The Prodigal Sinner

1 Cor 5:1-5

"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord."

In reading over various commentaries in order to shed light on verse 5, I am dismayed at the self-imposed limitations of the commentators who actually believe that miracles were only for the early church and ceased to exist with the passing of the Apostles. There can be no Scriptural argument made to support this cessacionist view. The only foundation for this view is a sad experiential  argument in which the power of the Holy Spirit is diminished and only logical arguments void of that power remain.

The fact of the matter is that the entire letter to the Corinthians is an argument to the contrary. Why would the Apostle Paul have spent so much time instructing on the miraculous and the supernatural and why would the Holy Spirit preserved it to this day, if there was no application that would survive the Apostle's lifetime? There are many writings that have been lost to us (Including the actual first letter to the Corinthians).  If this letter survives it is because the instruction contained within has value to us even today. God still performs miracles and imparts supernatural gifts. The instruction given by Paul is a  "how-to" guide for naturally-supernatural living. God's Spirit's power is active and is available to us today.

Now, having said that, it does little to help us understand verse 5. It appears that Paul is talking about unrepentant and willful sin within the context of the church. He is talking about sin that is known and not only tolerated but condoned.

Let's be clear about one thing. There are members of every church that sin. It is the nature of the beast. The church is made up of human beings and as long as we are in this shell we will sin from time to time. It is the job of the church to win over the sinner with love in order to drive the individual to repentance so that the person can experience the mercy of His forgiveness and atonement.

Still, some resist that love. Some do not acknowledge that they are in sin.  For example, our church welcomes everyone to come just as they are. There are couples that attend our services that are living together out of wedlock. We welcome them just as they are, but we also make it clear that the Bible says that their choice of lifestyle is a sin before God and encourage them to stop living together and if they are meant to be together, then to get married. While they are welcome to attend in their sinful state, they are encouraged to do what is right and they are not allowed to become members until they do so.

There are many in liberal modern churches who do not do this. They consider these things to be personal choices. Moreover, they excuse them because of the love of Christ. Those in sin therefore do not acknowledge that they are in sin and continue defiantly in that sin.

The Apostle Paul, wishing them to be saved, excommunicates them so that others within the body might not also be tempted with their sin. He also does it knowing full well that outside the fellowship of the body of Christ they will endure the consequences of their sin in their flesh. In other words, before the prodigal comes back, he has to experience hunger and the shame of the pig pen. The addict must experience the pain of their addiction. Those sexually immoral will have to experience the loss of relationship and possibly the consequence of sexually transmitted diseases.

This is not something, as the commentators try to tell us, that is limited only to Apostolic authority. It  is the responsibility of the leadership of each local body to enforce this kind of discipline. Again, let me make this clear, this is only for the most drastic cases of unrepentant and willful sin among members of the church. The goal is not punishment but consequence leading to repentance and ultimately, salvation.