Wrestling with 1 Corinthians 5

Where is the grace Paul?!

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

3For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

So we judge the person inside the church who claims brotherhood not those who do not. Why? Because we lack grace? No because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Addressing sin in the church is not about legalism it is about maintaining the witness to the world of salt and light. The witness that does not openly condemn the world with words but by our deeds are the unrighteous put to shame. If we allow our good deeds to be clouded by prevailing sin then our message is totally silenced. This is why sin in the church needs to be addressed not because we are loosing our salvation or because we have a poor balance of works and grace but because our testimony is tainted. 

But doesn't Paul like, talk about grace, like, all the time?  Grace is what this man needs from God in order to address his sin. If this man believes that he can change on his own then he misses the point. Paul's point is not to get this man to fix himself but to recognize what he is doing needs correction and that he needs to reach out for grace. This guy is already trying it his own way and he needs the grace of God to help him change, if he will only lift his head. This is Paul saying you have started looking elsewhere and you need to rely on God. 

But doesn't grace mean being nice, why is Paul yelling? He sounds upset.

See we have to let the Bible define grace for us. Jesus actually talks very little of it. Paul gives us most of the information about grace. In Titus 2 he explains that grace enables us to have salvation for sure, but what it does it teach. It teaches us obedience and self-control. It informs out behavior, it enables and teaches us to be Godly. It is not blanket favor that means God looks the other way. 

The problem is we can't see the heart. For someone lost in sin trying to come to God and actively needing grace, he is granted it, but we do not see it when we see someone lost in sin saying they want God but not changing. 

Let's be honest Grace is hard to spot when someone is walking through it and forgiveness is hard to grant. We can't see people's heart but we can see their deeds. It is deeds that spread and influence in the church. Paul is concerned because the atmosphere is one where the people are arrogant and not instead grieved over the sin. The leaven had spread and the testimony was silenced. "Why go to the church? The people there are involved in more vile sin that we are." In other words the Gospel is ineffective. The message is undermined the mission is pointless and we are all wasting our time. At least that was probably what Paul was thinking. 

Thankfully Paul wasn't content to leave it there. He wanted change because there is more grace to go around. There is favor from God that enables salvation and teaches his people Godliness.

Paul absolutely does not want the Gospel of Jesus undermined by the behavior of the church. This is something that we need to take very seriously. This is why it is a big deal when a very prominent Christian leader or any leader falls into moral sin. Their sin has ramifications, their behavior has influence. Their sin speaks about the condition of the church and the condition of the Gospel. Paul is all about about grace, but grace is never supposed to undermine the message. 

Our good deeds are to put the world to shame, not that our sinfulness seems inviting. Because frankly it is not, it is off-putting. Church sin is only appealing to the nominal and hypocritical it is never appealing to the outside world. At least in the sense we think, In fact they love it because it silences us.

Paul speaks about this again in Titus.

 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Peter says it as well.

16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Paul is all about grace. Christianity is all about grace, but do not undermine the movement. Do not undermine the message. Do not undermine the Gospel. Let God's grace teach you. 

So where is the grace? It flows down to under-gird his people and the gospel. It does not flow down to help keep the leaven alive to spread throughout the body. The little book of I John is all about this. He is faithful and just to forgive all our sins, so don't for a moment claim that you are without them. 

So Paul has grace for the repentant and harsh words for the hard of heart, but all are forgiven when we humbly come to the mercy seat of God. Grace teaches and enables salvation. 

thanks 

Knives in Flesh (a pox on Planned Parenthood or rather America)

Be angry but do not sin. Vengeance is mine says the Lord. We have had ten videos that have been released about the barbaric practices of Planned Parenthood, but no a lot of people seem to care. It would be easy if we could only blame Planned Parenthood, but we the people of the United Stated of America have allowed this to happen.

We know how to riot, how to march, and how to get angry and demand change. It was done for homosexuals rights, it was done in the race wars, it was done for immigration and the refugees, it was done for a lion, but we can't be bothered with dead babies? This one is OK to have differing opinions, the hypocrisy is deafening. 

I don't like to write on politics because they are not my area, nor are they of particular interest to me. They do however have impact. So why to write about abortion? Well, this shouldn't be a politic, we are talking about human life! Christianity has a lot to say about human life given from God. But part of the problem is that this issue is stuck in the realm of opinion and not where it should be: in the realm of life and death. I want to extract it out of that as much as possible because it amounts to so much more than a political position.

When issues become politicized it quickly passes out the realm of right and wrong and into the area of simple preferences. The problem is it is granted that precious position of being decided by public opinion.  This is why our constitution is so great, it grant's certain unalienable rights, these rights grants us certain ground rules so that a society can exist.  We have the foundation to relate with one another with certain protections guaranteed.  Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

But when liberty is left unchecked than the pursuit of happiness stretches beyond the boarders of incredulity. It has so much so that the we are at a point in history where the right to life is no longer a right, but something that is politicized. This is a sad state indeed. The issue of a right to life is definitely Christian, even if it is no longer inherently human, and certainly not American.

Looking at scripture we see that this is the case. Genesis 1:27 says that we are created in the image of God. Psalms 139 testifies that God knits us together inside our mother's womb, and that it is a wonderful process. An important point is that we are a person in process not a thing, not just lumps of tissue. Exodus 21:22-23 Makes the point that a injury causing a baby to pass away before he is born is worthy of the death penalty for extinguishing a life. Proverbs 6:17 God hates hands that shed innocent blood.

He may not hate fags but he hates abortionists. This is not to say they cannot receive forgiveness but they need to repent.

So scripture sets a precedent of the life being carried inside as important and worthy of protection.

A Christian thus supports the idea that all men are deserving of life. As Christians we cannot and should not politicize an issue regarding actual life and allow it to be something that can simply be a matter of opinion. Life is not a matter of opinion, it is precious. When the right of liberty and the right of the pursuit of happiness of the parents becomes more important than the right to life of the baby than we have a serious moral problem that is hard to combat.

Why? Because this should be obvious, and sadly it isn't.

I know that part of the problem in this instance is simply ignorance, whether it is deliberate or deceptive, but there is an ignorance that is fostered that somehow the baby is not a person until his birthday. I get it, he hasn't been born yet. But Parents that want to keep their children have no problem understanding that their baby is inside, kicking, punching, jumping, interacting, responding to their cues. Doctor's don't have this problem either when it is understood that the baby is wanted. In fact their is such a thing as In utero operations, fetal surgery, why? Because life inside is worth operating on, worth saving. Doctor's understand that when treating a pregnant woman, they are treating two people. Their health is inextricably linked, that two lives are in the balance.

But when a different choice is being made about the baby then somehow the science changes. Doctors start to fudge the facts about babies and the science of new life. And then once the decision has been made the vocabulary changes yet again. What was previously just lumps of tissue now is specifically human body parts. "Be careful how you harvest the organs they are worth money." That simple pile of tissue has remarkably changed back into a miniature human with viable money making organs that could fuel industry. The only care offered at that point is applied to the removal of the parts rather than the care of maintaining the little one's precious life.

My Son Raphael came seven weeks early. He was only 3.5 pounds, He could fit mostly in my hand. He was breathing, looking, and grabbing our hands. But political thinking would say he wasn't viable as a person until his actual birth-date. But if a child can come early than it stands to reason that he is a person before he is fully ready to come out. Now my son didn't come nearly as early as many babies can and do, but they came all the same and were little people in their own times.

Now I don't say all this without understanding. If we can't sympathize with a pregnant woman scared to death about how to care for and what to do with her infant, when she is being told that actually he isn't a person yet, than all we will ever be is more people making her day worse. We have to be willing to love her and help with the care, if not, then we offer nothing but condemnation.

But don't miss the point. The condemnation is due, a life is taken away. Innocent blood is split and God hates it. There is always forgiveness, but we have to understand what we are doing first.

James says that true religion is caring for widows and orphans. This is an objection to the pro-life movement; who will care for all the babies? Perhaps the government should redirect that same money towards that very problem rather than on extinguishing lives. We understand using government moving to save human life in other countries, just not our own. But will Americans make hard moral life saving decisions when there is money to be made?  The videos have made it clear that there is money to be made and the answer so far seems to be "No."

The church needs a response. Why are Catholics the forerunners in orphanages? Where are all the protestant American orphanages?  Where do all our mega churches mega monies go? Could it be that we love to picket but still spend our money on bigger stadium churches rather than offering real help? Shouldn't we put our money where out mouth is? Churches need a comprehensive view of helping in this situation, but let's not temper what needs to be said and done on this issue because we haven't worked out the details of what the outcome will be. Lives are being extinguished now. Yeah they offer other services, but other organizations do as well such as uh, hospitals.

Whose kingdoms do all our Christian resources fuel? Jesus said his kingdom was all about the kids. He said it would be better that a millstone be hung around our necks and for us be flung into the sea than for us to cause them any harm. But we are causing them harm, lot's of harm.

The number is at about 50 million, 50 million babies that our country has extinguished so that the parents could continue on with the pursuit of happiness and their liberty, but the life, the life part is something that we can disagree on?! How did we get to the point where babies are discarded as trash, or for commercial trade? Perhaps it is because we don't recognize that the god Molech is alive and being worshiped here in America? We worship our own rights and Molech underscores our rights with every baby we sacrifice to him. Leviticus 20:2-5 speaks about this. Psalms 106 also comments:

36 They worshiped their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to false gods.
38 They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did;
    by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

I do not weep for us, I weep for the babies. I don't know how to respond, I understand the killing of abortionists from the Leviticus passage. I do not agree with it as we are not Israel as Israel was God's but I understand the cry for justice. I understand the being angry at a system that does not even follow it's own established principles for a free society.

So what do we do? First we pray. We ask God for the killings to be stopped. We ask God for practical ways to put an end to it. I wish I knew what the equivalent to the commandment in Leviticus 20 is. I think that Christians need a unified voice on this for starters. We need to stop with the burying our heads in the sand. We need to stop framing this as a "choice" issue. A Christian simply cannot take that stance. I am all for women's rights, but a woman does not have the right to murder, nor does a man. It is not OK for Christians to support abortion. God hates the hands that shed innocent blood. God hates those that are involved. Yes, God hates things. We need to stop with the ignoring the volatile nature of these events. This is a polarizing issue, but it shouldn't be among Christians.  It is a great shame and travesty that baby killing is debatable. It also shouldn't be debatable among the civilized world.

Our hearts are so hardened that we cannot see that Romans 1 has come true. We have debased minds. God has given us over to our sinful ways. If it makes you angry to hear than take it up with God but his response will be repent or likewise perish.

When a society is so blind to right and wrong that they will not acknowledge the butchering of children and the practices involved in abortion as evil, well even Jesus didn't refrain from calling some people the son of the devil. Motives do not count in this instance. God hates those who shed innocent blood. The only innocent parties are being carved up with knives and the populace does nothing. God have mercy on our souls, but he will not, not without repentance.

We live in a society that grants us a voice and thus we need to use it. We highlight that life is being extinguished, this is a human problem. We Christians agree that abortions are wrong and we never stop saying it. We lift our voices in unison, we demand that our Government uphold justice and stop allowing the murder of our children. But it is up to God to move as we cry out to him. So cry out to him!

This is not a political issue this is a Christian issue that life is precious. But it shouldn't be a Christian issue it should be a human issue, let's bring this back around. When life is minimized to just a choice than we should expect nothing less than the commoditizing of human baby body parts. Fall on your face and repent America.
As Psalms 106 ends: Save Us O' God.

thanks

Jude 17-25 a Commentary

^{Finishing up on Jude.}

17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” ¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

17-18 Jude returns back to addressing the church specifically. There is a reminder to recall the words of the faithful to Christ and the apostles. They foretold that in the last times there will be scoffers. Scoffers are those who will not believe and mock at sound doctrine. They do this because of their own malcontent and they will not heed to what was already delivered to the saints; the faith in completeness. So they follow their own ungodly passions. If we are do not hold to the true faith then we are left to run after whatever passions that our malcontent urges lead.

19-20 Worse still these men lead others astray. They will cause divisions in the church because they are without the Spirit. The Spirit is the one who will bring to remembrance all the things Jesus taught and will lead the people into righteousness therefore these men are without him. This is how Jude says these men are devoid of the Spirit. If they had the Spirit they would be bringing unity and not just a unity but unity under Christ. In other words the Spirit would lead them in true unity of the scriptures and with true followers of Christ, as a major job of the spirit is to illuminate it to us. This is why they are of the world and not of the Spirit. Jude reminds the faithful to continue to build themselves up in the faith that was already once delivered to the saints that he referred to at the beginning of the letter.  Pray in the Holy Spirit because he does not lead into error as these false teachers do.  

21-22 But the loved of God along with building themselves up with the faith are to keep themselves in the love of God by holding to the faith. One way they do this is by waiting for the mercy of Jesus that leads to eternal life.  Jude seems to be saying that keeping yourself in the love of God means patience on him to deliver them unto salvation. Waiting for mercy is very different than adopting the malcontent natures of the teachers. While the loved of God keep themselves in the love, they are not to fall for the lie. What they are to do is distribute mercy to those who are being tempted and are having doubts because the false teachers. 

23 But this takes discernment. Jude says that some need mercy and some need decisive action in order to snatch them out of the jaws of these lies. This action is love keeping. Steal others with mercy and reveal the fear over their souls because of the path they are walking. But always hold the hate of the sin itself. Do not excuse the trespass of the lies and always distance yourselves from them. Stained by the flesh may be another reference to the sexual sin again, but the message is avoid the teachings that are undermining the faith and causing the doubt. 

24-25 This is a famously used doxology for the church. This is a reminder that those who hold to the faith have the assurance that God is able to keep them within it. This is not an assurance to the false teachers who have incurred judgment. Jude is making a distinction between who exactly God holds safe here. God keeps us from stumbling if we so desire him to do so by keeping in the faith. God will keep us all the way to present us to the Father in Glory. He concludes with giving praise to the only God and savior Jesus Christ. This is because Jesus is Lord but also to draw a distinction between what a true teacher of the faith believes and what these new teachers were able to say. Glory and dominion are only God's.

Jude reminds his listeners that we have the necessary truth to keep ourselves from these teachers and their lies if will will recount that we were warned about these exact problems. Jude is saying I have written you this letter so you can look at when you feel the pressure to listen to these false teachers. In the last days the scoffers will come and he was right, the scoffers are all around us. It is our responsibility to build ourselves up in the holy faith and to keep ourselves in the love by being patient on his return. But he reminds us again that God himself is at our aid in this.  Love keeps us safe and it reaches out to the brothers to help them stay in the love as well. 

We are not alone, even when it seems like so many "churches" are falling for the lie. Or being consumed with consumerism church. Sure we could reach more people if we pervert the Gospel.  But for those of us with the Spirit, we are to hold on to the once and for all delivered faith, despite what society is doing and what many churches are caving to. All we can do is uphold the Gospel, preach the Gospel, and call on the name of the Lord to help and return. Maker return, your people need you. 

Jude knew it and I pray our churches today see it as well.

thanks 

Jude 14-16 a Commentary

<sup>Continuing our look at Jude.

14</sup> It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁶ These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. (ESV)

14 Jude reminds that he is drawing imagery from the book of Enoch. This judgement is in its own category and is apocalyptic in nature. Judgement that requires a pulling back of the realm of the physical so the spiritual realm can be witnessed. God is upset. Again these ones have warnings and prophecies about what happens to them from the Bible. They should know better and they are without excuse. 

15 Judgement is coming for these men who not only pervert the truth of the faith but act in ways worthy of Judgment. God will bring conviction on these because of their anti Godly deeds. Not only are their deeds anti God but their methods are anti God. And not only this but they speak harshly against God himself. This is probably both by undermining his character in their teachings and outright blasphemy as they have already been shown to do against the glorious ones. These men undermine God's character when they teach that God allows and encourages things that he outright forbids. This undermines the character of God. It misrepresents God. It challenges his authority and it attempts to steal God's glory making him out to be something lesser than he is. Did I mention God is upset with these men?

16 Jude calls them grumblers and malcontents. This may be what fuels their misdeeds. They refuse to be content with what God has done, they continually grumble against the one who would have saved their souls. Perhaps they grumble against what they consider his restrictions on their behavior so they drum up teaching that allows them to continue down their dark path? Instead of listening they follow after their own sinful desires, and worse for the wear they use the grace of God to justify their own sins.  They are loud mouthed boasters and they show favoritism for their own gain. They work for money and prestige and somehow their message of cheap grace leading to sexual sinful pleasure has a landing place in some hearers. 

The testimony of Jude about these men is damning indeed. What is worse is that they are teaching others to follow suit. God will absolutely judge false teachers. God will defend his honor and character and woe to the man that attempts to poison the image of God. God will not excuse those who lead others astray, nor will he excuse those who attack his very nature. This is both for Jude's time and in ours. Grace does not excuse perverting the character of God.  I do want to comment for application on how they show favoritism to gain advantage. This is precisely what is happening in our culture, they show favoritism to those with the sinful proclivities of our culture and in return receive praise and acceptance. They get to both live in the world and be of the world. They manufacture a different gospel that sinners love because it does not call them to repentance. So they rightfully gain a following and point to this "gain" as God's blessing but do not see that their judgment was long written down. We should not lose heart that many follow after them and the rest that hold the line get socially condemned, because it is before God that any man stands or falls. Take heart the day is coming when everything done in the darkness will be revealed. 

I know this is challenging. I feel discouraged sometimes when our own Christian theology is hijacked. When grace and love are the handles that they hang their new teachings and perversion on we are made to look like bigots and backwater fundamentalist without hearts or care for the the world. But take heart, God is well aware of the score. 

thanks