1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Today we continue on from where we left off last week
It's the same continuation of thought
Applied to life in Corinth

To recap last week the Corinthian Christians were being taught by those who came after Paul, Super Apostles they called themselves who said to the Corinthians to believe they had already spiritually arrived

spiritually they were to think themselves superior
to look down on everyone else
morally they were encouraged to live as though
they had arrived at spiritual perfection now

what was done in the body no longer mattered
you could do what you liked

they were taking credit for successes that only grace can produce
they were being less than watchful and protective
when it came to temptation and sin in their lives

they were smug, feeling entitled to what they could never earn or achieve

lovelessness ruled their hearts
no longer looking out for one another
looking out only for themselves

there was a considered opinion of superiority in wisdom
there were division over who's minister was the best

there were super apostles claiming superior knowledge to the Apostle Paul

spiritually these Corinthians thought themselves superior
beyond reproach

morally this spilt over into the way relationships went
the extent of the disconnection of the Corinthian character
from Christ honouring godliness

a relationship had struck up
between a man and his stepmother

as we read in 1 Corinthians 5:1-2

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?

to show how whacky this was
this guys relationship with his stepmother
was forbidden not only in Jewish law
but also by Roman law of the day as well

this would have filled the gossip mill of the Corinthian market place
today we step into the area of holiness
of an intentionally ungodly relationship
that was a source of pride
for the Corinthian Church members

What have you Done! Paul writes reminding them
Holiness matters in the life of a follower of Christ
Not so much that we think we can somehow
live in sinless perfection

But to really deal with the sin in us honestly, seeing the ongoing and progressive work of God in and on our souls, own up to our sin

At the heart of sin is the evil in our desires
often it's not so much what we want,
but that we want it so much

The deceitfulness of sin is that we so often deceive ourselves
what we let rule us comes out
what comes out reveals what we are letting rule our lives