Just about all people have some kind of morality code or standards they live by. When Paul preached in Corinth he preached to broadly two types of people. First the Jews, who had a strong morality code based on Old Testament Law, and second to the Greek culture. This was much more fluid, but even in that culture philosophers had written forms of behaviour code. The fact is that any group of people develop codes between themselves. Sometimes they take time, sometimes driven by the bad things that happen - for example Facebook 'Groups' first developed levels of permission, now have options for 'group codes of conduct' etc. In the fluid situation of Corinth, where there certainly were excesses, Paul preached Jesus Christ crucified and raised. Some responded ... and those that did are now working out what it means for them to live in obedience to Jesus.
We too, as followers of Jesus must also learn what it means for us - hence the new key question and challenge:
[IN] To what extent are you making your daily choices obedient to the way Jesus wants you to live?
Challenge: Be open with a trusted prayer partner about areas of difficulty
Paul now hears that among the believers there is serious immoral behaviour happening - with even incest reported. It is useful for us to see how Paul responds. In verse 2 he writes '... even the pagans ...'. That relates to our point above that just about all have codes. The reported behaviour isn't even acceptable to those around them who are all over the place in their beliefs and what they think is right or wrong, so Paul asks how can it possibly be right for those following Jesus? The Corinthian Christians seems to be a proud bunch - Paul suggests that instead they should be asking themselves some hard soul-searching questions.
Two things we see are: a) Paul doesn't state a specific law - instead of simply quoting Leviticus 18:8 he draws a comparison with the surrounding culture; b) he writes 'Shouldn't you rather ...' - asking them a question about their response. In other words Paul wants them to work it out. His desire is that they work out what it means to live in obedience to Jesus. That doesn't simply mean fixed instructions of the law, but them working it through. If we look at the Christian movements around the world today that are growing fast, we see a common thing is that they teach new disciples to learn for themselves obedience to Jesus. They use scripture in their processes, but it isn't simply downloading rules or even doctrine, but rather teaching people to listen to the Spirit and act accordingly.
What if we as church learnt to do the same? To help people read prayerfully and hear Jesus for themselves? That is certainly not saying 'anything goes', nor does it mean that we don't challenge people on their behaviour. It is reading scripture, it is factoring in the strong morality expressed in the Old Testament, but doing it such that we hear the voice of Jesus.
For Paul, in this particular case of incest, it appears that he has already made up his mind (v3). We have to assume that space has been made for repentance and a new start - for that was the way of Jesus - but now Paul is clear that this person cannot continue their behaviour and remain a full member of their church. So the church assembled should decide and act. He empathises the church assembled because ultimately this is a spiritual decision of the church as they discern the way of Jesus together. It isn't about a simple legal logic.
There are two technical aspects: the meaning of 'hand over to Satan' is unclear to us. Maybe it means sending out the person from the domain of the church (where we can be in Jesus together) out to the domain of the world where they are back on their own. The 'his spirit may be saved' of v5 suggests Paul leaves the door open between that person and God so that they might ultimately be okay with God in eternity. In other words he leaves the eternal judgement up to God. As Christians we often confuse eternal judgements with boundaries that we have to make in the here and now in our churches. We do certainly have to have boundaries (remember again the point about codes): as church members we are covenanted together in a tight bond, which means our behaviours matter. The bottom line is that immoral behaviour is destructive - certainly for the individuals involved, but also for their families, and also for the whole church body.
Paul uses the image of yeast in dough in verse 6 to make this point: bad yeast will affect the whole batch of bread, not just part of a loaf. This image was God given, and Jesus picked up on it too. When the Jewish people were formed by being released out of slavery, God instructed them to hold in the midst of this a celebration called 'passover' which included using only unleavened bread (bread without yeast). God was effectively saying 'leave the old yeast behind, be released into the new'. Paul reminds the believers that Jesus is the 'passover lamb' - his death on the cross enables us to transition to new life in Jesus. So he says 'keep the festival', not necessarily literally, but certainly keep to the deal of leaving the old behind and becoming new. That includes your old ways, your past inappropriate/immoral behaviour (that even the pagans wouldn't tolerate!), all now left behind as you follow the new way of Jesus.
So let us, as Countess Free Church in 2022, also learn to be obedient to Jesus and live in His new way. That means learning to hear the whisper of the Spirit, for example as we process the key question above, and take action. The challenge above is important - take action straight away by having a trusted friend pray with you, do not delay! I remember a time when a memory of something quite wrong from my own secondary school days came back up. The original incident pre-dated my being a Christian, but now I was following Jesus I decided to take immediate action: I asked a trusted friend to pray with me so that I could say sorry to God for my own culpability in it, and trust in Jesus that there would be no hold on me from it, and that I could now live forwards fully cleansed in His Name.
Stuff happens: it might be from distant past, it might be from the past since you accepted Jesus into your life, or it might even be current. Either way the action is to go to Jesus, lay it before Him in repentance and accept His cleansing and ability to help you live forward in the new way. Accept that it was 'bad yeast' so to speak, but now that is to be left behind. Step into your new life in Jesus.
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