Epistles of Paul 33

Corinth was a congregation with a number of issues that needed to be addressed, and most of them were based on carnal pools which were causing the visions in the church.

Paul pleads for unity, pleads for all to speak the same thing. He then also mentions that we, as ministers of Jesus Christ, we are servants and use the expression like under rowers, like those servants at the bottom of the boat that did the real rough work.

So he is saying that we are servants, like the under rowers, and we are stewards of God's Word.

And so stewards are those that are entrusted, and he is specifically referring to entrusted with God's mysteries. So in the last study, we then covered also that God's mysteries are those truths previously hidden, mostly related to God's great plan of salvation through Jesus Christ as our Lord. He's our master. He is the one that created us, that is our one, that is our master, is our Savior, came and gave his life for us, obviously, under the instruction and the desire and the will of the Father. He is now in heaven, our high priest, interceding for us, and he is our soon-coming king to establish peace on earth in the near future.

He then compares it, Paul compares it to Satan, that on the other side he blinds us.

God does allow Satan to be there, and in a sense he uses Satan as an instrument.

And this is because God is developing his character in us, his godly character in us, so that we are to become his sons and daughters with proven capability through trials and tests and difficulties, proven capability, so that we will always do what is right eternally for the good of the whole of his creation. And so, within his great plan, his master plan, he makes each one of us different individuals. Each one has ultimately a specific purpose in his great kingdom, so he's given us different talents, and all these talents are a gift from God. And so we are not to boast or to be arrogant about the talents that God has given us, as if we are better than others. So we are not to consider ourselves in spiritually rich because of the gifts that he's given us, because in the end, it's all from God, and it is all backed up.

God gives us talents, and we've got to use them with God's Holy Spirit to use them in a godly way, in a right way. Paul is also saying that he will come to Corinth if God wills, and he did later in his third missionary trip, as we will briefly refer to it a little later. But he says that when he comes later, he does not want to come with a rod of correction, but in love and in the spirit of gentleness, and there was mildness and meekness. But Paul in this letter is speaking in a tough manner. He's going to be very corrective, and therefore with that as a background, as the first four chapters of this letter, we're now moving on to 1 Corinthians 5 as he begins addressing the first issue. And he is not wasting time, he's not waiting, but he's handling it straight, immediately, up front, and that is the son of sexual immorality.

So let's read in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 5, and he says, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immoralities as is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his father's wife. So Paul had received reports, because he says it's actually reported from more than one member, and one of them were from those in Chloe's household. If we turn to chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 11, we see, for it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. So he had information from Chloe's household. Also, in 1 Corinthians 16 verse 17, he also names three people that came to him with information about Corinth to one degree or another. So 1 Corinthians 16 verse 17, he says, and I am glad about the coming of Stephanus, Fortinetus, of Fortinetus, and Achaicus, for what was lacking on your part they supplied. So they gave me additional information about your situation.

So he is being briefed by a number of people, and as he says in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians, he says there is sexual immorality. The word for sexual immorality in Greek is the word 4202 porneia, which is related to any illicit sexual intercourse of any kind. It could be adultery, could be fornication, could be homosexuality, could be lesbianism, could be bestiality.

Whatever form is it, any kind of illicit, in other words, sexual relationship which is not endorsed by God, is wrong. So that's what it is, sexual immorality. And that could even be sexual intercourse with close relatives.

If we briefly look at Leviticus 18 verse 6, Leviticus 18 verse 6, Leviticus 18 verse 6, let's just read there, Leviticus 18 verse 6, says, None of you shall approach any one who is near of kin to him to uncover his nakedness.

I am the Lord. Uncover his nakedness. That is related to having sexual relationships with a close of kin. Look at verse 7 and 8.

Leviticus 18 verse 7 and 8, The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother, you shall not uncover. She's your mother, and you shall not uncover nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife, you shall not uncover. It is your father's nakedness. In other words, you shall not violate that. You shall not dishonor your father in that way. And then in verse 29, and in Leviticus 18 from that section verse 6 onwards, but all the way through, all the way to verse 29, highlights a number of sexual sins that are incorrect or ungodly. And then in verse 29, he says, For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. In other words, they shall be, let's put it out, like weeded out or uprooted from your people. Then look also at Deuteronomy 22, Deuteronomy 22 verse 30. Deuteronomy 22 verse 30. A man shall not take his father's wife, nor uncover his father's bed. So it is very clear that this man was doing this.

Clearly, sexual immorality is one of the causes or of the reasons of divorce. We will cover more of that when we study 1 Corinthians 7. And so, Porneia applies, as I mentioned, to any kind of illicit sexual intercourse. It applies to sexual intercourse with close relatives. And if we look at Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter 10 verse 11 and 12. Mark chapter 10 verse 11 and 12.

Mark chapter 10 verse 11 and 12. He says, so he said to them, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. So there is a section here of sexual intercourse with somebody that you're not legally married to. It is sin, even if the person at that stage is divorced. So this whole situation is a section that will study it in more detail when we cover 1 Corinthians 7.

But continue reading in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 2, and it says, and you are puffed up.

So they had this individual that was committing this sexual immorality, as it says there, that he had his father's wife, not necessarily his physical mother, but maybe his mother had passed away or died, and the father then had remarried, whatever the situation may be.

He was having a sexual relationship with his father's wife, and thus the brethren were tolerating.

And then, because this person was in the church, and then he says, and you are puffed up. You're puffed up. In other words, you are being arrogant, because one of the things that they were saying is, look at how understanding we are. Look at how lenient we are, or how gracious we are. And so Paul is saying, you are puffed up. You're arrogant about something that you should not be. And Evanaterada mourned.

It was pray, maybe fasted for it, and said about it, and addressed the issue, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. So yeah, we have a situation where there was a need to make a decision, a decision. And then he reads in verse 3, For I indeed, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have already judged as thou are we present. Him who has so done this deed. So judgments have to be made by the ministry. Now the word cha-ji-ai is the word krino, Greek 2919, which is make a determination, make a separation, make or pronounce an opinion. And so continue to read in verse 3, now verse 4, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. So by Christ's authority, when you get together, then he continues verse 5, Deliver such a one to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So yeah, we have a judgment of putting that individual out from Christian fellowship, putting him into Satan's realm, and no longer being under, in a sense, under the protection of God.

Now, this is a very similar statement, and what is stated in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 20.

1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 20. chapter 1 verse 20, since talking about, it says that some of those, you know, that says which some have rejected the good faith, have rejected concerning the faith, and suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. So yeah, we have again a similar phraseology, delivered to Satan. So continue back in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 5. It says, for the destruction of the flesh, delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. In other words, for repentance, so that they may repent, so that they may be ultimately in the kingdom of God. This it's talking about with an habitual, personal problem like this weakness, a habitual, personal problem, and therefore it is saying we've got to address this.

Now the thing is that people with an habitual, personal problem, and when you get a situation like this, they usually come back. They repent and come back. And that is the good news in a way.

However, those that have a problem, because they are disgruntled over government, over authority, they usually don't come back. But the point is, we need to separate them. And it says here that his spirit, in other words, that his spirit of man in man may repent, and so that he may be saved when Jesus Christ comes back, that he may come to repentance and change and become a better person.

So let's continue now in verse 6. Your glory is not good. Like it says, sitting in verse 2, you're being puffed up. Your glory, saying that, hey, we look at how understanding we are, how lenient we are, how gracious we are, that glory is not good.

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

This is the same thing. It's true in our individual lives. A little bit of sin can affect our lives if we don't address it. Whatever that sin may be, whatever might be the wrong thought if we don't fix it and address it, it may get so big that then it'll affect our whole lives. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. So the other thing that is interesting, because he says in verse 7, therefore, purge out the old leaven. So he's saying, get rid in this specific instance the person that was committing the sexual immorality. But the principle is for all of us. Purge out the old leaven. Purge out the old man.

Purge out those carnal thoughts or words that you and I may have so that we may be a new lump, so that we may be a new man. So we've got to put off the old man and put on the new man.

Now, this is significant because he says, since you truly are unleavened.

You see, physically they were unleavened, but spiritually they were not unleavened. As a church, they had challenges and problems and sins.

Now, not an important point here, not an important point here. They were knowledgeable of these terms. They understood what Paul was talking about because they were practicing God's early days and festivals. You see, when you talk to those two people in the world and they try and explain, they don't get it because they don't live. They don't practice God's holy days, but these people got it. You see, Paul was, in a sense, using an analogy of physical to spiritual. But people nowadays, when they read this, they basically spiritualize it away. For instance, they say, oh well, it's just a metaphor and therefore the metaphor is that we acknowledge Christ that is our Savior. So that is, we are now unleavened because Christ is our Savior, acknowledge Christ. They were not getting the meaning of what Paul was talking about. Christians, so-called Christians in this world today, are not getting the meaning of what Paul was talking about. Why? Again, because they're not practicing it. They're not living God's early days and putting them to practice. So they don't get it. They don't get it. And then he says, for indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. Yes, Christ was sacrificed for us. Our Passover and therefore Christ had suffered for us and he therefore had died for us. And he's bringing us a meaning, an important meaning for us. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. You see, these people understood what Paul was talking about. You see, there's a whole lesson here what Paul has been practicing, talking about the Passover, the days of 11 bread and basically God's early days.

Now, if Paul had said in verse 8, for instance, therefore let us keep the feast, they would have not spiritualized the way if Paul had said, well, therefore let's keep Sunday. Or they would have immediately said, yeah, of course, you know, but when he says, let's keep the feast, oh, this is a metaphor. But you see, Christ's sacrifice is not a metaphor.

Christ's our Passover was sacrificed for us. Let us keep the feast because we got because you got the Passover and then the days of 11 bread, one straight after the other.

And so, this lesson that is given here is only understood if the audience is familiar with the illustration. That's true with any metaphor. If I give you, for instance, an analogy and you are not familiar with what I'm comparing it to, you're going to miss completely the picture.

You see, you're going to miss it completely. So, Paul was really talking about the importance of eating God's feasts and specifically, in this case, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but he was talking to people that understood what God's mysteries, which are revealed through his plan of salvation. They were, well, let's call it versed on the understanding of God's early days as they picture God's plan for silver, Christ died for us, and live in bread as having to live rightly, godly, without sin, obeying God's laws completely, Pentecost receiving God's early spirit, and so that we now are the first fruits, the first ones to receive the Holy Spirit.

Then we have to remain faithful till the end, and then trumpets, which is an alarm of war, which is when Christ comes, when the world will hate Christ, but we will rejoice because we'll be resurrected and we will rule with Christ.

So, it is a combination of trumpets of good news and bad news. Good news is that finally Christ is coming to rule on earth. That's what we have been waiting for. The bad news is for the people in the world that hate Christ. For them, it'll be bad news because they'll be destroyed. Those armies will be destroyed, and then obviously, then it comes with atonement, which is Satan, the god of this world is put away. And then the wonderful world tomorrow, the millennium, represented by the seven days or the Feast of Tabernacles may start, and after that millennium, there'll be that second resurrection wherein people that have never learned the truth will resurrect physical human beings to be able to be trained, educated.

In other words, that is the day of judgment in which they will be judged, like you and I are being judged today because we know the truth and we've got to live according to that truth.

So, it is very significant that Gentiles, as Paul was talking out, because Corinthians basically was talking to Gentiles. Gentiles knew, understood, the principle of putting away leather during the days of 11 bread, and therefore they understood the metaphor. That's why he used the metaphor. So, that's why we read here in verse 8, therefore, let us keep the Feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Nor of the old leaven, in the words of sin, in that specific instance, when he said in verse 7, purge out the old leaven, he was specifically referring to that sin, but the principle applies to all of us to take out sins of our lives, spiritually speaking, during the days of unleavened bread. For, he says, let us keep the Feast not of the old leaven, for with the leaven, be it par anor, be it par anor, with the leaven of malice and wickedness. So, let's not keep the Feast with any form of leaven. Let us keep the Feast the right way, not of malice, which is wrong thinking, or wickedness, which is not doing.

Let's not do wickedness. So, let's not think evil, and let's not do evil. It was, let us keep the Feast not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness. You see, so the other point here is that when he says, let us, therefore let us, he is urging the readers of the Slera to be together with him as the writer or the speaker, and to keep the Feast with him.

So, Paul understood the value of God's holidays and the value of observing them. Very important that. Now, let's look a little bit, a little bit in context here, in Acts 18 verse 21. In Acts 18 verse 21, he says, but took leave of them, saying, for I must, by all means, keep this coming Feast in Jerusalem.

But I will return again to you, God willing, and he sailed from Ephesus. So now he's, in this case, he's talking about keeping the Feast, and as we read this in context, you know, he's talking about keeping one of God's holy days. Now, some people question, say, well, some versions do not include that. In fact, if you read on verse 21, in my Bible, it's got a little margin note, when it says, I must, by all means, keep this coming Feast in Jerusalem.

It says the Enu, or Metz, this section, that is the Alexandrian text, that's the Enu, the Alexandrian text. That's why we in the Church believe that the correct text for us to use is a majority text. Now, the Enu, the Alexandrian text, is only a handful, not even a handful of manuscripts, and the majority of texts is like three to five thousand text manuscripts, and they keep finding more and more every day. Maybe not every day, but as time goes along, they keep finding more and more.

And so, what we have here is a verse, or a section, must by all means keep this coming Feast in Jerusalem, that some people say, well, it's a questionable text because it does not appear in the Alexandrian text.

But I'll put it the other way around. The omission, the removal of it from the Alexandrian text shows that Satan wanted that to be removed. Why? Because it offers strong support for keeping God's early days, and so Satan wanted to get that removed. And so, there are these manuscripts which are not perfect, let's call it that, which have been adulterated, that have removed that section section. Why? Because this section offers strong support for keeping God's early days.

Now, let's look a little bit further in Acts 20 verse 16. This is at Acts 20 verse 16.

It says here, for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hiring to be a Jerusalem if possible on the day of Pentecost. Oh, nobody argues about that, because you know Pentecost is receiving the Holy Spirit, quote-unquote, speaking in tongues, so yeah, no problem with that. But look at the context here.

Look at the context here in Acts 20. You see, in verse 16 it says, he was hiring to be a Jerusalem, so that he would be in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost.

But if we start reading in chapter 20, verse 1 through 6, carefully, we see now, after the uproar had ceased, right, so there was an uproar there in Ephesus, and then Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced him, and departed to go to Macedonia. So that's what we call today northern Greece. Now, when he had gone over that region, and he encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece, in other words, to the southern area, very probably being Corinth. Corinth. And then he says, and stayed three months.

And when the Jews plotted against him, so he stayed in Corinth for about three months, when the Jews plotted against him, as he was about to sail to Syria. So that's probably, very probably, there are various Bible commentaries comment that that's Palestine, Syria, which is doubtless that he was aiming to be in Jerusalem for the next pilgrim festival of Passover and live on bread. And he was about to sail to Syria. And he decided to return through Macedonia. So then some situations occurred that he then had to go through Macedonia, back up through Macedonia, instead of going directly on sail. So they could be in Jerusalem for the pilgrim feast of Passover and live on bread. And so he went up to Macedonia.

All right. And so Peter of Berea accompanied him to Asia, also the Starkas and Secundas of the Thessalonians and Gaius of Derby and Timothy and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. These men going ahead waited for us at Troas. But we then sailed from Philippi, so they went up to Macedonia.

But he kept the days of live on bread there in probably in Philippi. So he wanted to go to Jerusalem for the Passover struck days on live on bread. But he then for some reason or other he had to go up on land and then and in five days joined them as at Troas where we stayed seven days.

And then we see, but because now he had not been able to go to Jerusalem for Passover and live on bread, he now wanted to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost. That's why we're reading verse 16, that he then decided to sail past Ephesus not to go to Ephesus and then he called for the Elvis from Ephesus to meet him because he wanted to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost. So now we have a situation here that again proves that Paul kept the Holy Days.

All right, so let's go on. We were reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8. So therefore let us keep the feast not of the old leaven nor of the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the leavened bread of sincerity and truth. We are to keep the feast of an leavened bread, and in fact our whole life is supposed to be like that, with sincerity and truth. Sincerity meaning we are to be sincere, we are to be people that are not fake, not hypocrites, that we are following God indeed in our hearts and minds, and therefore our life displays sincerity, honestly, no fakeness, no hypocrisy. It's a sincere life that we need to live. And then he says, and truth, which means no falsehood, no addition or subtraction from the truth, no compromise with the truth, people that love the truth. And you read in other sections of Scripture that we are to love the truth. And so that is what Paul is emphasizing here, that we are to keep the feast of an leavened bread, not with the old leaven.

Yeah, and he says yes, because we are unleavened, because we're keeping the feast physically, but spiritually, mentally, we need to keep the feast, not with the old leaven, like the old man, old sins, the old attitudes, the old bitterness, the old arguments that we have one against another, and the unwillingness to submit to one another, the unwillingness to work out our problems with meekness and love. This is very important. We need, because none of us is perfect, brethren, and we need, when we have little problems, we need to work them out with sincerity, with honesty, with our hypocrisy, with humility, and also no falsehood, and no compromise to the truth, but being gentle and loving. That's how we need to keep the feast and how we need to live our lives. That's why it's for seven days, because it means completely the rest of our lives, spiritually speaking.

Now, verse 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9. I wrote to you in my epistle, now which epistle is that? Because this is 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians comes, comes after that, so which other epistle is it? Well, the answer is simple. The answer is simple.

Paul wrote letters, and he obviously wrote other letters, which have not become part of Scripture, which have not become part of the Bible, which in other words, were not inspired, or God decided for them not to be in the Bible. And so, he's referring to a letter that written to them, which we do not have record of, but it was before this letter, before 1 Corinthians. So he's referring to a letter there, and he's saying in that letter, I told you not to keep company with sexually immoral people. So it looks like this was a problem that Paul had tried to address with them before, and nothing had been done. So it's not a thing that it just suddenly came out of the blue. Paul had been discussing with them and says, from this evidence here, that, hey, don't keep company with sexually immoral people.

And so this had been discussed before. Now, in verse 10, yet I certainly do not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world. So clearly, I do not mean that you don't keep company with sexually immoral people of the world, or with people that are covetous in the world, or people that are extortionous, or people that are idolatrous. Since if you were to do that, you need to go out of the world. You would need to be on another planet. So that's not what he was talking about, not to do business or talk to people of this world. But he was talking about people in the church that are committing these sins. He says, no, you need to, as a minister, as ministers, as leaders, we need to act on it.

So let's continue then, read verse 11. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother. Named a brother. Now, it obviously means men and women.

For instance, I was just talking to somebody the other day, and I said, for instance, in Portuguese, for instance, I'm talking to somebody, and I'm talking about my son.

These are my sons, or my son. The word in Portuguese is a milfido. It implies male and female, even though the word is masculine.

The context when it says milfido or milfilos, it implies children or child of mine.

But it is the word is son. But when in the context you want to break it down and say men and women, then you say fidoífido, but son and daughter. But otherwise, if in a context you're just referring to both of them, then you just use the masculine one. So it's just a linguistic situation. It's not a thing related to gender. It's just a rule of grammar. And so, yeah, when it says not to get company with anyone named a brother, it implies not with any of our brethren. It was whether he's male or female, whether he's a brother or a sister.

So it's not necessarily just applying to men. So he says with anyone named a brother or a sister, who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner.

So he's actually saying, I am talking about that if people in the church are habitual sinners, then you should not have company with them. You should not have fellowship with them.

That's what it means. It's because these people were habitual sinners.

So they were habitually sinning this way. It's not an occasional slip. Regretably, it's true. No man is righteous. No, not one. And we all occasionally slip up. Sometimes we say something that we shouldn't have said. Sometimes we think something that we shouldn't have thought. And yes, we do repent. And yes, we do repent. But that is not an habitual habit of doing that. It's a slip-up.

We want to get better people. We want to become better people. That is the way that we are growing, the sanctification of the Spirit, that we're growing that way. So it does take time. But it says not even to eat with such a person. In other words, our responsibility is to not have fellowship with these people. You say, look, you're wearing the church. You are doing this sin.

Really, it's not right for me to have fellowship with you.

You get yourself right, then yeah, we'll have fellowship with you. I don't hate you.

I'm not hating you, but it's the act. It's not hating the person.

Verse 12, for what have I to do with judging those who are outside? That's why I say, look, I wasn't talking about you not having talking to people or whatever people in the world, because otherwise you would have to be on a different planet. But for those that are in the world, it says that's up to God. That it says, verse 13, but those who are outside, God judges. That's up to God to address that problem.

God will call them when God decides. That's God's prerogative. When He's going to do it?

So continue reading verse 12, because I didn't read the whole verse 12. For what I have to do with judging those who are outside? No. Do you not judge those who are inside?

It's not our responsibility to address issues of people that are in the world, but those that are in the body of Christ, we need, in a loving, kind way, address the issues in a loving, kind way. Not in an arrogant way, not in with a rod, but having a spirit of love and gentleness, and addressing the issue. And if it's necessary for the person to be, let's call it, excommunicated, to leave the fellowship, or to us to be not being the fellowship, until he or she repents, that is the right thing in those circumstances. Therefore, put away from yourselves the evil person.

In other words, that wicked person, it's Greek 4190 4190 for Nero's, that is bad of a bad nature or condition, in a physical sense, is people that are diseased or blinded. So, physically speaking, it's people who have a physical illness. In an ethical, spiritual way, it's evil, wicked, bad, but following the same analogy, physically, is those that are physically ill. Spiritually, it's those that are spiritually ill. So, we're not condemning them to the second death, to hellfire. No, because all we say is, as Paul said in verse 5, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 5, that his spirit may be saved, that it may come to repent us. So, we're not condemning them to the second death. By no means, we want them to repent.

And this must be done in an act of love and compassion for that being, that person, so that they may repent. That's why it says, therefore, put away from yourselves that person, which is spiritually ill.