Forgiveness

What can sometimes make discipline cases even harder than they already are is when the person believes that their moral or ethical misbehavior is a private thing, and is really none of the church’s business. If we are inclined to think that way, we need to study this chapter because Paul says quite the opposite. It is the business of the church and, moreover, it reflects more on the church than it does on the individual if the church fails to deal with the sin.

Paul begins chapter 5 by describing the offense. First of all, we notice that it was a significant transgression. What it actually involved was a sexual sin in which, as Paul says, a man has his father’s wife. That Paul does not use “mother” to describe the woman is generally taken to mean that the man was living with his stepmother. It does not say whether his father was living, or divorced, or what the particular circumstances were. The important thing is that it is an offense against the law of God and, as Paul says in the passage, even against the proper understanding of morality among the pagans.

When we begin to look at a specific sinful situation within the church as not only being a problem for the individuals involved but for the whole church, we begin to have an uneasy sense that we are describing a lot of what goes on in the Christian Church today. It may not be this particular offense. But there are certainly other significant and public violations of the moral law of God in churches, and there is a tendency to say, “Well, you mustn’t be judgmental. After all, you mustn’t hang out the dirty laundry for everybody to see. You must be loving in these situations.” And so no action is taken. When sin is treated that way, the holiness of the church is called into question, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is slandered.

The second reason why the offender has to be treated in this way is for the good of the church. He does not want this church in Corinth to go on in the ways of the world. They already have the mentality of the world so far as wisdom is concerned. They think the way to get ahead is to be smart in the philosophical sense and not to seek out the wisdom of the Gospel found in Christ. But just as they are in danger of being worldly in terms of wisdom, so they are in danger of doing the same thing morally.

I want to look at 2 Corinthians 2 because there we learn how this particular situation concluded. By the time Paul writes 2 Corinthians, a period of time has gone by. The purpose for which Paul had the church deliver this offender to Satan has been accomplished. The man has realized the loss and pain of being separated from the body of Christ. He has demonstrated sorrow and has repented of his sin. Now, when we come to 2 Corinthians, Paul tells the church that he wants them to forgive him and restore him to their fellowship once again.