It was so great to be back in class after being away for 2 weeks, with the snow storm on the 8th, and then in Cleveland last Sunday at a convention. I want to apologize from the outset, about not turning on the recorder until about 1/3 of our class. I put some of the fill in the blanks on the board, but, as is the case, I left a few off. Please take a look at the picture and compare the blanks on your outline. The ones I forgot are below.
V.2 — Christian liberty is not a license for self-life or sin.
V.3-5 — Restoration is always the goal…
V.6-8 — This is always a picture of evil in scripture.
V.7 — We are unleavened / without sin in our position before God…
We jumped right back into chapter 5, and dealing with open immorality in the church. Paul is not on a witch hunt, here. It was reported commonly to him, that there is an immoral relationship going on openly. This is the big issue of church discipline. Everyone has issues of personal sin and struggle. Church discipline is about dealing with that overt unrepentant sin that affects the purity and effectiveness of the church in the community. Paul said for the church to turn this member over to Satan to bring him to repentance.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 reminds us all that we have been given the same ministry to reach the world and restore wayward brothers and sisters. This ministry is the ministry of reconciliation. Please take a moment to ponder these verses.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 takes us a little further into the responsibility of church discipline. Paul expands church discipline into the broad area of disorderly conduct by its members, specifically concerning being a gossip and busybody. Have no fellowship with an unrepentant busybody. The purpose is not to lord over them in arrogance, as an enemy, but bring them to the point of personal shame and repentance, admonishing them as a brother.
1 Timothy 1:18-20 is quite sobering! Those who have been continuously warned about their errant walk, need to be turned over to Satan. The culture outside the church is the culture of Satan! Read Ephesians 2:1-3 to get a clear reminder of where we all came from — we all had our lifestyle / conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
We will continue in our study of chapter 5 next Sunday. This is not an easy study, but it is pertinent to understand how mature believers and leaders in the church are to keep the purity of the church paramount, while reaching the world with the gospel.