Judge Duty

1 Corinthians 5:1-3, 9-13

1 It 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. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3 For 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.

...9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not 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. 11 But 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. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

When was the last time you heard you pastor compel the congregation to do this? Must be because we have got everything together now and stuff like this doesn't happen anymore.

It is difficult to know how and when this applies, but rest assured there is a time and place for judging your brother or sister in Christ and overwhelmingly survey says, "We don't know how, when, time or place."

Note the motivation for doing so in verse 4

1 Corinthians 5:4-5

4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you 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

I have no idea what delivering someone to Satan looks like or entails, let alone the destruction of the flesh. But it is clear that the end goal is to save the soul of an out of control brother or sister.

I hope God reveals to me what this means if He is ever to place me in the context of an out of control brother or sister in Christ that I may assist in saving their soul by the power of the Lord Jesus. I pray that God would do unto me this divine intervention by the use of my brothers and sisters if I should ever get this out of control.