Todays Reading: Ezra 8:21-9:15, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, Psalms 31:1-8, Proverbs 21:1-2
Scripture: ”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 Corinthians 5:12-13
Observation: This is the letter Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. To give a little background on Corinth, it was a wealthy trading center during this time. It was also a city known throughout the Roman world for it’s wickedness. At this time, the church in Corinth was new and it was difficult for the Christians to not act like the world they lived in; consequently the church was having its share of problems. So here are new believers having problems living differently than the world. The only difference that I see in Corinth and the church in America today is that we are not a new church. We are not new believers. In the “Bible belt” we have been raised in the church our entire existence. With that being so, why in the world are no different than the church of Corinth? Is it because we are without a pastor? Is it because we have had some staff eliminations? Is it because of our outstanding debt? I would beg to say that it’s none of these issues. We are no different than the church of Corinth because true, sincere heart change has never taken place in our lives. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” When we allow God into our lives he gives us a new heart. Our desires become His desires. But we are all sinful people, right? That is right. We will fall and stumble in our walk with God; however, a person with a changed heart does not live a life of sin. When they fall they grieve in their failure and experience true repentance.
Application: I chose this passage for us to think about what Paul is talking about here. We can absolutely judge right and wrong when it comes to those of us who call ourselves Christ Followers. Paul’s version of “tough love” is the epitome of tough. I don’t think most churches in America today practice discipline the way the Bible defines it. We have lost the meaning of accountability, and therefore, we are now no different than the world that exists around us. Maybe it’s time we ask ourselves if we ever experienced a true heart change when we accepted Christ in our lives. Maybe it’s time we become accountable to one another when see other professing brothers and sisters living a life that is sinful. With that being said, I also believe that we have to start discipling new believers. We have a tendency to let people go as soon as they dry off from their baptism. One of the reasons we look like the world is because most of us were never discipled. We have a duty to walk with new believers. Unfortunately, we have lost sight on what it means to disciple.
We are experiencing a wake-up call as a church. We need reside in God’s Word in order to know what His desires are for us. We also need to live out the words found in scripture. We need to teach the gospel, we need to disciple new believers, and we need to hold each other accountable.
