the church to take a formal action. Because at the end of the day, church discipline is something that only the church has the authority to do. In fact, this is exactly what we see in Matthew chapter 18, where Jesus talks about this very same thing. In Matthew 18 verses 15 through 20, Jesus says, if your brother sins against you, you should go to your brother and try to work it out. And if he listens to you, you've gained your brother. But if he won't listen, then you take one or two others with you. And if he'll listen to them, then you've gained your brother. But if you won't listen to them, then finally, you tell it to the church. And he says, and if he won't listen even to the church, then let him be to you as a heathen or a tax collector. Right? It's the church that makes that determination in the end. And Jesus continues by saying, truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Why? Because it's the church that has been given the keys of the kingdom, the authority to bind and loose. And then also it's with reference to this, With reference to the church that Jesus continues, again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I among them. Jesus is saying that his own authority is present in this act of discipline. And surely this was in Paul's mind when Paul tells the Corinthians, when you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, deliver this man to Satan. Why? Because Jesus himself has given this authority and this responsibility to the church. They have the responsibility to act to remove this man. Now, the last thing I want to point out here is that this is a big reason why we at Jefferson Park Baptist Church have a congregational form of government. We believe that God has vested the final earthly authority in the local church. You know, in some discipline cases are hard and awkward and painful. And you might think, you know, why can't the elders just handle this behind closed doors? Well, it's because we believe that Jesus has given this authority to the church. And practically, just one thing to point out about that, I think that in God's wisdom, one of the things that this does is it forces church leaders and pastors to be trainers. We are not the ones that just handle everything ourselves. We have the responsibility to try to equip you and teach you the word of God so that you will be built up as members of this body to be able to do your job of holding one another accountable. and overseeing, membership, discipline, leadership, and so on. This has been given to the whole church. All right, well, we've seen the problem, we've seen the solution. Thirdly, let's consider the purpose. What is the purpose or goal of church discipline? This is verses five through eight, and yes, once again, there's a one-verse overlap. First, first purpose, the good of the offender. Look again at verse five. Paul writes, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Oh friends, it's so important we see that church discipline is not for the purpose of punishment or destruction. Church discipline is for the purpose of salvation. I mean, that means that church discipline is actually a gracious and a merciful act. The goal is restoration. The goal is so that when someone like this man in Corinth who is so self-deceived that he thinks things are okay between him and God, even as he lives in unrepentant sin with his mother-in-law, might be rescued from that, then he might be pulled away from a path that leads to hell and destruction in order to come to genuine repentance and salvation. And friends, of course, it is infinitely better to be judged now so that we might stand then than to be accepted now, but condemned then. And as I mentioned earlier, Paul says, you know, deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. And I think that's similar to God sending his own people into exile in Babylon to cure them of their idolatry. or the father of the prodigal, just giving him the money and letting him go and spend it on wasteful living, because, ironically, delivering this man into the domain of Satan, where he can most fully indulge his flesh, will show him how empty and self-destructive the desires of his flesh really are. This release into the world is so that hopefully, like the prodigal son, he will come to his senses and one day remember there was food in my father's house. And then he might return in true repentance. And so friends, church discipline should always be motivated by love for the one being disciplined. We do not do it out of spite or revenge. We do it in love. because love itself demands judgment. It demands being honest with someone who is going astray about their own spiritual plight. In fact, refusing to judge them is not only arrogant, but it is hateful because it's telling them a lie. Now, second purpose of church discipline, the purity of the church. Look at verses six through eight. Paul continues, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Now Paul here uses two metaphors to describe the church. First, he says the church is like dough. And it is to be unleavened. The true church of true believers really is unleavened. And so therefore, the visible church should reflect that. That's why he says, cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. Second, The church is the ongoing celebration of the true Passover feast. Paul says, Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Passover. He is the true Passover lamb, our Passover lamb, and we are now those who celebrate the true Passover festival as we gather in worship as Jesus' people. And especially as we partake together of the Lord's Supper, proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes. And Paul's point is that we are not to do so with the old leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We as the church are called to be pure, holy, sincere, truthful. Because Christ is holy and because the true church whom he has died for really is holy. And so we serve a God who wants to be worshiped in spirit and truth, who wants to be worshiped in pure worship by his people. And he's called us to be a light to the world. We as the church are to be pure so that we can shine as a light and the world can have an accurate picture of who Christ is. So church discipline is necessary, one, for the good of the offender, two, for the purity of the church, and then third, and finally, for the glory of God. And this is ultimately the reason why the purity of the church is so important. Because God, in saving us, has also placed his name on us. And we, as the church, are God's temple. We are where his name dwells. We are to be those who represent and reflect God and Christ to the world. And so by looking at us, all nations, all people should be able to see something of what God is like and what Christ has done. But when we tolerate sin in our fellowship, especially sin not even tolerated among pagans, when the world looks at us and they see a man sleeping with his mother-in-law and they see us welcoming him and saying, yes, he's a part of us, well, instead of glorifying God, they will blaspheme him. We will be like Israel in Ezekiel 36 where God says, my name is profaned among the nations because of you. And so friends, ultimately church discipline is necessary for the glory of God. It's necessary so that we can proclaim the truth about the gospel and about God's grace. So church discipline is the purpose is threefold, the good of the offender, the purity of the church and the glory of God. And all of these must be motivated by love. Love for God, love for his church, and love for the lost. This is a case when love demands judgment. Now fourth, and finally, the principles that we can deduce from this. This is verses 9 through 13. And we're going to think especially, what principles can we draw from this concerning when excommunication is called for, and how to treat someone who's been excommunicated. Look at verse 9. Paul says, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. Not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother If he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you. Now in this section, Paul's focus shifts away from giving very specific counsel about how the Corinthians need to deal with a specific case, to really focusing on the more general principles that the Corinthians need to understand so that they will know how to deal with future cases and situations like this. And the first principle that we see here is that we are to judge those inside the church, not outside it. Paul says, verse 13, God judges those outside. All right, so the church is not to be the moral police for the world. We are to be a light to the world. We are to be inviting the world to come and hear the gospel. But the church is responsible to hold one another accountable for living in step with the gospel. And I think this principle helps us address an important question, which is, on what basis exactly should someone be excommunicated? Now, there are some who interpret 1 Corinthians 5 as really setting the stage or giving an example of a different category of church discipline than Matthew 18. So in Matthew 18, it's very clear discipline is when the person will not listen, they will not repent. But there are some who read 1 Corinthians 5 as if what Paul is saying is this person has committed a public gross sin, and therefore, regardless of whether or not he repents, he needs to be immediately removed to vindicate the honor of the church. And they would say, where does Paul say here, you know, do this if he won't repent? They say, Paul just says do it. And this has been a common interpretation even among some early Baptists. But I disagree. I think when Paul tells us to judge, he's not meaning judge whether a particular sin is so serious that it necessitates removal. I think he means that we are to judge whether this person's behavior is consistent with their profession. And the principle is, the basis for removal is because the person is not living as a Christian. Once again, notice Well, first of all, notice the list of sins that Paul mentions, right? So he's not just talking about sexual morality. He says, you know, sexual morality or greed or someone who is an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard, or a swindler. Well, again, if you look over at chapter 6, verses 9 through 11, you see all of those same sins reiterated. I mean, Paul says, such were some of you. I mean, all of those were sins that the Corinthians, other members of the church had committed. But the difference is they were washed, they were sanctified, they were justified, they had repented. And that kind of lifestyle, that kind of sin no longer characterizes their behavior. They have a new identity in Christ. They're living differently because they really are different because they are now believers. But the difference is this man who is just living in unrepentant sin with his mother-in-law, he's not hiding it. Everybody knows about it. He's persisting in it. That man is still his very identity. I mean, he is sexually immoral. That is the lifestyle he has embraced. He is not repentant. That is how he is living, and that is fundamentally opposed to the gospel. He is not living as a Christian and therefore it is wrong for the church to go on affirming him as a brother in Christ. The church needs to be honest with him. You are not living in step with the gospel. And that is why they are to remove him. So what does that mean for us as we face a question on what basis should someone be excommunicated? Well, I think the key thing is, is this person walking in repentance? Is there evidence of genuine repentance in this person's life? And that means that someone may commit a very egregious sin. You could have King David commit murder and adultery. And he would be liable to all sorts of civil penalties. There would be all sorts of consequences for that sin. And yet, David genuinely repented. And I think if someone genuinely repents, they are to remain a member of the church because the gospel is powerful to forgive any kind of sin. On the other hand, you could have someone who commits a sin that maybe to you seems far more insignificant, but if it is clearly condemned in Scripture. And we and other people can clearly see it. It's not some sort of hidden sin of the heart. It's something that other people can see and judge. And this person is stubbornly saying, I will not repent of this sin. I'm going to hold on to it. I am not going to surrender to Christ in this area of my life. The gospel demands we say, you are not truly following Christ. We cannot affirm you as a brother or a sister when you are saying, I'm going to prioritize this sin over God's word. And therefore, that would be a basis for excommunication. Now, a second principle that I want us to consider here, Paul makes clear that we are not to associate with those who claim to be believers, but live contrary to the gospel. Now, we've already discussed how this disassociating means removal from church membership. But how does it affect our ongoing relationship with such a person? I mean, does it mean that we are to treat them exactly like we would any other unbeliever? And I think the clear answer here is no. There is something more in the way that we must disassociate. Look again at verses 9 and 10. Paul says, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world. He says, since then, you would need to go out of the world. All right, he's saying the kind of disassociate I'm talking about you can't do with just everybody in the world, then you'd have to go out of the world. Verse 11, but now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother, that is someone who calls themselves a Christian. if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one." So there's something more, there's something different. Specifically, Paul says don't even eat with that person. Now interestingly, if you go to 1 Corinthians 10, Paul makes clear that it is okay for a Christian to go eat dinner at an unbeliever's house. But here he seems to be saying, don't do that with someone who is claiming to be a Christian, but is living in a life that's contrary to the gospel. So what does this mean? I mean, what kind of interaction is okay? As Paul is saying, you just shun this person. Well, let's think for a minute about the difference between an excommunicated person and any other unbeliever. And both may be living in the exact same kind of sin. The only difference is that one is claiming to be a Christian and the other is not. And so there is a self-deception in the one who's claiming, I'm a Christian and I'm living like this. There's also a false advertising to the world where this person is saying, I'm a Christian and the world is looking and seeing how they're living and they're thinking, well, that's how Christians live. And I think the underlying principle that we draw from this is that when someone is in this state of self-deception, when they're broadcasting this lie to the world, we have to be very careful that we don't relate to them in a way that either reinforces or enables that self-deception, or reinforces or validates that lie and confusion to the world. The distancing is for the purpose of clarity. To make sure we are not affirming them to feel like it's okay to, I am a Christian, everything's okay between me and God, when it is not. And in light of that, I think it makes sense why Paul would forbid eating together. Because especially in the first century, to eat a meal together was charged with familial and fellowship communicating overtones. I think even more so than in our culture, there was this understanding. If you were to sit down and eat, that's communicating fellowship. In a way that Paul is saying is not wise, is not helpful, don't do that. And so how do we apply this? Well, I don't have a list of rules for you, but I would encourage you to think about that principle and we need to be prayerful and we need to seek wisdom in particular circumstances to say, how do I rightly relate to someone who is in this position in a way that would honor the Lord? in a way that would be clear what's really going on, and in a way that's not gonna put myself in a position where I'm likely to be negatively influenced. I think all of those factors come in. So, we've seen the problem, we've seen the solution, we've seen the purpose, and we've seen a couple principles. And now finally, as we close, I wanna say a final word to you if you're here and you're not a Christian. I've basically spent the better part of an hour telling you that if you join our church, we are going to judge you. And so you're probably thinking, why on earth would I ever join this church? Well, friend, I just want to draw your attention again to verse 13. Paul writes, God judges those outside. And you see, the reality, what the Bible tells us is that there is a day coming when the God who created us, the God who made this world, will judge every single one of us. We will all stand before him. This is the God who knows everything that we have ever done, everything we've ever said, everything we've ever thought. And friends, the reality is we have all fallen short. God's given us his law and his word, and he's also written that law on our consciences. We know within that we have not done right. We all would be afraid for the secret deeds of our lives to be exposed, for another sinful human being to see, but the Bible says that will be what will happen when we stand before God, naked and exposed on the last day. And friend, if you try to hide from judgment now, you will be judged then. But the good news of the gospel is that if you will begin by judging yourself and confessing your sins and repenting and trusting in Christ, God has made a way. He has made a provision for forgiveness for you. All your sin can be freely forgiven. Why? Because Christ is our Passover lamb. He is the provision, the sacrificial lamb that God has provided to bear the sins of the world. So that whoever repents and believes in him, all your sin can be freely forgiven. And then, on the final day, you will stand before God not judged and condemned, but justified through Jesus's blood. And friends, it's only in light of that, that we can see that the kind of accountability that is being called for here in the local church is good, it's safe, it's beneficial, it's something we should want. And so for those of us who are believers, let's embrace this accountability. Let's spur one another on and let's pursue pure worship for the glory and honor of Christ. Amen, let's pray.