TOLERATING SIN [1 Cor. 5]
Corinth had great potential for doing much good in the kingdom of God. Yet, one of the reasons she was having such difficulty was she was tolerant of sin found among some of her members.
Paul states the problem in v. 1...a member "has" his father's wife. We understand the following:
However, this wasn't the real problem plaguing the Corinthian church. The problem Paul attacks is how the church was responding. The immorality was "among" the saints and had not been dealt with (v. 1). Additionally, it was common knowledge among the citizens of Corinth; it was "reported." Finally, what made matters worse was this problem would not even be found among "Gentiles" (unbelievers). How could Corinth do any good for Christ, the gospel when wickedness was running rampant through the church?!?
Instead of grieving over the damage caused, the saints were "puffed up" in their pride & arrogance (v. 2a). A disdain for sin should have led them to "remove such a one from their midst" (v. 2b) instead of "boasting" about it (v. 6a). For his part, though absent in body, Paul had done so & encouraged the brethren to do likewise (v. 3). Such action was not mean or hard-hearted; it was redemptive (v. 5). Paul invoked the authority of the Lord, and teaches us that is how to handle such problems (vv. 4-5, 13b).
Tolerating sin not only jeopardizes the one in sin, it also threatens to poison the rest of the body (v. 6b). The real issue is fellowship with God. If a church tolerates sin, that only emboldens others to think they can become involved in some sin and still have fellowship with God. Not so! (1 Jn. 1:5)
I have been a member of a local church where the situation was similar to what Corinth faced. We were getting a bad name in the community. We forgot the church is God's temple (1 Cor. 3:17). His honor & holiness was at stake. Tolerating sin did not work at Corinth. It won't for us, either.
