Lessons #149 and 150
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Specific case of sexual immorality in Corinth (1 Cor 5:1-8)
... 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. 4 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, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 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. 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.
We have started to consider the process that is involved in excommunication from a local church of a believer who is sexually immoral as per the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul concerning the removal of the incestuous individual from the community of believers in Corinth. We have noted that such an act is one that should be public and not private. In other words, the excommunication of a believer from a local congregation must be done publicly when believers have assembled for worship. It is not to be a private matter where only the leadership of the local congregation is involved. The spiritual leadership, no doubt, should be involved at the early stages of the process when it is necessary to establish the facts of the matter of sexual immorality.
It is our assertion that the spiritual leadership should be involved at the early stages of carrying out the excommunication from a local church of a sexually immoral person since it is the leadership that would bring the matter before the congregation. This is because firstly, it is important to be sure that the person charged of sexual immorality is indeed guilty as charged. Such certainty would be established by the spiritual leadership of the local congregation through a thorough investigative process. The OT Scripture demands that when an individual is accused of a sin that demands the death penalty that such accusation must be thoroughly investigated to establish beyond doubt the guilt of the person charged. An example of this is a person accused of idolatry that deserves death penalty, as we read in Deuteronomy 17:2–6:
2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the LORD gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
It is true that excommunication of a believer from a local congregation is not a death sentence, but it comes close to that hence it is important to be sure that a person who is to be subjected to it is indeed guilty as charged. Secondly, although there is no explicit mention of an investigation in the passage of 1 Corinthians 5 that we are considering but the apostle received report of the activity in question from more than one person since he referenced some from Chloe’s household that reported about division in the church (1:11) and they were certainly the source of the report of the sexual immorality in the local church of Corinth. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit guided the apostle to be certain that the report was true as to write down the instruction of the passage we are considering. Thus, the apostle being the spiritual leader of the local church in Corinth has met the requirement of being certain that the one charged of sexual immorality is indeed guilty of the charge. The point is that the spiritual leaders of a local congregation that must exercise church discipline should be sure that the individual charged of a sin is indeed guilty of it. Once they have established the truth of the charge then the excommunication would commence in a public assembly of believers. In the study case in the local church in Corinth, the Holy Spirit through the apostle had indicated that the church would act when they assemble to worship since they would have had the epistle the apostle wrote and the Lord Jesus’s presence through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to carry out what is required of them. The manner of carrying out the removal of the individual from the local church is described in the command of 1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan. Thus, we ended our last study with the question: What does the apostle mean in the instruction of handing someone over to Satan? We promised to answer this question in today’s study so we will proceed to consider what the apostle meant. To help in answering the question, recall that we had indicated that the expression “hand...over” is translated from a Greek word (paradidōmi) that we stated in this passage has the meaning of “to surrender someone to another, especially to an authority,” hence means “to deliver.” Satan, as we have examined in our last study is the evil supernatural being created by God who is an enemy of God and His people. The fact Satan is a supernatural being means that he is invisible to us and this should help in our interpretation of what the apostle meant by handing someone over Satan.
The instruction hand this man over to Satan has led to various interpretations. One such interpretation that I consider an unlikely one is that it means to hand the man over to civil authorities for execution. The reason I consider this unlikely is that the one to whom the man is to be handed is clearly identified as Satan. Furthermore, this interpretation contradicts the apostle’s instruction that believers should not take their problems to civil authorities as he indicted the Corinthians of doing later in this epistle, that is, 1 Corinthians 6:5–6:
5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!
Another interpretation is that it means to put a person under the power of Satan to harm the individual. This is a likely interpretation, but it seems to me to be an implication of what the apostle meant rather than the actual interpretation, especially since it is not clear how a person could be delivered to Satan. This interpretation is implied in our interpretation of what the apostle meant as we will note shortly. Anyway, Apostle Paul’s instruction of handing over the incestuous believer to Satan means that the person involved should be excommunicated or expelled from the congregation of believers. This interpretation is supported by the command given in verse 13 of this fifth chapter where the apostle spelled out what he wanted the Corinthians to do with such a person, that is, Expel the wicked man from among you. It is possible that the Holy Spirit brought into the mind of the apostle the OT practice of “cutting off” of someone from Israel community as required, for example, in Exodus 12:19:
For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born.
However, the Holy Spirit must have impressed on the apostle of how serious this excommunication is in that it is related to Satan. When a believer is excommunicated from the community of believers that implies that the person does not enjoy God’s presence in a special way that includes fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the special protection of the Lord of the church. In effect, the person’s state would be similar to what the Lord declared to Israel when He sent them into exile, as we read in 2 Kings 17:20:
Therefore the LORD rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence.
The Lord is omnipresent so the clause until he thrust them from his presence could not mean literally that the Lord would remove Israel from His presence. No! What the Lord means is that He would break off communication with Israel so that they would not enjoy His protective care and favor. It is similar to the Lord hiding His face so that the person from whom His face is hidden is without His protection, as implied in Deuteronomy 31:17–18:
17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?’ 18 And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
Thus, it should be clear that when a person is cut off from the Lord’s presence that implies the person would not receive God’s protective care and by implication the individual comes under Satan’s power.
In any case, when a believer is excommunicated from the community of believers, it has the implication that the person ceases to enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit in a special way. The Holy Spirit indwells the community of believers as well as an individual believer. The apostle in a rhetorical question had already conveyed to the Corinthians that the Holy Spirit indwells the community of believers in Corinth as indicated in 1 Corinthians 3:16:
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
Since the Holy Spirit indwells the community of believers, to be excommunicated from it means that such a believer loses the special corporate presence of the Holy Spirit. When this happens, the person is in a position of being vulnerable to the attack of Satan. It is in this sense that such an individual is handed over to Satan. You see, the Lord provides special protection against Satan. True, Satan continues to attack and seeks to harm the believer, but it is only if the person is not in the protective care of the Lord that Satan would have full reign of attack on the person. Such a person would be in a state similar to that of Job when the Lord gave Satan the opportunity to deal with Job within a specified limit, as stated in Job 2:6:
The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
The Lord granted Satan access, so to speak, to Job so he could inflict pain on him. This would be the fate of the believer who is excommunicated from the community of believers. We are saying that the Lord would permit Satan to inflict maximum pain on such an individual. It is not difficult to understand this kind of thing since under such circumstance Satan is being used by the Lord as agent of His punishment or judgment. The apostle acknowledged that Satan may be used as an agent of inflicting pain on the believer to ensure God’s purpose is fulfilled as he stated of his being tormented by Satan in 2 Corinthians 12:7:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Anyway, being handed over to Satan by a local church is to be excommunicated from the community of believers, from enjoyment of the corporate presence of the Holy Spirit, and consequently to be exposed to infliction of pain by Satan.
The interpretation we have given has a profound application from God’s perspective regarding this matter of excommunication. You see, in the modern Christianity with so many local churches in the same area, it would appear that this judgment of a sexually immoral person can be circumvented by the one guilty of such sin. This is because if a person is excommunicated from one congregation that person simply joins another local church because the local churches do not corporate with each other. A local church that accepts a person into its membership should ensure that such a person has not been excommunicated by another local church of Christ. However, because we do not often do what we are supposed to do, God would be the One that ensures His word is carried out. Thus, if a person has already been handed over to Satan and the individual joins another local church then the Lord would continue the person’s punishment through Satan despite that the person has joined another local church. We are saying that even when believers fail truly to excommunicate a believer as demanded in the passage of the Scripture that we are studying that God who does not tolerate disregard of His word would continue the impact of excommunication regardless of whether a person joins another local church or not.
We should be careful to understand what this excommunication entails. It cannot mean to treat the believer excommunicated as an enemy. Such treatment is prohibited by the Holy Spirit through the instruction given in 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15:
If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Hence, excommunication means that a person so treated cannot participate in fellowship with believers and so cannot, for example, participate in the Lord’s Supper. It means that the person would be shunned by other believers although such a person may be allowed to hear the teaching of the word of God, but the individual should be isolated from others may be by giving the person the last seat in a local church, for example. However, consistent with the teaching of the Lord of showing compassion to others, it will be necessary for believers to reach out to such a person so that the person would have the opportunity of repentance. If the person repents then the local church must welcome back the individual to its fellowship. Even if the person the apostle wrote later to the Corinthians about welcoming back is not the same person as we are considering, although some have argued he is, the principle of welcoming a repentant believer is implied in the instruction of the apostle in 2 Corinthians 2:5–11:
5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Be that as it may, we have indicated that handing someone over to Satan is to excommunicate such a person so that the individual is in a position where Satan would inflict pain on such a person. We also have indicated that believers should not treat that person as an enemy but only to shun the person in a manner that does not imply hatred. Thus, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit through apostle stated the purpose of the excommunication. It is for inflicting pain on such a person that could possibly lead to death. It is this that is given in the compound clause of 1 Corinthians 5:5 so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Before we examine this clause, let me from the onset declare that this compound clause certainly speaks to the security of the believer and how efficacious the death of Christ on the cross is. This is because if a believer’s salvation is subject to being lost due to sin, this would have been the most perfect place for the Holy Spirit to tell us this because of the nature of sexual immorality reported in the fifth chapter of 1 Corinthians. I am saying that one would expect for the apostle to say that such a person was in danger of losing his salvation but that is not what we have. The implication or impact of this clause is similar to what the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle John in 1 John 2:1:
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
Notice the clause if anybody does sin. If the believer’s salvation is ever in doubt as to its security, you would expect the Holy Spirit to sound a warning here to inform the believer who sins that such an individual is in danger of losing the person’s salvation if the person does not confess it. This is not what we read. Instead, we read we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Thus, the Holy Spirit again tells us that the death of Christ on the cross has dealt effectively with the penalty of sin, especially that of the believer. The point is that what we have in this epistle of John parallels the clause of 1 Corinthians 5:5 so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord that we are about to consider. We will return later to the point that this compound clause implies security of believer’s salvation.
In any case, Apostle Paul states the purpose of handing over or excommunicating of the offending believer in Corinth in the clause so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Literally, the Greek reads for destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord because of the Greek words used. We have indicated that our clause gives the purpose of handing over to Satan the incestuous believers because of the Greek preposition used. The word “for” we used in the literal translation or the phrase “so that” of the NIV is translated from a Greek preposition (eis) that may mean “to” but with various other usages. In our passage, it could be used as a marker of result so that it may be translated “so that, to” or it could be used as a marker of purpose with the translation “in order to, to.” Many times, it is difficult to differentiate purpose from result. This is the case in the clause we are considering since both result and purpose are implied in the act of handing over the incestuous believer to Satan. Although we cannot be dogmatic, it seems that the emphasis in the instruction is that of purpose that eventually implies result because the second clause gives the result that apostle finally anticipates. We are arguing that it is unlikely the apostle had two results in the compound clause although possible but not likely. It is for this reason we consider the clause as concerned with the purpose of handing the incestuous believer over to Satan with result being implied as in the words of the NIV so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
What then is this purpose intended in the clause of the NIV so that the sinful nature may be destroyed or literally for the destruction of the flesh? The answer hinges on understanding of two key words in the Greek used in the clause. A first key word given in the expression “sinful nature” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (sarx) that may refer to the material that covers the bones of a human or animal body hence means “flesh” as it is used for the ritual of circumcision in Galatians 6:13:
Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.
The word may mean “body, physical body” as it is used to reinforce the point that a husband should love the wife as himself, as indicated in Ephesians 5:29:
After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—
The word may mean “person, human being” as the word is used in the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus to refer to the authority over humans in John 17:2:
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
The phrase over all people is literally over all flesh. The word may refer to human or ancestral connection and so means “human/mortal nature, earthly descent” as it is used to indicate that human ancestry of the Lord Jesus is connected to Israel as we read in what the apostle stated as he narrated the privileges of Israel in Romans 9:5:
Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
The phrase the human ancestry of Christ is literally the Christ, according to the flesh. The word may refer to “the outward side of life as determined by normal perspectives or standards” as Apostle Paul used it to describe the status of most of the Corinthians prior to their salvation, as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:26:
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
The phrase by human standards is literally according to flesh. Although our Greek word is often understood as “sinful human nature,” that is, the seat of sin and rebellion to God but in our passage of 1 Corinthians 5:5, the word is used with the meaning of “physical body,” although it is also possible to take the word as reference to the “sinful human nature” as reflected in the NIV and many of our English versions. However, it is our interpretation that it is in the sense of “physical body” that the word is used in our passage because of the second key word used in the Greek of our text translated “destroyed” in the NIV.
The word “destroyed” of the NIV implies a verb is used in the Greek but that is not the case. Instead, we have a Greek noun (olethros) that may mean a state of destruction hence “destruction, ruin, death.” It is with the meaning “destruction” in the sense of divine punishment or judgment that the word is used for those who are complacent, thinking they are safe and in peace but suddenly they encounter suffering or trouble, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:3:
While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
It is in the sense of “death” that the word is used to describe those who would suffer permanent separation from the Lord, that is, those who experience eternal death as in 2 Thessalonians 1:9:
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.
The concept of the word involving eternal death is conveyed with the adjective “everlasting” used in the passage. The word has the sense of “ruin” in the description of the fate of those who desire to be wealthy as stated in 1 Timothy 6:9:
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
The word may refer to “act of destruction,” hence means “destruction.” The word as used in the NT never implies complete annihilation. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 5:5, it refers to the act of destruction probably referring to physical death.
Having considered the meanings of the key words used, we can answer the question of what the apostle meant in the clause of 1 Corinthians 5:5 NIV so that the sinful nature may be destroyed or literally for the destruction of the flesh. There are three possible interpretations. A first interpretation is that it refers to the destruction of the man’s sinful nature. A second interpretation is that it refers to the destruction of the man’s body implying death or at least the suffering of the body. A third interpretation takes the view that the apostle did not intend to differentiate between the first two interpretations so that he meant both. The man’s sinful lusts would be destroyed, and he would suffer physically as a judgment for his sin. The first interpretation is primarily based on the fact that the clause must be seen as “remedial process.” This is not necessarily the case. In other words, there is no true justification for stating this other than it is difficult to see how a person’s death may result in the person’s salvation. Although this first interpretation has been well defended by scholars who hold to it, but it seems to me that there are difficulties with it. For one thing, it does not explain what this destruction of the sinful nature is since the sinful nature is never destroyed until death occurs. Believers are commanded to struggle to subdue it but not to destroy it permanently as that would lead to the doctrine of perfection on this planet. Furthermore, it leaves us wondering in what way the man would repent. As we have interpreted, the man married his stepmother so what would constitute repentance? Should he then divorce the stepmother as a demonstration of his repentance? The apostle would not have advocated divorce as the solution to the sinful conduct so it is difficult to understand how destruction of sinful nature would be a remedial process as some contend. Based on these difficulties, it is our understanding that the apostle intended the second interpretation of destruction of the man’s body, implying death or at least suffering of the body. This interpretation seemed to be fitting since the apostle would have conceived that only when such a person is removed by eventual death that the problem of the sexual immorality would be solved. Another reason is that it is unlikely that the apostle would not have understood that the man has placed himself under curse as stated in Deuteronomy 27:20:
“Cursed is the man who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father’s bed.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
This being the case, it is difficult to see how this man would escape the curse without suffering. Of course, a person could argue that Christ already died for the man’s sin which is true but that does not mitigate the fact that this is a sin of the type that puts any man under curse, especially since the man is a believer so there is no win-win situation involved. If he now divorced the stepmother, he would be doing wrong and if he did not his state is still wrong. Thus, it is possible that the apostle might have understood that the only solution to the man’s situation is ultimately death. This should not be that surprising since the apostle is first aware that some believers have died because of their failure towards the Lord’s Supper as stated in 1 Corinthians 11:30:
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
Furthermore, the apostle was aware of the instant death of Ananias and Sapphira for their sin of lying to the Holy Spirit as narrated in the first ten verses of the fifth chapter of Acts that serves as a warning to believers about lying to the Holy Spirit.
We should be careful to recognize that the situation in 1 Corinthians 5 is different from other situation that the apostle spoke of handing someone over to Satan which no doubt involved punishment when he handed two men over to Satan in 1 Timothy 1:20:
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
The sense here is that the apostle wanted the two men to come to their senses through repentance and move away from false teaching as a result of punishment they would endure because of excommunication. Furthermore, the apostle implies also that excommunication would bring shame to a person so that the person would repent, as implied in 2 Thessalonians 3:14:
If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
The instruction in 2 Thessalonians implies that there would be repentance and change of conduct due to shame but as we have indicated, it is difficult to see how the incestuous believer would change his conduct. His situation is probably to be understood as a person who was in a spiritual state in which a person enters that the inevitable result is death, as for example, the Holy Spirit stated through the pen of Apostle John in 1 John 5:16:
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.
Anyway, it is our interpretation that the apostle expects that the ultimate result of the incestuous person refusing repentance would be physical death. That physical death was certainly in the apostle’s mind is conveyed in the expectant result of the death of such a person.
The apostle expects that the incestuous believer would eventually be delivered from eternal destruction following physical death as in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 5:5 and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Literally, the Greek reads that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Our literal translation begins with the word “that” while the NIV began with the conjunction “and.” The reason for the difference in the words used to begin the clause is due to the possible ways of interpreting the Greek conjunction used. The word “and” of the NIV is how its translators rendered a Greek conjunction (hina) with several usages. It may be used as a marker of result with the meaning “so that, that” as Apostle Paul used it to describe the result of the inward struggle in the believer between the Holy Spirit and sinful nature in Galatians 5:17:
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
The word may be used as a marker of purpose and so may be translated “in order that, that” as Apostle Paul used it to give the purpose of those who were pushing for circumcision among the Galatians, as we read in a passage we cited previously, that is, Galatians 6:13:
Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.
The word may be used as a marker of an objective with the meaning “that” as in the instruction of Apostle Paul to the Colossians regarding the epistle he wrote to them and that of the Laodiceans, as we read in Colossians 4:16:
After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 5:5, it is used either as a marker of result or purpose. As we indicated, it is often difficult to differentiate the two. That notwithstanding, it is used in our verse to state the result that is expected following the death of the incestuous believer. The individual would be delivered from eternal destruction as we may learn from examining two key words used in the clause and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord and the phrase the day of the Lord.
The first key word in our clause is “spirit” that is translated from a Greek word (pneuma) that here means “immaterial part of a person in contrast to the material” in the sense that it is used to describe an individual that will eventually have a spiritual body in contrast to a material body.
The second key word of the clause we are considering is “saved” that is translated from a Greek verb (sōzō) that is used both in physical and spiritual senses. In a physical sense, it refers to preservation or rescue from natural dangers and afflictions so means “to save” with several nuances. It may mean to save in the sense of being delivered from physical death as the word is used in the taunts of the Jews towards Jesus when He was on the cross, as we read in Matthew 27:40:
and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
To save means to free from disease or to be restored to health as it is used in James 5:15:
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
The sentence the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well is more literally the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. To save may refer to bringing out someone safely from a situation that is fraught with mortal danger, as the word is used to describe the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as stated in Jude 5:
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
The verbal phrase delivered his people out of Egypt is literally having saved the people out of the land of Egypt. In a spiritual sense, the word refers to the deliverance from eternal death or eternal destruction or deliverance from everything that leads to eternal death such as sin. It is in the spiritual sense of deliverance from eternal death, that is, “be saved” or “attain salvation” that Apostle Paul used the word to describe what his Jewish opponents were trying to do regarding Gentiles attaining salvation in 1 Thessalonians 2:16:
in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 5:5, the word means “to be saved” in a spiritual sense of being delivered or rescued from sin and its eternal consequence of eternal death. Thus, the incestuous believer is expected not to suffer eternal consequence of death at a future time described in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 5:5 the day of the Lord.
What does the apostle mean in the phrase the day of the Lord? To begin with, we need to consider the word “day” that is translated from a Greek word (hēmera) that may mean “day,” that is, the period between sunrise and sunset as the word is used literally in Apostle Paul and his team’s working to support themselves so as not to be a burden to the Thessalonians, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 2:9:
Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
Figuratively, the word “day” is used to describe Christians as children of light and day, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:5:
You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
The word may mean “day” in a sense of civil or legal day, including the night as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe the length of his stay with Peter in Jerusalem that included literal day and nights in Galatians 1:18:
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
The word may mean “day” as a day appointed for very special purposes as in the day Herod was to deliver a speech to those, he had problem with, that was part of his undoing as narrated in the twelfth chapter of Acts but our word is used specifically in Acts 12:21:
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.
It is in this special appointed day that the word is used to describe the day of God’s final punishment, as for example, in Romans 2:16:
This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
The word may mean “time”, that is, an extended period, as the word is used in Peter’s speech during the church council in Jerusalem recorded in Acts 15:7:
After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
The phrase some time ago is literally former days. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 5:5, the word is used in sense of “day,” that is, a day assigned to a particular purpose. This purpose is related to the phrase of the Lord. It is true that often when Apostle Paul uses the word “Lord” he refers to the Lord Jesus, here he used it as a reference to God without distinction of the persons involved although some Greek manuscripts contain the word “our” that would make it to be a reference to the Lord Jesus, but the most ancient manuscripts do not. Therefore, we take the word “Lord”
in a general sense of God without distinction. This being the case, then the day the apostle had in mind associated with the Lord is one that is concerned with judgment, as he stated when he preached in Athens, as we read in Acts 17:31:
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
The concept of judgment associated with phrase the day of the Lord is one that is well known in the OT Scripture. The prophets described it primarily as a day of judgment. Prophet Zephaniah described it as a day of universal judgment of God in Zephaniah 1:14–18:
14 “The great day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. 15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, 16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.”
Prophet Amos described it as a dreadful day of God’s judgment in Amos 5:18–20:
18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. 19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. 20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
It is not only that the day of the Lord was perceived as a day of judgment, but it was also described as a day of hope and restoration. Prophet Micah described it as a day when God will gather His people, as we read in Micah 4:6–7:
6 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. 7 I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.
In the NT, the concept of judgment that will result in punishment or reward is also found in the phrase the day of the Lord we are considering. Thus, Apostle Paul could look forward to it as a day of reward in 2 Timothy 4:8:
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Apostle Peter described it as a day of judgment in 2 Peter 3:10:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Anyhow, the phrase the day of the Lord as used in the NT is a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ in which reward and punishment would be given. Punishment would be given to those who are unbelievers while reward would be given to believers in keeping with how they lived on this planet. Thus, on that day unbelievers would be consigned to eternal destruction. However, Apostle Paul communicated that the incestuous believer in Corinth would be saved from eternal destruction on the day of the Lord, that is, at the second coming of Christ.
The clause of 1 Corinthians 5:5 and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord, as we indicated previously, speaks to the security of a believer’s salvation. Interestingly, this clause states what would happen because of the result of the excommunication of the offender in Corinth. The anticipated death of such a person is what prepares the way for his deliverance on the day of the Lord. The implication is that there is nothing done by such a person to maintain his salvation. You see, there are Christians who worry themselves sick by thinking that somehow if they died without confessing their sins they would be lost. Verse 5 of 1 Corinthians 5 should put to rest that thinking. This is because there is no mention of repentance or confession of sin as a condition for eternal deliverance from God’s wrath if the person were to die. The fact the apostle did not make any reference to confession before giving the result of the offender not being eternally lost is the proof that the person’s salvation does not depend on him. In fact, the reason that although the offender would not have confessed his sin but remain eternally saved is because of Christ’s work. The Apostle is confident that Jesus Christ who began salvation as part of His good work would not leave it unfinished as he stated in Philippians 1:6:
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Furthermore, Jesus Christ is our high priest and so we are informed He saves completely, as recorded in Hebrews 7:25:
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Would you please notice the reason the Lord Jesus is said to be able to save completely is because he always lives to intercede for them. We are saying that when the human author of Hebrews states he always lives to intercede for them, he means that there is no elapse of time in dealing with our sins since the word “always” is translated from a Greek adverb (pantote) that means “at all times.” Hence, because the Lord Jesus is at all times interceding for believers then He continuously assures that God will never deal with believers’ sins in such a way as to keep them from having eternal relationship with Him. It is for this reason that even if a believer dies without confession of his sins that the person who is a believer still goes into heaven. Jesus Christ has paid for our sins completely so when He intercedes for our sins, He is reminding the Father that He paid for our sins. Therefore, we are secured in our salvation. If this was not the case, Apostle Paul would not have stated that the incestuous believer in Corinth would be saved even if he died without confession of his sin since he made no reference to repentance or confession of sin. My point is that what we have here in 1 Corinthians 5:5 is an indirect but a strong way of declaring the security of the believer’s salvation. Do not belittle the work of Christ, for the credit for our salvation from start to finish is due Him because of His sacrifice on the cross. Therefore, the only thing you have be certain is that you are saved. If you are, nothing would affect your being eternally delivered from eternal destruction. But be careful to understand that if you decide you want to live sinfully then you would suffer severely in this life because the Lord would inflict great pain on you since only here on this planet would you suffer the consequence of sin as that is the reason you would be disciplined, as implied in 1 Corinthians 11:31–32:
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
07/26/19