From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part eight (final) of a series. Read part seven.

Why does God command His remnant to put unrepentant sinners out of the church and back into the world?

In our last article, we saw the Biblical principle that God sometimes adds to the remnant - both in spiritual strength and in physical numbers - through the subtraction of those who refuse to obey Him. We find an example that is especially relevant for the church in our time, in Paul's epistles to the Corinthians. He called on the church to do something that was extremely difficult and seemingly counterintuitive. But when the remnant did its duty, there was a glorious result.

The Corinthian Situation

The condition of the church at Corinth, perhaps more than any other in Scripture, parallels the condition of the nominally Evangelical church in our time. In Acts chapter eighteen we read that the Corinthian church began well under the ministry of the Apostle Paul. But soon after his departure the believers began to fall back under the influences of the paganism and worldly philosophies from which they had been redeemed.

The symptoms of this backsliding were many. The church brought worldly practices into its worship, and with them came confusion and disorder. People partook of the Lord's Supper in a pagan manner. Preacher worship, factionalism, internal strife, materialism, and a pridefully wrong approach to the matter of spiritual gifts, all gripped the church.

The Corinthian church actually forgot the content of the Gospel message, and the manner in which it had come to them, and they had to learn these things all over again.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul poured out the ache of his pastoral heart over all of these things, and called the church back to an uncompromising stand for the truth as it is found in Christ alone.

Paul's Horror: Immorality in the Remnant

Paul expressed his greatest horror over one particular sin that was, in many ways, emblematic of the depths to which the Corinthian church had descended:

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles - that a man has his father's wife! And you are puffed up [literally, swollen with arrogance], and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)

We live in a time when sexual immorality has become commonplace in the nominally Evangelical church. Trivialization of sin - even arrogance about sin - is one of the most telling signs of the corruption of the church.

Examples abound. According to a recent survey, 19% of those who are living with a partner outside of marriage identify themselves as Evangelical Christians.[1] A well-known mega-church that is built on the Purpose-Driven Church model found that although 91% of its people stated that their highest value in life is having a deep personal relationship with God, 25% of the church's singles, 38% of its single parents, and 41% of its divorced members "admitted to having illicit sexual relationships in the last 6 months."[2]

Postmodern church-growth paradigms affirm people in their sins, and do not confront them from Scripture with their need for true repentance and faith in Christ. Today's typical preacher does not confront people with the Biblical teaching that those who are truly born from above will conduct their lives in a way that is radically different from the world around them, as a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Often a focus on "acceptance" and "affirmation" means that today's church turns a blind eye to mankind's total depravity, the eternal consequences of sin, and the immense price that had to be paid for sinners' redemption by the Son of God Himself. The Bible's clarion call to repentance and faith in Christ is being supplanted by a therapeutic "gospel" that leaves people feeling better about themselves, but still eternally lost.

Religious bookstores (it would be an insult to Christ to call most of them "Christian" anymore) are full of books that supposedly present the Gospel of God's provision of salvation from sin for eternity. But instead they offer nothing more than psychological self-help for the here and now.

Joel Osteen's, Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day, is typical. The pastor of the largest nominally Evangelical church in America radically twists Scripture as he helps lead the growing chorus of those who trivialize sin, while also promoting a prosperity "gospel" and trivializing marriage. Osteen writes:

The Scripture urges, "Let us come boldly to the throne of grace." Why?

"To receive mercy for our failures."[3]

Here Osteen supposedly quotes Hebrews 4:16, which is in the context of a powerful exposition of man's sin and unbelief, the Bible's ability to expose the depths of our sinfulness before God, and the work of Christ as the High Priest who shed His own blood to pay the debt of our sins. Hebrews 4:16 actually says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy" - not for mere "failure" but for sins that nailed the Son of God to the cross - "and find grace to help in time of need."

But Osteen ignores this as he goes on:

Don't pray, "Oh, God, I blew it again. I'm a miserable failure as a parent. I lost my temper. I yelled at my kids. I know I don't deserve anything good in life."

No, if you want to receive something good from God, come to Him humbly and with reverence, but come to Him with boldness. "God, I've made mistakes, but I know you love me, and I'm asking for forgiveness; I'm receiving Your mercy. Then go out expecting God's blessings and favor...

...Especially in relationships that don't work out [and Osteen makes it clear that cohabiting relationships are among those he has in mind], you may hear that voice telling you, "You are to blame. You're not attractive enough. You didn't try hard enough."

...Quit receiving all the accusations. Quit allowing the condemning voices to take root, crowding out the good things of God in your life. Some people are practically addicted to guilt. They don't know what it's like to feel good about themselves..."[4]

How God's Remnant Must View Sin

Is this how the Bible speaks? Is this how God's remnant is to think? Is sin tolerable? Is sin merely a "mistake" - a "failure" - a "wrong choice" - or "bad behavior"? Not at all.

How does God define sin in His Word? Sin is any lack of conformity to, or violation of, the law of God (1 John 3:4, Romans 4:15). As such, it is the most serious problem in the universe.

Sin is not merely an offense against God's law, which emanates from the holiness of God. That is bad enough. But beyond that, sin is an offense against God the Lawgiver Himself (Exodus 32:33, Deuteronomy 32:51, Psalm 51:4), and it is an offense by creature against Creator (Ezekiel 18:4).

Sin is a doubly-deep problem, and man is doubly condemned as both a sinner by nature (Romans 5:12, Psalm 51:5) and by choice (Romans 3:23, James 2:10).

The Apostle Paul calls the Corinthian church back to this Biblical view of sin, and to the imperative of holiness among the remnant. He does so by 1.) stating a principle, 2.) reminding them of their position, 3.) pointing them to their sole source of authority, and 4.) declaring what God requires of them.

The Principle: "A Little Leaven"

The principle Paul states is the imperative of separation from sin and its deadly effects that we find throughout the Word of God:

Your glorying is not good. [Literally, "Your basis of boasting is dishonorable."] Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out [literally, thoroughly clean out] the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. (1 Corinthians 5:6-7)

Leaven is a picture of sin and its effects throughout Scripture. God used it to picture the spiritual adultery of Israel (Hosea 7:4), the false doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:6, 12), and the Galatians' acceptance of "another gospel" (Galatians 5:9).

Here in First Corinthians, Paul states the often-repeated principle that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump" - a "little sin" not dealt with spreads through the entire body of believers and beyond. The Corinthians' sin did not begin with the horror of incest and prideful tolerance of that sin, but that is where "a little leaven" took the remnant as sin grew.

Their Position: The Church vs. The World

Paul also reminds God's remnant of their position, as he does so often in his epistles. He says, "You are truly unleavened" (verse 7). That is the true position of every believer in Christ. In Romans Paul puts it this way:

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin....

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Romans 6:5-6, 12-13)

Paul further reminds the Corinthian remnant of the significance of their position in view of their present backsliding:

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner - not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

Here is a further principle, so grossly ignored both by the Corinthians and by the church in our day: God's remnant lives in the midst of a fallen world, but believers must keep the fallen world's sinful influence out of the remnant. If someone has taken the identity of "brother" or is viewed as such by others, but exhibits a consistent pattern of sin, "put away from yourselves [literally, take away from among you] the evil person."

Their Authority: Christ and the Word

In this passage Paul also reminds them of their dual authority for taking such a stand against the leaven of sin.

When Paul says, "Put away from yourselves the evil person," he quotes a phrase that appears in various forms over 35 times in the Old Testament. His point is this: As God commanded Israel to put away evil from among them, so God commands His true Church today. Speaking in the name of Christ, Paul exhorts the true believers of Corinth to separate from themselves those who said they were believers, but exhibited a consistent pattern of sinful conduct. Their authority to do so is Scriptural authority.

Paul also reminds them that their authority to do this is not authority that they exercise on their own account. It is authority in the name of the Head of the Church:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 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. (1 Corinthians 5:4-5)

God's Requirement: "Deliver Such a One to Satan"

Lastly, Paul exhorts them to do that which they must do, as a body of believers, under the authority of Scripture and in the name of Christ: "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."

The Greek word translated "deliver" in verse four is a strong one. It signifies a judicial decision to give someone over into the hands of the agent of punishment or correction. It is the excommunication of the professed believer whose unrepented sin endangers the church - putting that person out of the circle of Christian worship and fellowship by casting him into Satan's realm, the world-system.

Why is this drastic step to be taken? "For the destruction of the flesh." This is divine chastening for sin which can, in the most extreme case, lead to physical debility and even death. This is a serious but necessary step for the church to take. It is not something we could ever do on our own authority, but God in His grace has given His people that authority.

All of this is for the protection of the remnant. The unrepentant person who is put out of the church and shunned by the remnant ("do not even eat with such a person") may experience great suffering under God's judgment. But while he is in that state, he will not be an evil influence on the remnant.

The underlying principle, which is indeed a "hard saying" of Scripture, is this: The unrepentant professing believer will more likely be saved (or be cured of his backsliding) when he has been "delivered unto Satan" than if the church continued to tolerate and accept him within the body.

Does God Use Satan's Works?

We may shrink from the thought of delivering someone to Satan. But God does indeed use even the workings of Satan for His glory. We find a similar situation in First Timothy chapter one:

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18-20)

The specific sin of Hymenaeus and Alexander was false teaching (see 2 Timothy 2:17 and 4:14-15). Paul, in the name of Christ, removed their influence by putting them out of the church, at the same time removing them from the protection of the remnant. They were no longer within the circle of God's blessing but outside it, under Satan's control, but for God's purpose - "that they may learn not to blaspheme."

As we search the Scriptures we find that it is not unusual for God to turn believers over to Satan, within His sovereign limits and for His glorious purposes. This was certainly true of Job (Job 1:1-22).

It was also true of Peter:

And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." (Luke 22:21-32)

These and other examples show us that God may take such a step to reveal the genuineness of a person's saving faith, or to keep a believer humble and dependent upon Him, or to enable him to strengthen others. But there is also the case, with which Paul deals in First Corinthians chapter five, where God's dual purpose is to keep His remnant holy by removing and dealing with the unrepentant sinner outside the protective sphere of the remnant.

The Result

In the Corinthian case, what was the result? The sinner who was put out, who was delivered over to Satan "for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved," did indeed repent. There was godly sorrow not just on the part of the grievous sinner, but on the part of the entire remnant which had tolerated him in their midst for a time.

For even if I made you sorry with my [first] letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort. (2 Corinthians 7:8-13)

Although the remnant was reduced in number for a time, in the end they "suffered loss... in nothing." And Paul instructed them to take this serious and difficult step not merely because of his concern for the wrongdoer or the for one who had suffered by his wrongdoing, but because of his pastoral care for the entire body of believers.

Earlier in the same epistle, Paul also instructs the remnant to receive the repentant sinner back into the fellowship with love, forgiveness, and comfort - not as a spiritual second-class citizen:

And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent - not to be too severe.

This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2:3-11)

Thus, that which began in ignominious backsliding and led to the anguish of excommunication came full circle in the restoration of the sinning individual - and the sinning remnant - to the glory of God.

Not The Easy Thing, But the Right Thing

It is a great understatement to say that all of this is the antithesis of the position of the vast majority of nominally Evangelical churches today. Under the postmodern church-growth mindset, far too often it is not the unrepentant sinners but those who oppose sin within the body who are put out of the church. They are viewed as troublemakers and disturbers of the peace, when in fact they are true servants of righteousness.

The late Dr. J. Vernon McGee used to say that the principle involved is as simple as this: You don't put a healthy child in the same room with his sick friend in order to make the sick child well. It is a fundamental law of this fallen world that the opposite will happen! You remove the sick child, and administer the needed remedies until he is healthy again. The sick child might not like the remedies, and the healthy child may not like the separation from his playmate, but it is for the good of both. And so it is also in God's remnant.

References:

1. The U. S. Religious Landscape Survey 2008, available online at http://religions.pewforum.org/, page 68. This survey was conducted by The Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life, a research arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

2. A survey conducted by George Barna as reported in G. A. Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services: Evaluating a New Way of Doing Church (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1996), p. 236.

3. Joel Osteen, Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007), page 90.

4. Osteen, page 91.

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