Scripture: "So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the sinful nature so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord" (5:4-5).
Observation: This is a difficult passage. For one, the language is difficult. It is not clear why the church in Corinth would be "proud" of the sexual sin that Paul is pointing out (5:2). Also, it is difficult to reconcile Paul's suggestion to publicly confront the man with Jesus' words in Matthew 18:15-17. It may be that the man had already been confronted privately, refused to change, and the church decided to just move on and ignore it. However it came to this, Paul recommends an extreme and public form of discipline. And he stresses how important it is for the church to deal with open, willful sin among its members. Even a "little yeast" works its way through the whole church if it is not dealt with.
Application: Do I sometimes take sin too lightly? I should not. It is true that "we are all sinners...", but maybe sometimes this is a flippant and wrong response. I should not have a light hearted attitude towards open rebellion by a brother or sister in Christ. Although I might not seek the confrontation, if we have God's attitude toward sin then we will be compelled to confront it within the church.
Prayer: Father God, you have been speaking to me the last couple of days about this idea of rebuke. Give me the ability to learn what I need to learn from your word. And help me to have Your mindset towards sin and not a lazy headed or jaded mindset.
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