It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and the kind of fornication that does not even exist among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife. (1 Corinthians 5:1)
In verse 1 the apostle Paul confronts these Corinthian Christians with the fact that he has received the report of immorality being practiced in their midst. a certain man was living in an adulterous relationship with his stepmother
And you are proud and arrogant! And you ought rather to mourn (bow in sorrow and in shame) until the person who has done this [shameful] thing is removed from your fellowship and your midst! (1 Corinthians 5:2)
Paul is not only shocked by the immoral conduct of this individual member of the church, he is also appalled by the attitude of the church itself: “you are arrogant!” (verse 2) By tolerating and thereby condoning this immoral conduct and lifestyle, the church was arrogantly holding the law of God in contempt. According to Paul, their silence about this matter is as good as endorsement
Paul expects that the entire church should exhibit a spirit of grief; a spirit of grief that will lead to the necessary action, with the congregation supporting its leaders and expecting them to carry out their responsibility to maintain the purity of Christ’s church.
Even though I am physically far away from you, my spirit is present with you. And as one who is present with you, I have already evaluated and judged the perpetrator. (1 Corinthians 5:3)
Prophet Elisha said this to Gehazi. Did not my spirit go with you?
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)
Beware of the corrupting influence of sin.
Don’t tolerate sin. What begins in a small way begins to take root and affect your entire life.
Breakaway from old sin patterns
How do we cleanse ourselves from sin? Many erroneously think I need to clean myself up. I can’t come to Jesus the way I am, I shouldn’t be here in the service today, unless I get my act together. Once I have cleaned myself up, then God will accept me and love me. It doesn’t work that way. You don’t de-leaven yourself, the only hope you and I have is the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our only hope is that by His blood, God’s wrath will pass over us and by His blood we will be purified as a holy unleavened people, set apart and sanctified for His purposes.
Become what you already are.
We cannot remain what we were, we must become what we are in Christ Jesus.
Chapters