1 Corinthians 5:5 - Not Police, But...

1 Corinthians 5:5

 NKJV

 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.

 NLT 

Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. 

 Seems pretty harsh…to hand someone over to satan, doesn’t it? To be clear, this is about an unrepentant man who was living in open sin in the Corinth church. Still seems pretty harsh…but… 

 At first go, nobody likes to be disciplined…nobody! I was not a fan of the spankin’s and such that came from my parents when I was youngster. At the time I considered them unfair and just too much. In my later years (and when I had kids of my own) I understood the value of what my parents were trying to do. They wanted me to understand that there were consequences to my actions. That I could not just act any old way I wanted to…do bad things, get punished. I can tell you that I was never punished unjustly, my folks were fair. 

I think about this verse and the fact that this man was being cast out and handed over to satan; God didn’t want him to be cast out, his choice to stay in his sin got him cast out. One bad apple can ruin the whole basket is the concept that I see here. 

 Bibleref.net says, “Details aside, this verse clearly supports three crucial purposes of church discipline. First, it is necessary in order to convict and correct others so they aren't fooled about their spiritual state (1 Corinthians 10:12). Second, it is necessary for the spiritual health of the other believers (Jude 1:12; Galatians 2:4). Third, it is necessary to prevent the unbelieving world from having legitimate reasons to criticize the body of Christ (1 Peter 2:12; 2 Peter 2:1–2; Galatians 2:14). 

 Choices we make have consequences, that’s for sure. At some point, God is going to give us over to the world so that our flesh will be destroyed, because He loves us, if we continue in our sin (talkin’ to believers here). I don’t believe this is anything that God wants to do, He’d much rather we love Him and follow His truth over everything else. But people…. 

 We need each other because we are so capable of sin. We are no longer the old man, but we still live in this body that has been trained well in the ways of the world. Be involved in your church; have Christian friends that you go do stuff with; worship together (MEN, SING WHEN YOU WORSHIP…your family is watching). I pray that you have someone in your life that pulls you back from the edge with the truth of Jesus Christ. 

“Church discipline is not a group of ‘pious policemen’ out to catch a criminal. Rather, it is a group of brokenhearted brothers and sisters seeking to restore an erring member of the family.” (Wiersbe) 

 Not police, but… 

cej