1 Coríntios 5
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Coríntios 5
Guzik reminds us that "God often protects us from the attacks of Satan, even when we never knew about the attacks (Job 1:10 and Luke 22:31–32)....The words deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh were used to justify terrible torture during the Inquisition, but this isn’t what Paul means at all. Paul isn’t talking about destroying the man’s physical body, but addressing the spiritual power of his sinful flesh."
1 Coríntios 5
Guzik - Some call this “excommunication” or “disfellowshipping” a person. They are to be put outside the congregation until they repent. In today’s church culture, this rarely brings a sinner to repentance, because they can so easily just go to another church and pretend that nothing happened at their old church. Or, it is easy for them to play the victim, and act as if their former church was cruel towards them. While it is true that some churches have been cruel towards their members, and have unjustly put some out of the congregation, it does not mean the church should never practice the Biblical principles Paul teaches here. It is to be done, for both the good of the church and the good of the sinner. Saved (4982)(sozo) has the basic meaning of rescuing one from great peril. Additional nuances include to protect, keep alive, preserve life, deliver, heal, be made whole. Sozo in the Corinthian letters - 1 Co. 1:18; 1 Co. 1:21; 1 Co. 3:15; 1 Co. 5:5; 1 Co. 7:16; 1 Co. 9:22; 1 Co. 10:33; 1 Co. 15:2; 2 Co. 2:15; Lord (Master, Owner)(2962) kurios from kuros = might or power, related to kuroo = to give authority) primarily means the possessor, owner, master, the supreme one, one who is sovereign and possesses absolute authority, absolute ownership rights and uncontested power. DOES THAT DESCRIBE WHO JESUS IS TO YOU? IT SHOULD BELOVED, FOR YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN BUT HIS! Jesus (2424) Iesous is transliteration of the Greek Iesous, which in turn is the transliteration of the Hebrew name Jehoshua (Yehoshua) or Jeshua (Yeshua) which mean Jehovah is help or Jehovah is salvation. Stated another way the Greek Iesous corresponds to the OT Jehoshua (Yehoshua) which is contracted as Jeshua (Yeshua). His Name is indeed "the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth" (Php 2:9-11+) and "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other Name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12+) Indeed, His very Name "Iesous" conveys His supreme purpose for coming to earth -- to save men dead in their trespasses and sins (Mt 1:21+) Our goal should be to fix our "eyes on Jesus the Author and Perfecter of faith." (Heb 12:2+)One of my favorite (older) choruses is Jesus, Name Above All Names - YouTube Jesus, Name above all names, Beautiful Savior, glorious Lord. Emanuel, God is with us, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word. Krell on Why should a church practice church discipline? There are a number of critical reasons. To glorify God. God commands His children to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet 1:16). Consequently, the Lord disciplines us so that we can share in His holiness (Heb 12:5-11). As a father delegates part of the discipline of the children to the mother, so the Lord has delegated the discipline of the church family to the church itself (1 Cor 5:12-13; 2 Cor 2:6). To purify the church. Sin is a spiritual cancer that cannot be allowed to grow. Sin that is not dealt with can corrupt the entire church. The health of the church requires its removal through repentance or excommunication. To restore the sinning believer. Church discipline should focus on restoration, not judgment and condemnation (Matt 18:15; 2 Cor 2:5-8). We are not to be vultures, preying on fallen Christians. We should, however, be like divine physicians restoring those members who are out of joint with the body of Christ (Gal 6:1). To deter the church from sin. The discipline of an individual reminds everyone that sin and righteousness are serious matters. Discipline instills godly fear, which is a significant deterrent to sin (1 Tim 5:20). Deterrence was the result of the discipline of Ananias and Sapphira, for “great fear came over all who heard of it.” To maintain a credible witness before the world. The world observes the behavior and life of the church. When the church acts no differently than the world it loses its credibility (1 Pet 2:11-18; 3:8-16; 4:1-4). Moreover, on a practical note, church discipline is a powerful tool in evangelism. People notice when our lives are different, especially when there’s a whole community of people whose lives are different. When churches are seen as conforming to the world, it makes our evangelistic task all the more difficult. We become so much like unbelievers they have no questions they want to ask us. May we so live that people are made constructively curious.26 Question: What is excommunication in the Bible? Answer: First, we should note that the Bible never uses the word excommunication. It’s a word that has been adopted by some religious groups, especially by the Catholic Church, to denote the formal process of removing someone from membership and participation in the church, from relationship with the church community, or, in the Catholic view, even from the family of God. While the Bible does not teach that a Christian can lose his salvation, it does describe the process of church discipline in several passages. The final step of church discipline is excommunication—a removal from the local church. In Matthew 18:15–17, Jesus teaches His disciples about excommunication. The Lord details a multi-step approach for responding to sinful offenses in the church community: Step 1: Go to the person privately, tell him how he has sinned against you, and be reconciled if he is willing. If the offending person repents, no more action is required. Step 2: If he won’t listen, go back with two or three witnesses to have the conversation again, establishing the facts and the evidence. Step 3: If he still refuses to listen and repent from his sinfulness, bring him before the full church body and make the case against him. Step 4: If there is still no repentance, the church is to excommunicate the sinner. Jesus’ words are “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17, ESV). The Jews saw both groups Jesus mentions—Gentiles and tax collectors—as outsiders. Gentiles were pagan idolaters, and tax collectors were in collusion with Rome. In Jesus’ day, religious Israelites would not associate beyond what was strictly necessary with Gentiles or tax collectors. They would not have meals with them, for instance, or invite them to social gatherings. So, when Jesus says to view the unrepentant sinner in the church as “a Gentile and a tax collector,” He is instructing the church to officially and with clear communication stop having close fellowship with the unrepentant sinner; the sinner is to be put out of the close-knit community of Christians. This is excommunication. What is the purpose of excommunication? The dismissal of an unrepentant, defiant sinner from the community of believers is not about public shaming or judgment. It’s about loving that person enough to do what is best for him or her and about doing what is best for the church as a whole. We have an example of excommunication and its aftermath in two passages from Paul. A man in the church in Corinth was having sex with his step-mother, a sin so egregious “that even pagans do not tolerate [it]” (1 Corinthians 5:1). Paul rebukes the Christians in Corinth for accepting this man’s incest. Apparently, the Corinthians had misunderstood the grace of God so badly that they had come to believe all sin should be tolerated, maybe even celebrated proudly, as evidence of God’s grace and forgiveness (1 Cor 5:2). Paul says, “No way.” Sin in the church must be dealt with. He instructs the Corinthians to come together for the purpose of excommunication. The local body of believers was, under apostolic authority, to turn this man over to Satan for “the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:4–5). Evidently, in this particular case, there was a physical affliction of supernatural origin associated with the excommunication; it was excommunication with an added apostolic curse. Scripture does not indicate that every excommunication is followed by physical consequences. The general principle, however, is that excommunication lets the sinner experience the full, painful consequences of his sinful choices so that he will repent, submit to God, and be saved from spiritual ruin. The motive for excommunication is not punishment or vengeance but reformation and spiritual health. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians deals with the follow-up to excommunication. In 2 Corinthians 2:5–11, Paul seems to be talking about the very same person he had instructed the church to excommunicate. The sinner had repented, and Paul writes, “The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him” (verses 6–8). As soon as the excommunicated believer repents, he should be welcomed back into warm relationship with the church community. Once repentance has been established, the excommunication should be fully reversed. The goal has been accomplished. So, who is eligible for excommunication? The Bible is clear that excommunication is only for church members (not unbelievers) and only in response to obvious and ongoing sin from which a person refuses to repent despite multiple exhortations: “I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people” (1 Corinthians 5:11). Five important things to remember about excommunication: 1. The Bible never instructs individual Christians to decide on their own or even in a small group to “excommunicate” another believer. Excommunication is meant to be a formal action taken by the local church as a whole. 2. Excommunication is primarily about relationship. Those in the church are specifically instructed to stop sharing meals with the unrepentant person (1 Corinthians 5:11), to limit their contact with him. 3. This process of excommunication is for believers, for those who declare themselves to have sincerely trusted in Christ for their salvation. Excommunication is the church’s response to one who says, “Yes, I’m a Christian, and, no, I will not turn from this sin.” 4. The process of excommunication is not meant for someone who admits his sin and is repentant but continues to struggle to break free of it. If a believer sins and, when confronted, says, “Yes, that was wrong. I’m sorry. I want to start again,” he is to be forgiven—even if he has sinned in the same way repeatedly (Matthew 18:21–22). In such a case, Scripture doesn’t suggest that person’s sin should be exposed to the full church as a kind of penalty, unless he chooses to reveal it himself. 5. The goal of excommunication is restoration. According to Jesus, the whole process of removing a member from the church is to be gradual, deliberate, and cautious. If at any point in the process the sinning person repents, then “you have gained your brother” (Matthew 18:15), and the fellowship is restored. GotQuestions.org STORY FROM DONALD CANTRELL - I know a man that used to be an old timed old fashioned preacher back in the 1960’s and 1970’s but he chose to back up on the Lord. It was not very long before this preacher ended up divorced. It was not long after this that his exwife nearly cut his wrist off with a butcher knife. The preacher turned to drinking and carousing and his kids grew up to hate him and to despise him. He remarried but that also ended up in a disastrous divorce. He tried to get back to the former place of servitude in his life, but I will never forget his words. The man looked at me and said, “I just can’t get back to where I was, God is done with me and I have gone too far”. I can hear many now saying this proved that he was lost; I beg to differ with you. It proves to me that the man was saved and that upon his continual rebellion the Lord turned him over to Satan and Satan literally destroyed this man. I will never forget when he was about to die and he was only a former shell of himself. He told his brother whom also was a preacher that he was afraid to die and go stand before God, and that he did not know how to die!!! ILLUSTRATION - Jeb Stuart McGruder was one of the figures involved in Watergate. He was a promising young politician with a good background and a great future. But he became confused about the distinction between right and wrong, and was caught up in the Watergate cover-up. When he was sentenced to prison, someone asked him why he did it. He said, "My ambition obscured my judgment. Somewhere between my ambition and my ideals I lost my compass." That is what evidently happened in the church at Corinth. The result was a blatant example of immorality that Paul had to deal with in chapter 5 of his first Corinthian letter. I. The Discovery for the Duplication That Is Denied "that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles" (v. 1). A. The Information That Is Communicated "It is reported commonly" (v. 1). B. The Incest That Is Committed "that one should have his father’s wife" (v. 1). C. The Inflation That Is Characterized "And ye are puffed up" (v. 2). D. The Insensitivity That Is Carried "and have not rather mourned" (v. 2). E. The Irresponsibility That Is Charged "that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you" (v. 2). II. The Determination in the Deed That Is Declared "have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed" (v. 3). A. The Absence From the Assembly That Is Noted "For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit" (v. 3). B. The Authority for the Action That Is Named "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 4). III. The Delivery to the Devil That Is Decided "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh" (v. 5). A. The Purpose in Punishment for the Preservation "that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (v. 5). B. The Presence of Pride for the Purging "Your glorying is not good" (v. 6). C. The Permission of Puniness for the Prevention "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (v. 6). IV. The Depiction of the Design That Is Developed "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump" (v. 7). A. The Satisfaction of the Type "as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (v. 7). B. The Sincerity With the Task "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (v. 8). V. The Direction About the Depravity That Are Dispatched "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators" (v. 9). A. The Exception Recognized in the Wickedness "Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters" (v. 10). B. The Exit Required From the World "for then must ye needs go out of the world" (v. 11). VI. The Dinner With the Despiteful That Is Disallowed "with such an one no not to eat" (v. 11). A. The Brother That Is Left "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother" (v. 11). B. The Behavior That Is Listed "be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner" (v. 11). VII. The Discipline Against the Deviation That Is Demanded "Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person" (v. 13). A. The Job That Is Given for the Guilt Inside "For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?" (v. 12). B. The Judgment That Is God’s for the Guilt Outside "But them that are without God judgeth" (v. 13). Related Resources: What is disfellowshipping? | GotQuestions.org How should sin in the church be handled? | GotQuestions.org 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Amplified - [About the condition of your church] your boasting is not good [indeed, it is most unseemly and entirely out of place]. Do you not know that [just] a little leaven will ferment the whole lump [of dough]? Wuest Paraphrase - Your boasting [in the state of the local assembly] is not seemly or fitting. Do you not know with a positive assurance that a little yeast permeates and affects the entire bread dough with itself? (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) Your boasting is not good.: 1Co 5:2 3:21 4:18,19 Jas 4:16 little leaven leavens the whole lump 1Co 15:33 Mt 13:33 16:6-12 Lu 13:21 Ga 5:9 2Ti 2:17 1 Corinthians 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Matthew 16:6; 12 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Galatians 5:9+ A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. Matthew 13:33+ He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” Luke 13:20-21+ And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” YOU HAVE LEAVEN IN THE "LUMP!" MacArthur introduces this next section (1 Cor 5:6-8) - Discipline sometimes must be severe because the consequences of not disciplining are much worse. Sin is a spiritual malignancy and it will not long stay isolated. Unless removed it will spread its infection until the whole fellowship of believers is diseased. Your boasting is not good - In context, their "puffed up" attitudes which led them to sinful boasting, which in turn led them to become blinded to the heinous incest which if left untouched eventually destroy their church if it were not removed! (THOUGHT: This is a truism for any sin we fail to deal with personally, be it immorality, alcoholism, etc). When our pride blinds us to what is going on around us or to the consequences of our actions, we are in trouble. Pride blinds us to our limitations and distorts our ability to reason things out. Pride blinds us to how needy we really are, so that we rely on ourselves or on other people or on some godless method to get us out of our troubles. Pride blinded the church to moral vision, so that they could not see the baseness of their sin especially the heinous nature of the sin of incest in the their midst! (See Utley's topic Boasting).
1 Coríntios 5
Guzik - Previously in the letter, Paul dealt mainly with the “mental” problems of the Corinthian Christians: their wrong ideas about God’s power and work and His servants. Now Paul starts to deal with their “moral” problems. But the two are connected; their moral problems come because they aren’t thinking right about God and His world. (1 Corinthians 5 Commentary) “A low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils. A high view of God is the solution to ten thousand temporal problems.” -- A W Tozer As John MacArthur (in a sermon preached in 1975, almost half a century ago!) said that "The Corinthian church was truly an island in a sea of paganism, and particularly the waves of immorality were washing over this little island, and the Corinthian church had been infested with immorality. And more than that, it had become tolerant of it." He goes on to state a very important point "that one of the securities that we have against sin is our being shocked by it....But in our society...nothing really shocks us anymore." (1 Cor 5:1-5 Immorality in the Church - excellent sermon - you need to listen to this one!) (As an aside I know from discussion with a local pastor that a number of his congregation were actively engaged in a lengthy series called Game of Thrones that apparently is filled with pornographic images for lack of a better word). MacArthur's comment is reminded of the fable of the frog in the kettle of water. The heat is turned up so slowly that the frog fails to perceiving the rising, dangerous temperatures and before long it is too late and frog is boiled alive! Are Christians in America becoming like this frog? The Corinthian church was an island in a sea of immorality. Not only had many of the member actively participated in this lifestyle before conversion (cf 1 Cor 6:9-10+), the cities of Corinth and Athens were "the seat of most of the immorality (IN THE ANCIENT WORLD). They, according to historians, were the two most immoral cities. Even their worship was immoral. They had prostitutes in their temples where the people went to worship." (John MacArthur) “Our security against sin lies in our being shocked at it.” -- William Barclay Kenneth
1 Coríntios 5
Guzik - “Porneia” so often appears first in New Testament “sin lists,” but not because the first Christians had a lot of “hang-ups” about sex. Instead, it is because the area of sex was one of the most dramatic places where the ethics of Greek culture clashed with the ethics of Jesus. Sexual immorality was an accepted fact of life for the common person in Greek culture, but it was not to be so among the followers of Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5 Commentary) THOUGHT - JUST THINKING - This is a topic no one likes to speak about and sadly I feel it is seldom seriously addressed from the pulpits in America which is a grave mistake as indicated by articles like this one from Feb,2021 Porn is Rewiring a Whole Generation, Christians Included which says "The porn pandemic is engulfing the Christian world as well. The Barna Group (another article) discovered there is virtually no difference in the monthly porn use of non-Christian men (65%) versus Christian men (64%). Porn use is even worse among the younger Christian generation." And one has to wonder if they numbers are falsely low, as shame might prohibit many from saying they had seen illicit images. This sin (as do all sins) will blunt the ministry of the Holy Spirit (cf Eph 4:30+, 1 Th 5:19+) and thereby blunt to power of the light of Christians in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation because they are hardly blameless or innocent (Php 2:15+). Immorality (4202) porneia from root verb pernao = to sell, porneuo = to play the harlot; pornos = male prostitute) originally referred to any excessive behavior or lack of restraint. Porneia originally was used especially to describe the practice of consorting with prostitutes (porneis = “prostitute”) and eventually came to mean “habitual immorality.” Porneia in the Scripture describes any illicit sexual activity outside of the divine bounds established by marriage and thus includes the ideas of unlawful sexual intercourse, unchastity and fornication (including but not limited to adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, bestiality, incest, and prostitution). As an aside, while porneia refers primarily to sins of the flesh, those sins can never be divorced from the sins of the mind or heart, because all sin is related. Sin in one area always makes us more susceptible to sin in other areas. Nowhere does Scripture sanction the commitment of any form of extramarital sexual activity, a far cry from our modern American culture! Sex was often linked to pagan religious practices (both male and female prostitutes), with the idolatrous worship of false gods (idolatry and immorality are commonly described together in the Bible). Porneia gives us our English word pornography. Porneia is the opposite of the Greek word enkrateia/egkrateia (literally "holding oneself in"), which usually referred to sexual self-control (see Acts 24:25+) Porneia is found in 24v in NT - fornication(4), fornications(2), immoralities(1), immorality(16), sexual immorality(1), unchastity(1). Matt. 5:32; Matt. 15:19; Matt. 19:9; Mk. 7:21; Jn. 8:41; Acts 15:20; Acts 15:29; Acts 21:25; 1 Co. 5:1; 1 Co. 6:13; 1 Co. 6:18; 1 Co. 7:2; 2 Co. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:3; Rev. 2:21; Rev. 9:21; Rev. 14:8; Rev. 17:2; Rev. 17:4; Rev. 18:3; Rev. 19:2 And immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles - NLT = "something so evil that even the pagans don't do it." MacArthur said that we "we have a situation here of sexual immorality that was actually shocking to the pagans. Now, when the sin of the church shocks the world, we've got a problem!" (Immorality in the Church) Gentiles in this context clearly refers to Gentiles who are not believers, because clearly some of the saints in the church at Corinth were Gentiles. Paul's point is biting, declaring that even the unregenerate sinners have not fallen to the level of depravity seen in this church member. This in interesting in that it shows even pagans have an inner sense of right/wrong, albeit blurred and perverted (cf Ro 2:14-15+). The problem therefore is that this sin considered even "too much" by the pagans sullied the purity of the Bride of Christ (cf Eph 5:25-27+, 2 Cor 11:2) and brought serious reproach on the Name of Christ! Guzik - The ancient Roman writer and statesman Cicero said this type of incest was an incredible crime and practically unheard of. THOUGHT - Is there a habit, thought pattern, or attitude in my life that I would be touchy about if someone tried to bring it to my attention? Have I stopped to consider the frightening consequences that my sin has on the life of my entire church? Who am I currently accountable to? What a tragedy to have a church known by such shocking immorality not even seen among the unsaved and yet this 2000 year old widely publicized report sounds all too modern. For example in December, 2018 it was widely reported in American news media that "Hundreds Accuse Independent Baptist Pastors of Abuse." When the church shocks the world with its sin, the church is in a grave condition! Gentiles (1484) ethnos gives us our word "ethnic") in general refers to a multitude of persons associated with one another, living together, united in kinship, culture or traditions and summed up by the words nation, Gentiles (especially when ethnos is plural), people (much like "people groups" in our modern missionary vernacular). In somewhat of a negative sense ethnos conveys the meaning of godless (generally idol worshipping) pagans (heathens, cp Eph 4:17, Mt 6:32), foreign nations not worshipping the true God (Mt 4:15).Uses of ethnos in the Corinthian letters 1 Co. 1:23; 1 Co. 5:1; 1 Co. 10:20; 1 Co. 12:2; 2 Co. 11:26 (What is a Gentile? | GotQuestions.org) That someone has his father's wife - NLT = "I am told that you have a man in your church who is living in sin with his father's wife." This description indicates a son is consorting with his step mother. This was not a "one night stand," for the verb has is in the present tense (and active voice = willful) indicating this was an ongoing, active sinful relationship. Paul says "someone" who is clearly a member of the church of Corinth, and while he does not say here that he is a genuine believer, the 1 Cor 5:5 indicates that he is a believer, living a fleshly life. Immorality with his stepmother which we today would call incest, a sin God spoke against in Leviticus 18:6–18+, specifically writing "‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness....Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. 25 ‘For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed ("vomited") out its inhabitants." (Lev 18:8, 24-25+, Dt 22:30, 27:20). Even the otherwise utterly depraved Roman Empire actually made incest forbidden, Wikipedia recording that "Incestuous unions were discouraged and considered nefas (against the laws of gods and man) in ancient Rome." As an aside a number of commentaries think the father's wife was a non-believer because there is not record of disciplinary action being taken against her. Brian Harbour gives us a little context on Corinth - It was a common saying in that day that it was not for every man to go to Corinth, meaning that not every person could withstand the temptation that permeated the life of this city. Out of that kind of situation these Christians had been called to commit themselves to the controlled, disciplined, holy lifestyle of a Christian. The conflict between their context in Corinth and their calling as Christians led to problems. Craig Keener - The marriage of full brothers and sisters was considered immoral throughout the Roman Empire except in Egypt; parent-child incest was universally abhorred throughout the Roman world. From the revulsion against the idea exhibited in the Greek Oedipus stories to slanders leveled against emperors, it was one of those few crimes that all cultures agreed were terrible. Its Roman legal punishment was banishment to an island. Relations with stepmothers were treated like relations with mothers—as incestuous. ( IVPBBCNT) Zodhiates - Sin among the Christian community may be secret or out in the open. If the pastor of a local church learns about a secret sin in his congregation, he should not imprudently publicize it. The publicizing of sin within the church or beyond its borders is not the duty of any Christian, and especially not of a church leader. One should carefully examine his or her motive for wanting to expose a fellow believer's sin. If it becomes necessary to expose an offense, the chief purpose should be to reclaim the offender. Question: Why did God allow incest in the Bible? Answer: There are numerous examples of incest in the Bible. The most commonly thought-of examples are the sons/daughters of Adam and Eve (Genesis 4), Abraham marrying his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:12), Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19), Moses’ father Amram who married his aunt Jochebed (Exodus 6:20), and David’s son Amnon with his half-sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13). It is important to note, however, that in two of the above instances (Tamar and Lot), one of the parties involved was an unwilling participant in the incest—better described as rape in those cases. It is important to distinguish between incestuous relationships prior to God commanding against them (Leviticus 18:6–18) and incest that occurred after God’s commands had been revealed. Until God commanded against it, it was not incest. It was just marrying a close relative. It is undeniable that God allowed “incest” in the early centuries of humanity. Since Adam and Eve were the only two human beings on earth, their sons and daughters had no choice but to marry and reproduce with their siblings and close relatives. The second generation had to marry their cousins, just as after the flood the grandchildren of Noah had to intermarry amongst their cousins. One reason that incest is so strongly discouraged in the world today is the understanding that reproduction between closely related individuals has a much higher risk of causing genetic abnormalities. In the early days of humanity, though, this was not a risk due to the fact that the human genetic code was relatively free of defects. Another consideration is that incest today almost always involves a pre-pubescent or powerless victim, and the perpetrator is abusing his or her authority with the goal of unilateral sexual pleasure. By that standard, the “incest” of the Bible has nothing whatsoever in common with modern-day incest. There was no power difference between Cain and his wife, for example; the goal of Abraham and Sarah’s marriage was to create a family. Intermarriage among close family members was a necessity in the generations immediately following Adam and Noah and was not a sinful perversion of sex. It seems that, by the time of Moses, the human genetic code had become polluted enough that close intermarriage was no longer safe. So, God commanded against sexual relations with siblings, half-siblings, parents, and aunts/uncles (Genesis 2:24 seems to indicate that marriage and sexual relations between parents and children were never allowed by God). It was not until many centuries later that humanity discovered the genetic reason that incest is unsafe and unwise. Genetics was not an issue in the early centuries of humanity, and the marriages that occurred between Adam and Eve’s children, Abraham and Sarah, and Amram and Jochebed were not selfish pursuits of sexual gratification or abuses of authority; accordingly, those relationships should not be viewed as incestuous. The key is that sexual relations between close relatives were viewed differently pre-Law and post-Law. It did not become “incest” until God commanded against it. GotQuestions.org Bob
1 Coríntios 5
Guzik has a good note on present in the spirit - When Paul mentions his spirit being present, he isn’t speaking of astral-projection in the early church. He is truly represented in their midst by his letter, which was a valid spiritual extension of his apostolic authority. In other words, Paul didn’t have to be there to exercise his authority; distance didn’t make him any less an apostle. Craig Keener - Letter writers sometimes expressed their intimate concern for the readers by saying that, although they were “absent in body,” they were with them “in spirit” or in mind. In some cases, the letter itself communicated the effect of the writer’s presence. But this expression was always meant as a statement of intimacy, not of metaphysical presence.( IVPBBCNT) Body (4983)(soma refers to the physical body in this context. Uses in the Corinthian letters 1 Co. 5:3; 1 Co. 6:13; 1 Co. 6:15; 1 Co. 6:16; 1 Co. 6:18; 1 Co. 6:19; 1 Co. 6:20; 1 Co. 7:4; 1 Co. 7:34; 1 Co. 9:27; 1 Co. 10:16; 1 Co. 10:17; 1 Co. 11:24; 1 Co. 11:27; 1 Co. 11:29; 1 Co. 12:12; 1 Co. 12:13; 1 Co. 12:14; 1 Co. 12:15; 1 Co. 12:16; 1 Co. 12:17; 1 Co. 12:18; 1 Co. 12:19; 1 Co. 12:20; 1 Co. 12:22; 1 Co. 12:23; 1 Co. 12:24; 1 Co. 12:25; 1 Co. 12:27; 1 Co. 13:3; 1 Co. 15:35; 1 Co. 15:37; 1 Co. 15:38; 1 Co. 15:40; 1 Co. 15:44; 2 Co. 4:10; 2 Co. 5:6; 2 Co. 5:8; 2 Co. 5:10; 2 Co. 10:10; 2 Co. 12:2; 2 Co. 12:3 Spirit (4151)(pneuma from pneo = to breath) refers most likely to Paul's spirit as part of his personality, the representative part of his inner life. Have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present -
1 Coríntios 5
Guzik - Is Paul disobeying what Jesus said in Matthew 7:1–5+? After all, “judge not, lest you be judged!” Paul is not being disobedient in the slightest way. Jesus’ command in Matthew 7:1–5+ forbids hypocritical judgment, and judging others by a standard that we ourselves do not want to be judged by. Paul is perfectly willing to apply the same standards to himself that he is applying to the Corinthian Christians. (Krell on Matthew 7:1-5 - This is the most quoted verses in the world today. Yet, very few people read Jesus’ words in context. Jesus says that we can judge, but first we must judge ourselves. Before we can take a speck of dust out of our brother’s eye, we must first take the Redwood tree out of our own eye. Jesus doesn’t want hypocritical judging.)