There’s an old saying, it’s alright for the ship to be in the sea, but not for the sea to be in the ship …it will sink it! Similarly it’s alright for the Church to be in the world but not for the world to be in the church… it will also sink it!
Paul spent the first four chapters of his Corinthian letter speaking against party factions and judging leaders in a worldly way. Evidently his primary concern was to prevent divisions in the church.
Now he speaks of gross sexual immorality in the church. Corinth was a garrison town, a seaport and a strategic cross roads. It was also a centre for the worship of Venus(Aphrodite, goddess of love), a spirit over the area. BEWARE, a future one world religion may also present itself in the guise of love, but it will be FALSE LOVE, NOT THE LOVE OF GOD! Indeed it will exclude love for the one true God.
Paul rebukes the Corinthian Church because of the sin of immorality in their midst and their failure to take any action.
And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 1 Cor 5:2 The world, or the spirit operating in the world cannot be in the church.
Paul even goes so far as to tell them to ‘hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord’. 1 Cor 5:5
Paul goes on to tell them that yeast will spread through the whole batch of dough and sin, once it gets access, can therefore spread rapidly through the church. In one sense churches are perfect breeding grounds for the things of the spirit realm. People in churches are often seeking things of the Spirit and are open to spiritual encounters, but we just need to be wise and to make sure they’re of the Lord(His Spirit and His word).
Paul tells them this does not mean separating themselves from the people of the world, whom they should be seeking to bring to the Lord. These people who don’t know Jesus are immoral, greedy, swindlers and idolaters. ‘In that case you would have to leave the world’. They must however separate from those who call themselves Christians but are living away from the Lord.
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 man from among you”. 1 Cor 5:13 There are five cross references from Deuteronomy to Paul’s statement, where God tells the Israelites to remove the evil from their midst, Deut 17:7, 19:19, 21:21, 22:21,24, 24:7. (Jesus replies to Satan’s three temptations were all from Deuteronomy).
We as individual believers and as churches need to be careful what and whom we allow to influence us eg television, internet, etc. But also those with whom we have fellowship. Just because something is acceptable or permissible for other believers, doesn’t mean it’s right for you and I. It’s really a question of how close we want to be to the Lord and the things of God.
God bless and keep you today.