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Pursuing Purity


October 20, 2024|Pursuing Purity|1 Corinthians 5:1-13

John-Daniel Cutler


Click here for the sermon audio


Today’s subject is potentially divisive, but if you went through our membership matters class, this will not be new information for you in terms of subject, although I do hope it is new information in terms of the breadth of the subject matter. 

Being that the topic of church discipline is often simply ignored and in other circles, abused, I thought the best way to approach it is to simply teach through the apostle Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian church in chapter five of 1 Corinthians. It is one of the clearest examples of church discipline being encouraged among a church. But more than that, because we have his second letter preserved for us, we find out the results of the church discipline that the Corinthian church enacted. 

One of my mentors used to say all good preaching has a little teaching in it and all good teaching has a little preaching in it. Today we are going to lean more into the teaching side, because I think this subject is one of the most important subjects for a church to rightly understand. 


Why do I think that? As we approach reformation day on October 31st, the date when we remember a Catholic monk named Martin Luther who nailed his 95 theses to the door of the All Saint’s Church and by most accounts sparked the reformation, it is good to reflect on things we can learn from these brave men and women.

The reformation gave rise to many options concerning churches. There was of course the Roman Catholic church, its eastern counterpart in the Orthodox church, but now there were anabaptist, lutheran, and other reformed churches, which naturally led to a conversation about what marks a true church. 

What things must be present for a church to really be a true church?

What an important question, especially in our day and age. There are so many organizations that call themselves churches. We have everything from theological cults to thousands of non-denominational churches and everything in between. Faced with such a question, the reformers searched the Word of God to answer the question of which churches were actually churches. Although there was some debate between Lutheran and Reformed theologians, and even among Reformed theologians themselves, the Reformed churches eventually settled on the belief that the Word revealed three essential outward marks by which any discerning person could determine whether any given congregation was truly a church:

The marks by which the true Church is known are these: If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if it maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing sin. (Belgic Confession, Article 29)

Three marks that we can summarize like this- right preaching of the gospel, right administration of the ordinances, and right church discipline being practiced. 

Picture if you will the true church then as a three legged stool, balanced on the strength of these three marks. 

Do you see friends, if we take this seriously then a church that ignores the Biblical practice of church discipline is like a three legged stool that is missing a leg. It is destined to fall short of what God has called his bride to be. 


Paul is actually going to show us this morning that church discipline is one of the primary ways we pursue purity within the church. If that is true, how important is it that we understand what it is and what it is not? That we understand our responsibilities in it and our accountability to it?

So this morning, using the fifth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we are going to walk through four elements concerning church discipline with a goal of getting a clear view of how a church rightly uses it to pursue purity. 


If you haven’t already, open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 at verse 1. 


Our first element is…

The principle of church discipline.

We find this in the first two verses of chapter 5, let’s read those together this morning. 

1 Corinthians 5 (ESV) 1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Chapter 5 marks a shift in Paul’s letter. For four chapters he has been dealing with the divisions among the church over teachers, but this marks his transition into all the other topics he is going to cover. 

I will remind you that Paul is responding to two sources of information, a letter from the Corinthian church asking him questions. His answer to these begins in chapter 7, but the information he has been dealing with so far and through chapter 6 were reported to him by Chloe’s people. Which is interesting, the church had these factions going on, they were tolerating open sin, treating each other poorly, and yet none of this made it into their letter. Paul begins with what has been reported to him before digging into their questions. 

So he begins this section with, it is actually reported…

The situation reported to Paul is that among the church in Corinth, there is a man who is involved in a relationship so crude that even those without God, outside the church, would not approve of it and yet the Corinthians are not doing anything about it, they are even arrogant about it. 

What does Paul tell them they need to do?

Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 

The principle of church discipline is simple- it is the removal of someone from the fellowship whose life does not reflect their confession of Christ who refuses to repent and turn from their sin.

Now, saying that it is simple, does not mean that the process is simple or easy, but Paul is very clear here that the principle is simple. 

Remove them from among you. Now, as we go, we are going to get a full picture of what church discipline is, but for now, think of this as the foundation.

The Bible says there is a time when the church needs to remove someone from among them for sin.


Where this gets abused in some circles is that the church removes people for ridiculous reasons. I have heard of members being removed because they didn’t wear the appropriate clothes, or they didn’t agree on a tertiary doctrinal issue, or they questioned the pastor. These practices are abhorrent and are not inline with the principle Paul gives us here. 

Notice that Paul has not called the church to remove any of those who are being divisive over teachers, he hasn’t called the church to remove those that claim to be of Apollos or of Paul or of Peter. This is the only case where Paul calls the church to remove someone from fellowship. 

Why?

Because of the nature of the sin. It is public, it is ongoing, it is unrepentant, and it is even an affront to those outside the church. 

Church discipline is not supposed to be like a Salem witch hunt where we are constantly looking for any little sin to call out among our people.

This man has taken his step-mother into a relationship. Evidently from the lack of calling the church to remove her, she is probably a pagan who is not a believer, who is married to his father. 

Everyone knows this, it is not a secret, but an open rebellion against God, against the woman, and against the Father. And yet…

From Paul’s description, this man comes into the fellowship freely. He sings with them, he feasts with them, he partakes of the Lord’s Supper with them. They treat him like he is a brother in Christ. 

Moreover, it seems that they pride themselves on it. 

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Look at many church websites today and you will find the word ‘inclusive’ or a statement like ‘all of God’s children are welcome here’, or some other wink at sin, that says, you can be an open sinner and in defiance of God’s word and we will welcome you into fellowship. ‘Look at how tolerant we are’ has become the favored tagline in many of these so-called churches. Perhaps this was the case at Corinth, they were proud of how gracious and tolerant they were instead of being broken over sin. 


The principle of Church discipline is that God’s church has been called to reflect its savior.

Nowhere is that as clear as in 1 Peter 1.

1 Peter 1:14-19 (ESV) 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Where does the language of vs 16 come from? God when he is establishing his people, the nation of Israel. 

(ESV) 44 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.

God has always been concerned with the way his people live. 

By his very design they are to be distinct from the world. 

Exodus 19:5-6 (ESV) 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

This transfers to his church. Listen to the language Peter uses just a little later in his letter. 

1 Peter 2:9-12 (ESV) 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

The nation of Israel was called to portray God to the gentiles, they were to be a set apart, visibly distinct, a holy nation. Now Peter says that the church is to conduct herself honorably among the gentiles so that they may glorify God. 


This is the principle of church discipline within the context of our calling.If there is someone living in such a way within the church that brings reproach on the name of Christ, the church is to make a distinction and say they are not one of us.

Does that make sense?

So, the question is how do we do that as a church, which brings us to the next element…


The process of church discipline.

Let’s pick up in verse 3 of chapter 5 and read it together. 

3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

This is directly tied to what we studied last week on the subject of authority. We saw in those verses, the Apostle Paul establishing his Spiritual authority according to his relationship with the church. As he closes that section, he talks about the potential of having to discipline them when he comes, now he calls them to discipline themselves before he comes. 

One of the reasons I think he does this is because the process of church discipline is not imposed on a church from without but conducted from within. 

I believe this is Paul training the Corinthian church in how to handle cases of church discipline. 

Let’s try and walk through what Paul says here. 

For though absent in body- even though I am not with you physically

I am present in Spirit- I want you to understand that as your spiritual father, my heart and mind is with you. 

And as if present- If I was there physically, if I was an active member of the Corinthian church, I would have already pronounced judgment on someone like this. Notice here he says, on the one who did such a thing. Paul is making sure that they understand that church discipline is not limited to just the sexual immorality of this one situation with this man, but of any member who conducts themselves in such an egregious and openly defiant manner. 

So we have the principle applied- if I was there, and since I am there in Spirit, I condemn this open sin as something worthy of church discipline.

Now Paul is going to give them the process.

When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Whether this is a regular meeting of the church body or a special meeting, the importance is that the church has been assembled. 

Church discipline is something enacted by the majority not simply the leadership. 

Paul did not send Timothy to enact discipline, he did not write the elders of the church to enact discipline, he wrote the congregation and called them to enact church discipline. This is a corporate function in the same ways that worship, baptism, and the Lord’s supper are corporate elements. 

It is also a reminder that we do not assemble in any other name than the Lord’s. This is the Lord’s church and everything we do within our gatherings ought to be built off of clear instruction from the Lord or clear example from within his word. Ultimately, we must remember that this body belongs to the Lord and he has rule over it.

With the power of our Lord Jesus- with the strength and ability of Jesus. 

What does Paul want us to understand about church discipline?

That when done rightly, it is not an exercise of our power but of Christ’s power that he gave the church when he gave them the keys. We have the right and responsibility to act in Christ’s name when we have been given authority to do so. 

But I think there is more than that here as well. We also need the strength of the Lord to carry out our responsibilities. Practicing church discipline is hard, it's costly,  it’s painful, it hurts, and in our own power, we would rather avoid it all together. 

It is easier to look the other way, it is easier to minimize the damage of unrepentant sin within the church, right?

I mean, that is why so many churches simply skip over a text like this because it seems too hard. And it is, unless we are relying on the strength of Christ. 

Think about the Corinthians, this man was their friend, they worshiped together, they had eaten together, they had done life together, most likely he was baptized within their assembly.and now they were to put him out of the assembly. 

I cannot think of anything harder to do within the church.

But this is what Paul has said the church must do. Specifically, he follows up his  Let him who has done this be removed from among you with a stronger and more jarring description. 

5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

The verb tense is interesting here. Paul says I have decided to deliver this man over to satan. 

In this particular case of church discipline, the apostle Paul is speaking authoritatively, and is asking the church to both agree with his decision and enact the discipline on his behalf. 


As I said before, I believe this is part of Paul discipling the Corinthians in the process of church discipline. This case is so vile and so public, that I have already rendered judgment as though I was among you, now I want you to carry it out in the authority given to you by Jesus. 

The phrase deliver this man to Satan is difficult for us to understand, but is common in Paul’s langage. 

1 Timothy 1:18-20 (ESV) 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Even if we cannot fully understand what Paul means, there are implications from it that we can grasp. 

One, the Bible says that the world is under the influence of Satan. By putting a person outside of the church, Paul says they are put back into the realm and power of Satan. 

Two, that inversely, someone who is in the faith, who is part of the body is insulated against the influence of Satan because although we are in the world, we are not of the world. 


Now, I don’t think that as some teach that there is some magical power within the church, but what I do think is if you take the things we have been learning. That the armor of God is a corporate reality, that we stand shoulder to shoulder with one another. That the church encourages us, strengthens us, ministers to us, calls us to battle, that the table of the Lord strengthens us spiritually, then to be outside of it is to be weakened in the spiritual battle against the enemy.  

But even the enemy serves God’s purposes. Notice what Paul says, handed over for the destruction of the flesh, he does not say destruction of the body. I do not think he means death here, but rather the flesh in the sense of the natural man that has an obvious hold on this man. 

He is living in two worlds, he is gathering with the body and yet living in the flesh. He is enjoying all the benefits of belonging but living as though he doesn’t. 

Here is what I think Paul is saying, by putting him out of the fellowship, he will feel the full weight of his sin and the prayer is that he will turn from it and be saved. 

The goal of church discipline is salvation of an individual. 

By putting someone out of the church what are we saying?

We can no longer affirm your salvation because of the evidence of your life and therefore we cannot continue to treat you like you are a believer. 

This is why church discipline is not to be enacted frivolously and without much prayer. 

But why? Why go through this process? Why uphold this principle? This brings us to our next element. 


The purpose of church discipline.

Let’s pick up in verse 6. 

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul picks up on their arrogance that he addressed in verse 2. 

Your boasting is not good. 

Boasting here has the idea of glorying in something, being proud of something. 

From the context, my best guess is, as I said earlier, that they were proud of their tolerant attitude towards this sinning man in their church. 

It is not good. Not for the man and not for the church.

Why not? What does it hurt to gather non-believers within the church proper and make no distinction? Why can’t they fully participate in the life of the church?

Paul asks a rhetorical question to get to the root issue.  Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? The answer is of course you know this. This might not be as evident of an analogy for us, but in their culture, every family knew the process to make bread. 

The fact is that it only takes a little leavening agent and it is only a matter of time before the whole batch of dough is affected by the leaven. 

Paul is going to use that understanding to connect the purpose of church discipline within the church, by using the Old Covenant practice of celebrating the passover festival. 

Verse 7 introduces the first of two imperatives or commands within our text. 

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump-

In preparation for the festival of Passover beginning with Passover and extending seven days after, the Jewish people would carefully clean out their houses to ensure that no leaven remained and all that they would eat at Passover and for the next seven days was unleavened bread. 

So thorough was their instruction, that God says, (ESV) No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, (Deuteronomy 16:4)

God tells his people, the reason they are to eat this unleavened bread, or bread of affliction, bread of misery is to commemorate their deliverance from Egypt where they had to leave in such a rush their bread did not have time to leaven. 

Paul is going to use this contrast of old leaven and unleavened dough to draw out realities in a Christian’s life. 

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, that is an unleavened batch of dough.

As you really are unleavened. 

Here is the tension we saw in the very beginning of Paul’s letter, Christians live in the inbetween. 

We have already received Christ’s righteousness. We have already been declared positionally righteous with the Father, we have been set apart, but we are commanded to conform our lives through the power of the Spirit to match our positional standing.

For Christ, our passover lamb has been sacrificed. 

The atonement has been made, the leaven cleaned out, Christ’s death ushered in a new reality for believers. Which brings us to Paul’s application.

8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul relates our current position to those on the other side of Passover but not yet to the solemn assembly of the Sabbath. Listen to what God says to his people concerning the festival.

Deuteronomy 16:8 (ESV) 8 For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it.

Paul says we are in the five days between passover and sabbath and God expects us to act accordingly. For the Israelites, that meant making sure that there was no leaven anywhere to be found within their nation. 

Here’s the thing that is interesting to me as a bread maker. Do you know how you make leaven?

The way I started our sourdough was to mix flour and water and wait. There are naturally occurring yeast all around us that settle on the mixture and begin the leavening process.

The Jews understand this today, when they make bread, from mixing to baking has to be under 18 minutes, because dough is considered to start the leavening process 18 minutes from the time you mix flour and water.

So imagine celebrating the festival of unleavened bread. From day to day you made your bread for that dough. If just one lump of dough, one piece, got left in the bowl, or on the scraper, etc… by the next day, that would be considered leaven. 

What do you think they would do then? They would make sure that none remained and if they found any, it would be removed immediately so as not to contaminate the bread for that day. 

Are you seeing the picture Paul is painting?


Paul says leaven in the church is malice and evil but unleavened bread is sincerity and truth.

Wickedness and depravity or purity and truth.

Why do we practice church discipline when we see evidence of wickedness or depravity, because it has the potential to affect the entire church. Because we have been called to pursue purity in our lives and live in light of the truths revealed in scripture.

A little open unrepentant sin here or there quickly affects the entire body until the whole batch has been corrupted. Church discipline is the process Christ instituted for us to keep the church pure.


Paul essentially tells us here that church discipline is the way we cleanse out the old leaven, the things that do not fit with who Christ had made us to be by his atoning sacrifice. 

If the purity of the church matters, then church discipline will inevitably need to be practiced in every church in some way or another.  When should it be done, against whom should it be practiced. These practical questions are what Paul addresses next. The last element we are going to look at is…


The pattern of church discipline.

Paul’s focus shifts in these verses to correcting the way they interpreted his previous letter, one that we do not have, often referred to as the lost Corinthian epistle. 

In that letter he told them not to associate with sexually immoral people. 

So what gives? They are clearly associating with such a man within the church.

Let’s pick up in verse 9.

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 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. 11 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. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Verse 10, not at all meaning those in the world. There it is. 

They had taken Paul’s meaning to mean that they should withdraw from the world and have no dealings with anyone outside the church that was living a sinful lifestyle. 

The sexual immoral, the greedy, the swindlers, the idolaters. 

So they applied his instruction to those outside of the church but not within the church. 

Paul here tells them they got it backwards. 

He says, if you were going to do that, you would need to go out of the world. 

Disregarding Paul’s apparent sarcasm, there are certain sects of believers, who seem to have taken this as a challenge. So they withdraw from the world, they build communities, neighborhoods, business, families with the intention of being as separated from the world as possible. 

This is Paul’s point, the world is full of sinners. If you tried to live in such a way that you had no association with a sexually immoral person at all, you would find it almost an impossible task. 


According to Paul the church is to evangelize the world, but reserve disciplining sin for within its own ranks. 

But now I am writing to you- let me clear up the confusion, my instruction applies to whom? Anyone who bears the name of brother. Anyone who claims the name of Christ, anyone who calls himself or herself a follower of Christ, who is guilty of sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, reviler, drunkard, or swindler. 

Paul’s list here includes. 

Those who are practicing unlawful sexual relations, which is any sexual relationship outside the confines of a covenant, life long marriage between one man and one woman. 

Someone who is covetous and eager to have more, especially that which belongs to others. 

Someone whose life displays worship of and devotion to something other than God. 

Someone who is verbally abusive.

Someone who is controlled by intoxicating substances. 

Someone who takes advantage of others in order to profit. 

An almost identical list makes an appearance in our next text in chapter 6 as well, where Paul says, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) 9 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, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 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.


Why do those who are practicing these lifestyles not belong in the fellowship of the church, because the church, by definition, is made of those who have been called out. Out of death into life, out of darkness into light, out of the kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of Christ. 

Those who are regenerated have been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Christ, by the Holy Spirit. They are a new creation and the old lives do not fit with the new ones in Christ.

This is why Paul says that not even to eat with such a one. 

Who is such a one? A person who claims to be a Christian but whose life does not reflect it. 

How are we to treat them? We are not to associate with them. Literally, to mix up together. To have close fellowship with. So much that Paul says not to even eat with such a one. Scholars differ on how to interpret this passage. Is the reference here the Lord’s Supper only, or does it include the supper but also extend into the love feasts that were common in the first century church, or does it include the Lord’s Supper, the love feast, and any other private meal?

How far the implications are must be a source of wisdom and discernment for a church and the individual situation, but at the very least, it means that we should not welcome them to the Lord’s table in sharing the commemoration of our Lord’s death on behalf of his people. 


Paul concludes this section with a last rebuke and a restatement of his command.

 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 

Shouldn’t you have understood me when I said do not associate with the sexually immoral? What do I have to do with judging those outside the church? The purview of our church discipline is inside focused. 

Paul says God will judge those outside. 

But you, you purge the evil person from among you. Again, Paul reaches back into the Old Testament to grab language that would be no doubt familiar to some of them with Jewish backgrounds. The command ‘purge the evil person from among you’ is repeated when God is giving his judicial law to his people as a theocratic nation. 

God tells the people that any prophet that tries to lead them into idolatry or the worship of other Gods, any man or a woman who gone after and served other gods and worshiped them, anyone who disobeys the judgment of the Levitical priest who is acting in an official capacity,  anyone who is a stubborn rebellious gluttonous drunk child, or an adulterous man or woman should be put to death and thereby purging the evil person from among you. 

In God’s direct theocratic government of his people, gross violations of the thrice Holy God, were met with death. 

In the same way, Paul says the church is not to tolerate someone who claims to belong to God but lives a life in open and direct violation of God’s law.  

But just like God gave Israel specific commands on how to go about carrying out these cases, about establishing guilt or innocence, Christ gave us commands on how to go about carrying out church discipline. We find this in Matthew 18. 

Matthew 18:15-20 (ESV) 15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”


The sphere of church discipline is those within the church who claim to be believers, the process for going about it is clear from Matthew. Go to them one on one, if they do not repent, take one or two others, if they do not repent, tell the gathered congregation, the church. If they refuse to listen to the church, let them be to you as a gentile and a tax collector. 

In this context, for the Jews, the message would be, regardless of who they say they are, their life and unrepentant sin prove otherwise, church discipline is then treating them the way you would an outsider. Which would be sharing the gospel, calling them to repentance, and praying for their salvation. 


Conclusion-

And so Paul lays out for us church discipline as he recommends the Corinthian church to enact it against this sexually immoral man, and in doing so, instructs us on how a church ought to enact discipline against egregious sin. This is one of the ways the church pursues purity. 


This morning we looked at the principle, the process, the purpose, and the pattern of church discipline. Here’s where I want to land. 

If you take nothing else away from this morning, let it be this. As believers who belong to one another. each of us and the way we choose to live our life has an impact on everyone else who belongs to the body. We must pursue purity in our own lives and in the life of the church. 

That begins with a willingness to evaluate our own lives first and foremost. 

Is there any unrepentant sin in your life? Is there an area of your life that is not under the control of and surrendered to the Lord? Let’s seek him this morning, and pray like David did, 

Psalms 139:23-24 (ESV) 

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!


Let us pray.



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