Spend time in prayer and silence with God, asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
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 put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast –as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore keep the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people–not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
– 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, 6-11
Devotion
Here Paul takes on a very sensitive issue. At the church in Corinth, there was a man who was openly in a sexually immoral relationship. Instead of addressing this sin issue, the church leaders turned a blind eye to this situation. Paul likens this to the power or influence of yeast. Paul’s concern was the influence this person would have in the life of the church. If not dealt with, this could have a very negative impact on the life of the church and community. Paul uses strong language here. He is dealing with a very grievous sin. The church was compromising with this evil. Paul is clearly saying that flagrant sin in the church must be dealt with. Jesus gives us the guidelines on how to proceed in these situations in Matthew chapter eighteen. They did not carry out this procedure in Corinth. They condoned this sin by doing nothing about it. I once read, “A pure church is a powerful church; and an impure church is a paralyzed church.”
The Big Question
Is there any sin issue in your life that could negatively impact your testimony for Christ? Do you feel Paul’s correction is too harsh here? Paul’s standard is applied to those who claim to be believers. Why does he not have the same standard toward unbelievers?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence, reflecting on what God revealed to you today.