1 Corinthians 5:5 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 5:5

Comments

That expression is really another way of saying, to expel the person, or to excommunicate the person: ‘to deliver such an one unto Satan.’ Now some people go much too far and they use this language literally. Should it be necessary, rarely and unhappily, to expel a member, they go so far as to say, ‘We deliver you to Satan.’ No, no; this is an expression. The person is put out of fellowship. The effect is that they are not under the blessing of the kingdom of God, but out in the world which is ruled by the enemy of souls. That is what ‘delivering to Satan’ means. The person has to be out of the church and into the world for a time, to bring that person to his or her senses, so that the work of God could be carried on in the heart. That is what sin does. Satan is trying to gain re-entry into a life, and ultimately into a church. When this man was tempted by his lust and sinned, and carried on sinning and hypocritically worshipping in the church at the same time, and when the rest of the congregation decided to leave it be and do nothing about it, Satan had gained re-entry into the church. He had been cast out of those lives at conversion, but now he comes back and he is represented in the church. It was the lusts of the flesh that brought the man down, and they have to be dealt with by the pain of excommunication, by the shame and pain of repentance. ‘That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.’ Of course, that is looking at it long-term. The prayer and hope is that the man will repent, and in this case he did repent and was restored in the course of time, long before the day of the Lord Jesus. But the way the apostle expresses it is the most important way: that he will be restored in time for the great day. He is a child of God, but he has got to be disciplined. In 2 Corinthians 7:9 we read, ‘Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance.’ Listen to the definition of true repentance: ‘for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed’ – the man, the sinner, and the whole church – ‘ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you.’ This was deep. ‘Yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear’ – at the power of sin – ‘yea, what vehement desire’ – for purity and recovery – ‘yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!’ They formed in their hearts a detestation of sin for its vileness, and would put it away as if wreaking revenge upon it. ‘In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.’ That kind of repentance only comes when there is discipline for serious sin, otherwise unrepented of.

Application

If you have got a terrible sin in the church, it fractures the consciences of the church members. There is somebody doing that thing which is so awful that it somehow gives us more licence. You can illustrate this quite easily. Supposing the pastor of the church was a very rich living, self-indulgent person. Supposing the pastor of the church lived in a mansion, or had a wonderful, wonderful home. Supposing he owned two or three homes. Supposing he drove the biggest car in town and the most expensive. Supposing everything about him exuded wealth and prosperity. What would happen to the members of the church? Their consciences would be weakened greatly. They would not be any good anymore at self-denial, at reasonableness of containing lusts and desires. ‘If he can have that big house, I can have this bigger one – bigger for me, that is – I can have more liberty. Why, he is the standard.’ So the rich living pastor is going to have a rich living, self-indulgent congregation. That is inevitable. They wreck and fracture the tender consciences of all the church members.

I knew a church once, and it wasn’t a large church, and it had three or four parking spaces outside the church, and as the elders got there first, they were the elders’ parking spaces, and they were all very expensive cars. Needless to say, if any sincere church member needed a new car, it fractured his concern to be reasonable and modest. There was no limit on what he might do. The example was so bad. But it's the same with this: the fracturing of the consciences of the people of Corinth, the liberty it gave them. Satan was back in the church with freedom to tempt widely.

Questions

What are the purposes of discipline in the church of Christ? The first purpose of discipline in the church of Christ is what? The restoration of the offender? No, it isn't. The first purpose of discipline in the church is the honour of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Sin must be purged; Christ’s honour must be preserved. Believers everywhere and unbelievers in our city must see that this is not approved of by Christ, and there is no place in the church while such a person is exercising a grave sin. So when our hearts say, ‘What about the offender?’ Of course we are concerned for the offender, but that is not the greatest consideration. The second purpose of discipline is the purity of the body. The third purpose of discipline is the gospel. The gospel cannot be preached, while everybody in the neighbourhood knows that sin is there. It has wrecked work of the gospel, and it has grieved away the Spirit. Those are the first three purposes of discipline. Then comes the restoration of the offender. It is of great importance, but it isn't top, and when we get that order right, we understand discipline better.

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Introduction

1 Corinthians 5:5 Commentary and Bible Study