Ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned

What a sad chapter this is! The sin that was present in the church at Corinth was catastrophic. Not only to the corruption of the fellowship internally but also to the testimony externally, as it was an issue ‘not so much as named among the Gentiles’, v. 1. What is so remarkable is the complacency of the believers in tolerating such a sin in their midst!

So often the focus of a chapter like this is upon the perpetratorof the evil. ‘He that has done this deed’, v. 2, needs to face church discipline as a consequence of his actions. This discipline should be administered in the authority of the name, and with the power of ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’, v. 4. It should be administered by the whole company, ‘when ye are gathered together’. Such are the principles taught here. The outcome is ‘to deliver such an one unto Satan’, v. 5. What he had chosen to be morally he would become physically - part of the world.

The reason for the discipline outlined here is twofold. Firstly, the local church must be free from moral evil. If it is to function for God it must be a sanctified company. On that basis the ‘old leaven’ must be purged out, a thorough cleaning instituted, and this is accomplished, in part, by the excommunication of the offender. Secondly, once the offender is put out there is a work that can be done upon him - ‘the destruction of the flesh’, v. 5. The strong will and the proud heart need to be broken and an appreciation of the gravity of the sin established. If there is going to be restoration to fellowship, it can only be on the basis of true repentance. To be outside of the assembly is to be in the sphere where ‘God judgeth’, v. 13.

However, the title that forms the basis of our meditation bids us to consider ourselves - ‘ye . . . have not rather mourned’, v. 2. Mourning feels the loss of the individual, as well as the damage done to the whole. If an offence of this nature occurs in any assembly, should we not ask why? Why didn’t we see the danger, and seek to stop it happening? Was our spiritual state so low that we didn’t notice such wickedness? Have we taught moral standards so that all know such behaviour is unacceptable?