I was going to stick with the plan and only do chapters 4-5 today. Truly. But when I looked at chapter 5, I saw this:
My scribbled note to self reminded me of a previous deep-dive into these chapters. Paul’s thought, which begins in chapter 5, continues straight into chapter 6. It’s only interrupted by the artificial gap of “Chapter 6.” So we are going to do the whole segment of chapters 5 and 6. I hope one thing you have gleaned from this blog is to ignore chapter and verse breaks.
But first, a review and chapter 4…
So far, Paul has addressed the factions in Corinth:
- Team Paul
- Team Apollos
- Team Peter (Cephas)
- Team Jesus
He has talked about being spiritual rather than fleshly and worldly in the way they judge the ministers they encounter. And this idea of judging is what he will continue to unpack in chapter 4.
Some Christians get so hung up on “judge not that you be not judged,” (Mt. 7:1-5) that they refuse to exercise any kind of judgment whatsoever. If you go back and read the Matthew passage, you’ll find that Jesus’ teaching was not to “never judge,” but to be sure that you don’t have a log in your eye when you do. Christians are supposed to exercise good judgment. We should be able to determine (judge) when an action or message is or is not consistent with the Gospel and the Spirit of Christ. If we can’t do that we’re toast.
This kind of judging has nothing to do with condemning people to Hell (though a related word is used). It has everything to do discerning and determining between worldly and spiritual.
Before we go further, we need to meet the Krinos.
- Krino [kree-no]
- Katakrino [kat-a-kree-no]
- Anakrino [ana-kree-no]
- Sugkrino [soong-kree-no]
😐 It’s a whole family.
Yup. And I have the family photo album.
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
1 Corinthians 2:13 KJV
The word translated as “comparing” (or in other translations, “combining,” “interpreting” etc) is sugkrino.
Then in the next 2 verses, Paul uses anakrino 3 times!
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.”
1 Corinthians 2:14-15 ESV
Then there is a famous passage from Luke that uses krino and katakrino, which both carry the idea of being found guilty:
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”
Luke 6:37 KJV
I’m belaboring this point because judgment is the over-aching topic of 1 Cor. 2-6.
They have been judging between Paul, Peter, and Apollos with worldly wisdom. They are judging Paul and judging each other. The problem is not so much that they are judging, it’s that they are going about it all wrong. And Paul is not coming out very favorably, not that he cares.
“As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated [anakrino] by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment [anakrino] on this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine [anakrino] me and decide. So don’t make judgments [krino] about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.”
1 Corinthians 4:3-5 NLT
Paul isn’t stressed out about the fact that some of the Corinthians think that Peter or Apollos are way better missionaries. He knows that the LORD’s judgment will be spot on and correct, and God’s judgment is the only one that really matters. Paul is bothered that they are eager to judge him but they aren’t doing a very good job examining themselves.
The Corinthians are basically doing what sports fans do all the time. 📺🚩🍗🥤
Guys watching a game will get quite intense about what a player should’ve done, what the coach should’ve done, and especially what the referee should’ve done. Most of the people confidently spouting their views probably couldn’t survive a single practice, let alone a game. We call it being an “armchair quarterback.”
Some guy who has been a Christian for 6 months and has never actually read the scriptures is picking which team has the better captain: Paul, Peter, or Apollos. That noob has no business even having an opinion. What has he done for Christ?
Paul has spent years learning the scriptures, then relearning them after encountering Jesus. He has been beaten, run out of town, escaped from assassins, and had his head bashed in by stoning (which probably killed him). He’s been on the road without a home for years on end. He has taught all day and then worked through the night in utter exhaustion. He was their spiritual father and these rookie Christians have the nerve to say “We got a lame apostle. We’d rather have Apollos!”
😐 You know what that reminds me of?
What?
😏 This…
You made a meme?
😌 Yup.
🤓 I helped.
Ho boy…
Chapter 5
This is where Paul addresses the flagrant sexual sin going on in the church. There is a man sleeping with his “father’s wife,” probably a step-mother. And what’s even worse…
😐 Not sure you get much worse than that.
Oh, but you can. What’s worse is that some of the believers think it’s just fine, something to be celebrated even.
😯 Whoa. Definitely worse.
💃🏼🕺🏼 Corinthians living in sin: “Wooo! 🎉Look how free we are in God’s forgiveness!”
🧔🏽♂️ Paul: “No! That’s not how it works!”
Paul is having a parental “how-many-times-do-I-have-to-tell-you” moment. And we find out something. This letter isn’t actually first Corinthians. It’s more like 1.5.
“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.”
1 Corinthians 5:9 NLT
Paul has already warned them about this. Now it’s an order to expel this man from the congregation. He compares it to how Jewish women get all the leaven out of the house before Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
😐 So, if Paul already wrote to them with a warning, why was this still going on?
Because they had enshrined “Judge not” as the whole of the law. And to avoid associating with Christians who are practicing sin you also HAVE to judge them.
“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.””
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 NLT
Feel free to read that passage in any translation you like. The message is the same. God judges those outside the Church, but the Church is supposed to judge those who claim to be Christians (inside the Church) and yet are living in persistent sin.
A person who is living in persistent sin after being warned is either being disobedient to the Lord and has departed from the faith, or was never converted to begin with.
Either way, they aren’t part of the Church.
To be crystal clear, I’m not saying that the “Book of Life” is a dry erase board and that every time a Christian sins, the Lord has an angel wipe it out. Then 5 minutes later when that person repents, the angel writes it back down. And so on to the end of life.
🤓 Those would be some very busy angels.
We shouldn’t abuse the grace of God with “God will forgive me” and then go ahead and do something we know to be wrong.
But neither do we have to live in uncertainty about whether or not our sins are washed away and we have been justified.
This is where spiritual discernment comes in and the Holy Spirit assures us that we belong to Christ.
And just for any readers out there in Rio Linda, you can’t “join” the church by signing a membership roll or going through a ritual. Belonging to the Church is spiritual. People must be born into the Kingdom of God by spiritual regeneration. If a person has departed from the faith or was never actually converted, then that person is not part of the Church as far as God is concerned. Doesn’t matter if their name is engraved in the church’s cornerstone.
A fellowship of believers is for believers. Not believers plus a few wolves in sheep’s clothing.
It’s not rocket science.
But how are these Corinthians going to make the call that someone is or is not in the Faith and follow through with the sentence of excommunication unless they do the thing with the incestuous step-son that they did with Paul: JUDGE.
Chapter 6
This is why I wrote the note to myself at the beginning of chapter 5 “Don’t separate chapters 5 & 6!”
The Corinthians are great at being armchair judges of the apostles, but they can’t blow the whistle on the phony Christian in their midst, AND, they can’t call each other out when one of them obviously fouls another.
If you still think “Christians aren’t supposed to judge” what do you do with this?
“When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.”
1 Corinthians 6:1-3 NLT
Again, this is not judgement in the sense that “there’s no hope for you, you’re going to Hell, here’s your handbasket.” It’s judgment like a referee blowing the whistle and calling a foul. You’re out of line. This is not behavior consistent with the Gospel. This is not conduct becoming a Christian. Someone has to make the call and warn the erring saint. If the bad behavior persists, then someone has to have the courage to say “No. We’re not letting that sinful behavior influence the rest of the congregation.”
Paul reads them the riot act for NOT judging. And he drops 2 HUGE statements that most Christians either A) don’t know or B) don’t take seriously.
- Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world?
- Don’t you realize that we will judge angels?
Do you know that? Do you know that YOU, dear Christian friend, will someday judge the world and the angels? And yet we’re afraid to say whether or not the couple on the back row who are living together and unmarried are doing something sinful? What will we do when we find ourselves called up for Cosmic Jury Duty in Heaven’s Court and the wicked world and the rebel angels are brought before the Great Judge? Will we sit there timidly, afraid to call a spade a spade?
I think most of us need to spend some time with the Lord unpacking the ramifications of this. Because it’s honestly rather terrifying. But we need to process this information.
I’m not suggesting for one second that we all go around on Sunday morning looking down our noses at some lost sheep as if we’re “holier-than-thou.” I’m also not suggesting that we set up Puritanical Church Tribunals with long checklists of do’s and don’ts to police.
I do think it’s a good idea for church leaders to confront members (in love and humility) about sinful behavior. I think the goal should be to see if there is repentance and, if there is, then to walk with that individual through correction and accountability.
I also think that if there is no remorse or repentance, then church leaders need to let the rebel know that he or she cannot continue to pretend to be a real Christian among them. The saints cannot participate in the spiritual delusions of the unrepentant without it harming the fellowship.
Paul gives the doctrinal reasons for why Christians must call out sin, hold believers accountable, and not allow a professing Christian to continue in sin.
First is that sinners aren’t going to inherit the Kingdom of God. And by that, Paul means those who continue in sin. Everyone starts out as a sinner. The Corinthians had been guilty of a lot of things (listed in 6:9-10). But, they had been cleansed and justified by Jesus Christ. Also, saints occasionally stumble and give in to the flesh. But we are to repent and stop that sinful behavior. If we can’t stop, that’s an addiction and we need help. If the Church tells people it’s ok to continue in sinful behavior (or by its silence gives tacit consent), we would be sending them to their eternal destruction. Confronting and correcting sin is the loving and kind thing to do.
The second doctrinal reason why Christians do not continue in sin is because our bodies are the temple of the LORD. Early-on in the Church some people got the idea that since the body does not get fully redeemed until the resurrection, that it didn’t matter what the body did. The sin was in the body but it didn’t touch the soul. That turned out to be a very stupid idea that people used as a license to pursue the pleasures of the flesh. Paul says “No.” The physical body of the Christian is the temple of God. God resides within the saint and is one with him. And the temple belongs to the LORD Who dwells within it.
The Corinthians are learning a whole new culture; the culture of the Kingdom. Some of them have erred on the side of license. Others have erred on the side of strict legalism. Perhaps it would be better for men to be celibate and never so much as touch a woman.
That’s what Paul will address in chapter 7.
