God’s love is different . . .

 

 

READ 1 Corinthians 5-8

Some of the believers in the church at Corinth had misconceptions about the grace of God. They assumed rightly that forgiveness covers past, present and future sins but thought that meant they should forgive anyone who was continuing in sin. That is, they tolerated a man who was sinning and were proud of this ‘grace’ they were showing toward him, even though he continued in his sin even without evidence of confession and repentance.

Paul told them what to do when anyone falls into immoral behavior yet professes faith in Christ:

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9–13)

In other words, God would deal with the sin of unsaved people but He was charging the church, the Body of Christ, to deal with sin in their midst. He illustrated with another example, a lawsuit. If two Christians have a legal issue between them, they must deal with it rather than go to court. He told them that doing that was shameful and asked, “Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?” Lawsuits defeated them and they would be better to suffer wrong and be defrauded rather than publicly doing such a thing. (1 Corinthians 6:5–8)

This position of dealing with in-house sins was not just about ‘how we appear to outsiders’ but based on the purpose He has for His church in the future and what God has done in redemption in the past. He’d already challenged them: “When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:1–3)

Then he reminded them that redemption means radically changed lives. They should know better than to tolerate sin because they knew what it was like to be sinful before being transformed:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9–11)

After more reminders of who they are in Christ and how they must live accordingly, he repeats how they were to watch out for one another. He illustrated with food and made it clear that if they were not convicted by eating food offered to idols (because an idol is not real and what we eat isn’t about earning God’s favor) they still did not have freedom to eat it in front of those who think that is a sin. A contemporary example might be drinking a beer on a hot day alongside redeemed alcoholics without considering how it affected their conscience.

These chapters are later summed up with instruction on how to love one another, the missing grace in this young church. Love is misunderstood and pushed aside by personal pride and a competitive attitude based on ‘I can do whatever I want and my ideas are better than yours.’ This is fleshy, sinful thinking.

Jesus said, “Not my will, but thine be done” and prayed with drops of blood in the hours before His sacrifice for my sin. Paul wrote, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5–8)

Jesus died so I would not be ruled by self-centered pride or any other sinful attitude but empowered by the grace of God and His Holy Spirit. Lord, enable me this day to “walk by the Spirit” so I “will not gratify the desires of the flesh” and instead love others as You love me.