Grace is Power, Not Just Pardon

“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."

1 Corinthians 5:5 (ESV)

Do what now?  The church is supposed to deliver someone to Satan?  How is this loving one another? 

The instruction to deliver someone to Satan means to expel that person from the church body.  This sounds like the Pharisees; aren’t we supposed to welcome sinners into the church?  Absolutely, all are invited to come and meet the grace, love, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.  This church discipline is not meant for all sinners, but for professing believers committing ongoing and unrepentant acts of immorality.  Church discipline is to be administered by church leaders by the authority and power of Jesus Christ and His word.  This discipline is to be a solemn and heartbroken response to the sinner’s broken relationships with God, self, others, and the rest of creation.  Putting the sinner out of the fellowship makes them more vulnerable and more likely to have to deal with their sinful nature, with the hope that they will repent and be restored.  Paul warns that unaddressed sin can permeate and destroy the church body like a small amount of yeast leavens a whole batch of dough.

“Judge not, that you be not judged.”  Matthew 7:1 (ESV)

Who are we to judge?  In chapter 4 Paul tells us he doesn’t judge himself and then in chapter 5 he writes, “I have already pronounced judgement on the one who did such a thing.”  The key to this seeming contradiction is competency.  There are some areas the church has no competency to judge.  The church has no right to judge a person’s motives or service (1 Corinthians 4), but the church is competent and has a responsibility to judge sin within the church body (1 Corinthians 5).

“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. “

1 Corinthians 5:11 (ESV)

Don’t even eat with them?  This seems too harsh.  At Passover a lamb was sacrificed so others might live.  The relationship with the professing unrepentant believer is being sacrificed so that the church body might live.  This serves as a reminder that the Lamb of God has died in our place so that we might live a life of obedience and gratitude to Him.

“And you are proud!  Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of the fellowship the man who has been doing this?”                                

1 Corinthians 5:2 (NIV)

How can the Corinthian church possibly be proud?  They take pride in their ability to tolerate this man’s sin. They have an improper understanding of grace and unconditional love.   John Piper sums up a proper view of grace this way: “Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift and power of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.”  The Corinthians are solely focused on the pardon while ignoring the power of the cross.  In the safety of unconditional tolerance and love, this man will never feel his sin is wrong.

By the pardon of grace, I get to write this message. By the power of grace, I want to.

Todd