Leave Their Judgment To God

1Corinthians 5:12-13  

"For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them

 that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore

put away from among yourselves that wicked person."

 
     Paul's epistle is telling the Corinthians and us that we are not to judge those outside the Church. "Those outside" was a Jewish phrase used to describe people outside the Chosen People. We must leave their judgment to God who alone knows the hearts of men. But the man within the Church has special privileges and therefore special responsibilities; he is a man who has taken an oath to Christ and can therefore be called in question for how he keeps it.
    It is to be noted that these three basic sins are representative of the three directions in which a man sins. (1) Fornication is a sin against a man's own self. By falling to it he has reduced himself to the level of an animal; he has sinned against the light that is in him and the highest that he knows. He has allowed his lower nature to defeat his higher and made himself less than a man.  (2) Greediness is a sin against our neighbors and our fellow men. It regards human beings as persons to be exploited rather than as brothers to be helped. It forgets that the only proof that we do love God must be the fact that we love our neighbors as ourselves. (3) Idolatry is a sin against God. It allows things to usurp God's place. It is the failure to give God the first and only place in life.
    So Paul comes to an end with the definite command, "So thou shalt put the evil away from among  you," That quotation comes from  (Deut. 17:7, Deut. 24:7). There are times when a cancer must be cut out; there are times when drastic measures must be taken to avoid infection. It is not the desire to hurt or the wish to show his power that moves Paul; it is the pastor's desire to protect his infant Church from the ever-threatening infection of the world.
Amen!

Reading: (1Cor. 5:9-13)
Ref: (HG SB, DSB)

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry