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1. What report about the Corinthian Christians did Paul receive? (1) What should they have done about it? (2b) What did they do? (2a) Why? 2. How had Paul immediately taken action? (3) On what basis did he do so? (4) What did he command them to do (see also verses 2b,11b,13), and why did they need to deal with this publicly? (4,5) What was Paul’s purpose in casting him out? (5b) 3. How did their pride lead them to be negligent about this man’s sin? (6) How serious is one person’s sin within the Christian fellowship? (6) Think about the importance of influence. 4. Read verses 7–8. What were they to do, and for what purpose? To what does “the old yeast” refer? (Ex12:15; verse 8) How could they become “the new batch without yeast”? (7b) How did Christ’s sacrifice change them? (8) How can we be a good influence? 5. How had they misunderstood Paul’s instructions? (9–10) What did he really mean? (11) How should a Christian deal with immoral people outside the church and inside the church? (11–13)

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In chapters 1-4, Paul dealt with the Corinthian church’s division problem. Through considering the problem Paul led them to think of Christ crucified, the Spirit whom we received from God, God who makes things grow and tests, and faithful servants of Christ. We should know that the solution is always Christ whom God sent and to whom the Spirit testifies. And a servant of Christ is to reveal Christ. Today’s passage shows another specific problem of the Corinthian church: sexual immorality. Again, Paul led them to think of Christ crucified and sacrificed. A member of the church committed such a sin of sexual immorality. This problem can be a big challenging issue in our time. Yet, in dealing with this problem Paul reveals very important spiritual principles related to our personal life and to the church. Fundamentally, Christian life and church are the same regardless of time and age differences. Sin is sin. Sin destroys a person and affects the church seriously. Sin’s influence is enormous, like yeast. It has to be cleared out in light of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. And because of Jesus’ sacrifice God wants us, not to be influenced by the world but to influence the world. First, his spirit be saved (1-5). In verse 1 Paul says “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.” Paul draws attention to a case of incest at Corinth. The beginning is rather sudden; Paul is not wasting time on niceties. The mentality of free sex had run amuck to the extent that a man had his father’s wife. It is not clear whether it means the offender had seduced his step-mother, or that the woman was divorced from his father, or that the father had died, leaving her a widow. What is quite clear is that an illicit union of a particularly unsavoury kind had been contracted. That it does not occur even among pagans does not mean that it never occurred, but that it was infrequent and that it was condemned as evil (a kind that even pagans do not tolerate). It was, for example, forbidden by Roman law, and, of course, by the Old Testament (Lev. 18:8; 20:11; Deut. 22:30; 27:20). Then Paul says in verse 2, “And you are proud!” What an abrupt description! How were they proud? What were they proud of? Paul said of the Corinthian church in 1:5, “For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge.” Probably they thought that they were enriched in tolerance too, saying, “Our church can tolerate him, no problem.” Maybe they claimed that they had the love of Christ, embracing any one. We can imagine that they were proud of their church’s being tolerant, compassionate, non-judgmental, and progressive. We sense that Paul seemed to have a kind of spiritual anger for such a pride of theirs. He continued, “Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?” It showed that their hearts and minds did not function rightly. So they had no grief for such an event, while God and his servant had deep grief. And they did not have discernment, not knowing how to rightly handle the matter. Their pride was their spiritual problem with no heart of God, not being led by the Spirit. They were really ignorant of the power of sin and Satan. In their pride they were actually ruining the person more and more, and making the church very vulnerable. When we are humble before God, we have fear of God and are also keenly aware of dreadful influence of sin in Satan’s power. Those who are humble know what they should do and can do and what they should not and cannot. For what they cannot, they depend on God in their limitation. But the proud do not do what they should do before God, and do what they should not do. They even think they can do all. They can give false security to people, saying, “If you stay in our church whatever problem you have, your salvation is secured.” Such an attitude is against God. So the Bible says that God opposes the proud, while he gives grace to the humble (Jam. 4:6; 1Pe. 5:5). Then in verse 3, “Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.” Why did Paul do this? Why did he not just entrust this matter to the Corinthians, giving them proper instructions, since he was not with them in person? Here we feel that Paul was urgent to solve this matter, surely as he constantly prayed for the church. We sense what’s going on in the spiritual realm. Certainly he did what he had to do before God. People want to be politically correct and not hurt anyone’s feelings. Sometimes we think that love means graciously tolerating everything others do. However, the deepest love often involves discipline that doesn’t feel very good (Heb. 12:11; Pro. 12:1). Paul said that he had already passed judgment on the man, just as if he were there, certainly for the sake of the person and the church. Lingering on this matter would be detrimental to all. Paul was truly humble and trembling before God because of sin’s influence. Then now he gives instruction to the church: “When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.” Here we see clearly that Paul was fighting a spiritual battle. First of all, he asked them to make a kind of spiritual environment for the church members and the man, to be sure that they are resolving this matter before God. Here we can think of why they needed to deal with this publicly. For all should know that it was not a personal matter. It was not because some people did not like him. It was dealing with sin, Satan’s power. This could be a spiritual rule for the community of God. Sin is very serious. If all the members of the church were not in agreement regarding this matter, then the man could go around and get sympathy from various people and break the unity further. In that atmosphere the man had to be handed over to God, which was the same as to be put out of the fellowship (2) or to be expelled out of the church (13). One should know that being in the church of God implies complete protection from God along with all the spiritual blessings. And so being put out of the church means, consequently, no protection from God, being handed over into Satan’s power. In the Old Testament when God’s people of the Israelites were disobedient to God and remained unrepentant, God handed them over to the cruel Gentile nations so that they might know what a terrible life it was to live under the human kings without God, and then they turn to God in repentance. Here the purpose of handing the man over to Satan was so that the sinful nature or flesh might be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. It was so that the man might repent someday even in his extreme physical suffering and be saved in the end. Paul was concerned about the man’s ultimate salvation in eternity, not temporary comfort in falsely secured situation. Here we learn that we as the church are to be concerned about each soul’s true eternal salvation, although it brings temporary pain and agony and even misunderstanding. Second, get rid of the old yeast (6-13). Look at 6: “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?” For those who make bread it is good. However, this is the description of how bad influence spreads to the whole. It is like a small cancer cell spreading to the whole body until one dies. In the old Testament the words, “you must purge the evil from among you”, are spoken again and again (Dt. 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21, 22; 22:24; 24:7). For God’s holy community had to be protected. For example Deuteronomy 24:7 says, “If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.” It is a truthful and painful statement that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. Spiritually speaking it is quite true. Through compromising one sin in a man the whole church can be ruined as sin entered the world through one man and spread to the whole world. In the case of the Corinthians, when they began to compromise with the immoral culture around them, it came in and spread until finally a man had his father’s wife. We all need to watch out for a little yeast. Then in verse 7, “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.” Here Paul leads us to think of Christ’s sacrifice, connecting Christ as the Passover Lamb. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 430 years. They were groaning in their slavery under the king of Pharaoh day and night. Then, in order to liberate them from the bondage of Pharaoh, God sent plagues to the land of Egypt one after another until the ninth plague of darkness covered all Egypt for three days. Still Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not let the people go. Then the last plague was to be the plague on the firstborn of Egypt, killing all the firstborn of Egypt while keeping the firstborn of Israelites from the plague. For this, lambs had to be slaughtered. A lamb selected for each family was to be a year-old male without defect. The lamb had to be taken care of from the tenth of the month to fourteenth day, and then the lamb was to be slaughtered at twilight. Then the blood of the lamb was to put on the doorposts of the house of each family of the Israelites. And God’s word for them was this: “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt (Ex 12:13). At this tenth plague, Pharaoh finally yielded and let the Israelites go. Through the sacrifice of the Passover lamb the Israelites were liberated from the slavery under Pharaoh. Then in the New Testament Jesus came into this world. When John the Baptist saw Jesus’ coming toward him, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29). Jesus was indeed sacrificed on the cross, shedding his whole blood until blood and water came out of his body (Jn. 19:34). In John’s gospel Jesus’ last word is “It is finished.” And here Paul wrote, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Christian community is really special in that it is formed through the sacrifice of Christ, our Passover lamb. Each member is purchased by the blood of Christ Jesus and is sanctified. No other human community is like this. From chapter 1 Paul clearly wrote. 1:2 says, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy.” Also, 6:11 says, “…you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” If purity or holiness is diluted in any Christian community, the community will be swept away by the torrent of the world’s corruption in a matter of time. Christian community has to be maintained as a new batch without yeast. Paul says, “as you really are.” In Christ Jesus who has been sacrificed as our Passover lamb, each member is a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” That’s why the old yeast has to be gotten rid of in the church as well as each member’s life. The old yeast is a particular sin or the old lifestyle. Last Sunday, in our growing leaders’ testimony sharing meeting, Monica confessed her hidden sin of lust very specifically before God. Those who listened were surprised at her honest confession of sin before God and were so thankful to God. We all thought of Christ crucified for our sins, singing a hymn song, “Near the Cross.” And she also showed her deep desire to live a pure and holy life and be a servant of God in this generation. It was really good that she shared this testimony before her leaving Toronto and going back to Hong Kong for this summer, finishing her first year of study at U of T. She looked so unburdened and happy from inside. We pray that God may help her to keep heart pure by living by the Spirit each day in this corrupt world. We know that in our time sports, sex and screen really dominate the minds of the people of the whole world. But God’s command is “Get rid of the old yeast” remembering the sacrifice of Christ our Passover lamb. Paul said in Ephesians 5:3, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” And one’s lazy and messy life style is definitely yeast to be got rid of. Also, one’s too much clean lifestyle or perfectionist’s lifestyle can be an old yeast. Anything that hinders our Christ-centred life or spiritual priority is an old yeast. Also, we should be aware that nothing we cherish in life is a yeast and then an idol in our hearts. Jesus once said to his disciples, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Mt 16:6), “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod” (Mk 8:15), “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Lk 12:1). Jesus wanted to protect his disciples from the influence of the world. Then Paul says in verse 8, “Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” For the Israelites, the Passover was one of the three great Feasts. Deuteronomy 16:16 says, “Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.” And in 16:1, “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.” The Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the greatest Feast and comes first. In Exodus 12:2, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” They celebrated this feast for seven days. It was indeed the time of Festival, remembering God’s grace of deliverance from their slavery to Egypt and eating the unleavened bread (Dt. 16:8). Here Paul said, “Therefore let us keep the Festival.” This implies that Christian life is to be a festival remembering the grace of Christ our Passover lamb being sacrificed. The characteristic of Christian life is first of all joy. So he said in Thessalonica 5:16-18, “Be joyful always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances…” Jesus first miraculous sign of changing water into wine was performed at the wedding in Cana. It is like the bride rejoicing over her bridegroom and vice versa. Isaiah 66:5 says, “As a young man marries a maiden, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” This is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Our God wants us to keep the Festival in our love relationship with our Lord Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself to cleanse us and purify us so as to present us his church to himself (Eph. 5:25-27). Then Paul says, “…not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” God wants us to keep the Festival in Christ with the bread of sincerity and truth. We are reminded of 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is not rude…Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” Our relationship with Christ in love and joy is done with the bread of sincerity and truth. Sincerity includes purity. Hebrews 10:22, “Draw near to God with a sincere heart…” Our prayer is to be sincere. Romans 12:9 say, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” So our love is to be sincere. Sincere loves does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Cor. 13:6). We also have fellowship in the truth of God’s word. He prayed for his disciples, saying, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17:7). Sincere heart, sincere prayer, sincere love and truth of God’s word are always to be there in our community fellowship. In this passage Paul mentioned “old yeast” two times, “get rid of the old yeast” and “not with the old yeast.” A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. It can be applied in a bad way like old yeast and also in a good way. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough (Mt 13:33; Lk 13:21). In this world many people think that life is just a joke and there is no absolute truth. In the grace of Christ’s sacrifice may we be a good influence to the people of the world through the life of festival with the bread of sincerity and truth. In verses 9 and 10. “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of the world who are immoral or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters.” This shows that the Corinthians has misunderstood Paul’s instructions in his previous letter as meaning that they were not to associate with sexually immoral people of the world. If that was the case, they would have to leave this world. Jesus’ prayer for his disciples was not that God might take them out of the world. They would be in the world, though not of the world (Jn. 17:11, 15-16). Then Paul says in verse 11, “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.” What a strong instruction! Again, it is both to help the person and to protect the church. It may be painful not to associate with such a man, not even to eat. Yet it is necessary. It is not good to merely keep a human relationship with the sin problem remaining. When one has such an uncompromising attitude, God can work things out to lead the man to repentance, which is the best medicine. In this way the church can grow as a healthy church. Discipline is the key to health churches, healthy families and health individuals. Then in verses 12-13, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you.’” Again, humanly it would be a harsh act. Yet, spiritually it is an act of love through which God may lead him to repentance. Human love makes a person deadened but spiritual love makes one revived. We are to distinguish spiritual love from human love. We thank and praise God for our Passover lamb, Christ who has been sacrificed. In his grace we have redemption individually and collectively. May we get rid of the old yeast from our personal life and church so that we may be a new batch without yeast and keep the Festival with the bread of sincerity and truth and be a good influence to the people of the world.

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