1 Corinthians 5:4-5a, 6b-13
Let’s start with the elephant in the room, confronting things is not an easy thing. It takes a lot of courage to confront someone who is doing something wrong. Imagine being Paul, talking to the church in Corinth. There was open unrepentant sin that was being tolerated. In a city that wouldn’t address issues, Paul comes in and urges the believers to confront it. He tells them to do the hard thing, but not out of anger, in order to protect the spiritual health of both the individual and the church.
So often sin has a way of spreading when it goes unaddressed. It reminds me of an illustration I saw years ago with fruit. If you take a bad orange that is moldy and put it in the same container as a fresh orange, very quickly the fresh orange begins to mold and is affected by the moldy one. The same thing happened in the church of Corinth, sin was not dealt with, and it began to grow. Paul tells them to stand firm and confront it. Once again, it’s not an easy thing to do but as believers we should want to help our brothers and sisters out by calling out their sins in love so that we can see repentance that leads to restoration and holiness.
I warn you that some may try to argue that it is not okay to judge others, Paul addresses this concern in verse 12 and 13 by saying, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked person from among you."
As believers let us take time today and think about our own lives. Are there areas we have compromised and are excusing rather than facing? And how can I speak life into a fellow believer when confronting sin, and how can I do it in love?
So often sin has a way of spreading when it goes unaddressed. It reminds me of an illustration I saw years ago with fruit. If you take a bad orange that is moldy and put it in the same container as a fresh orange, very quickly the fresh orange begins to mold and is affected by the moldy one. The same thing happened in the church of Corinth, sin was not dealt with, and it began to grow. Paul tells them to stand firm and confront it. Once again, it’s not an easy thing to do but as believers we should want to help our brothers and sisters out by calling out their sins in love so that we can see repentance that leads to restoration and holiness.
I warn you that some may try to argue that it is not okay to judge others, Paul addresses this concern in verse 12 and 13 by saying, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked person from among you."
As believers let us take time today and think about our own lives. Are there areas we have compromised and are excusing rather than facing? And how can I speak life into a fellow believer when confronting sin, and how can I do it in love?
Posted in Devotional