1 Corinthians 5:12,13 - Expel the wicked person from among you

5:12,13

We see here an attitude very different from that we find in much of the church today. There is no messing about in the attitude and action towards the immoral brother. He is to be expelled. Despite what numerous idiots say, we are to judge those within the church. This is out of respect for God’s ways, out of love and care for the church, and out of love and care for the sinner! But we do not concern ourselves with judging the world, judging those who are outside the church.

So how should this play out in the major sexual morality issue of the day, the LGBT issues? First we must teach and practice Biblical standards within the church. Those who propose accepting LGBT as OK, and maybe practise it themselves are acting in direct disobedience to God. We should stop being “nice” about this. Theirs is not an alternative viewpoint, they are rebelling against God.

But what about the world? Should we seek to influence the world? Here the question is very difficult and complicated. First we should not be surprised that the world has a different standard of morality than God! At one level, letting the world get on with it, as long as we continue to proclaim the truth, so people can repent and turn to Christ would be OK, but that is not the whole picture. On the one hand, many are seeking to stop the church doing even that, they want a complete celebration of LGBT matters, and brook no dissent. So prepare for persecution. But there is more to it than than. The standards that a society adopts matter, they affect the lives of its citizens for good or ill. A society that promotes and respects marriage (Biblical definition!) will fare better than one that adopts the LGBT agenda. Children’s lives have already been adversely affected by the breakdown of marriage in the West. So there are positive reasons for Christians seeking to influence the direction of society. But where does that leave Paul’s words “what business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” I think it means we are not to take any action against those outside the church. We must ensure proper Biblical standards are maintained within the church, we should seek to influence the direction of society by proper argument, but in the temporal context it is for civil governments to decide what laws the society has and the enforcement of those laws. Notice also the start of v13, “God will judge those outside”. There will be consequences for a society that rebels against God’s ways, but it is God’s responsibility to deal with that, it is our responsibility to deal with what happens within the church.
I have discussed the issues raised within the context of LGBT matters, and have done so because it in many ways encapsulates problems within the church. However, we should also note that here it is a heterosexual sin issue that Paul is dealing with. Moreover, we need to recognise that heterosexual sin is a far bigger problem both within the church and within society. Numerically it is far more prevalent, and its social effects go far deeper and wider. It seems that much of the church does not really bother about sex before marriage anymore. The essence of this section is that we need to deal with problems within the church, and we need to do that in the whole area of sexuality, especially with regard to heterosexual matters.