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Purge Sin Out of the Church

The purity of the Lord’s church is vitally important to Him.  The Lord knows the power of sin and the destruction that sin can cause in the life of individuals and even in the church.  We would do well today if we would comprehend and appreciate the devastating effects that Satan and sin will have on the church when left unchecked.

This lesson is so vividly taught to the church at Corinth.  When willful sin penetrated the church at Corinth, instead of remorse and concern for the salvation of the brother and the sanctity of the church, the response was one of pride, acceptance and glorying in the evil deed.  The Corinthian church had completely lost sight that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6).

The sinful act of this brother had separated him from God (cf. Isa. 59:1-2; Rom. 6:23).  The church had a responsibility to the brother—to “exhort [him] daily” (Heb. 3:13), to turn him “from the error of his way” (James 5:19-20), to call upon him to “repent [of his] wickedness, and pray God” to forgive him (Acts 8:12), and “restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1).  But, the church’s responsibility was not only to this brother; they had a responsibility to the Lord’s church and to their own souls.

After Paul calls upon those who are “spiritual” to “restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness,” he gives one reason for doing so—“considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).  When sin is in the camp, sin can be devastatingly contagious and cause others to sin.  That’s what Galatians 6:1 is teaching.  That’s what “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” means.

Christians have a responsibility to one another to keep each other from the dreadful temptations and effects of the evil one.  That responsibility of looking out for each other’s souls goes so far that if the impenitent brother will not return, the church is to “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5).

This is not only “that he may be ashamed” (2 Thess. 3:14), but also that the church might be saved and spared the obvious leavening/spreading of sinful behavior when it is left unchecked and given acceptance within the body of Christ.  The purity of the Lord’s church is vitally important to Him.  It should also be of great concern to us!