Immorality Rebuked
Many a time throughout the journey of this life we can find ourselves judging other's without a moments hesitation, many a time we do it based on a small sample of the whole truth and then our prejudicial beliefs and values have a tendency to fill in the gaps. In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul addresses the issue of immorality within the Body of Christ, it's important to note that throughout the whole chapter he is referring not to the unbeliever, but the believer alone. He brings to attention the fact that professed Christians were having sexual relations with their stepmothers 1Co 5:1.
He states, "How, then, can you be proud? On the contrary, you should be filled with sadness, and the man who has done such a thing should be expelled from your fellowship." In these times in which we live I feel it is important, now more than ever, that we as bond-servants of Jesus Christ, exercise discernment amongst the brethren. This isn't to say we should be overly critical of everyone with a differing opinion on peripheral topics that have no influence on our salvation, topics such as the 'snatching away/rapture' for example, see 1Th 4:13-18 It is to say that we should take heed to the words of the apostle Paul when he said in 1Co 5:11 "What I meant was that you should not associate with a person who calls himself a believer but is immoral or greedy or worships idols or is a slanderer or a drunkard or a thief. Don't even sit down to eat with such a person."
Just recently in a village near my home the local priest withdrew from his position in the church because he has been charged with two accounts of money fraud. This is only one example of those outwardly claiming to be Godly when in actual fact they are inwardly the very immoral persons that the apostle Paul warned us not to associate with. The reason I gave the example was because without discernment we cannot possibly know who's manner of conduct aligns with the words that come out of their mouth.
Paul goes on to say, "After all, it is none of my business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the members of your own fellowship? As the scripture says, “Remove the evil person from your group.” 1Co 5:12-13. The take home message when reading this chapter is that whilst it's important to maintain the high moral standard God made known in the person of Jesus, so as not to become tempted and molded by the pleasures of the world, at the same time we need to remember the world judges the body by the actions of all it's members. As Paul said in 1Co 5:11 "What I meant was that you should not associate with a person who calls himself a believer but is immoral or greedy or worships idols or is a slanderer or a drunkard or a thief. Don't even sit down to eat with such a person."
That said, we are all just as valuable in the eyes of God and no one is above or below another in terms of their soul's worth, as bond-servants of Christ and joint heirs with Him, we should intercede for such people through effectual prayer with sincerity of heart. Sometimes love can be tough, as long at it comes from the perspective of saving someone's soul from an eternity of pain and torment we are called to speak up, all the while making sure we sanctify Christ in our heart so that our words may be filled with grace.
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