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Topic of discussion is “Crucified With Christ” Romans 6, Galatians 2:20-21
To be crucified with Christ is to be dead (the power of the flesh, sin….etc no longer dominates you) to the world system, religion, self, sin and Satan. It means that we no longer strive to live for self, nor our old life as we have known it. The passions and lust which controlled us before Salvation should be nailed (destroyed) to His Cross. This is necessary so that the life of Christ can be manifested through us.
Too many of us give our lives to Christ and then try to live for God based upon our old way of living, thinking, traditions and self efforts. The only way that the life of Christ can be revealed through you and I, as believers, is if we place our focus and faith not on our ministry, not on our gifts and abilities, and not on works but on where we began this Christian life which is by faith in the Cross of Christ and where we shall end this life by exhibiting faith in the Cross of Christ.
Understand that just because one operates in a gift or ability does not mean that one is living a crucified life. Our character must be changed to match that of Christ and the process of denying self must be applied daily. This is a spiritual work which can only be done by the Holy Spirit when our faith is properly placed in the Cross of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:2
(2) “AND YE ARE PUFFED UP, AND HAVE NOT RATHER MOURNED, THAT HE THAT HATH DONE THIS DEED MIGHT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM AMONG YOU.”
The Truth is, there are Christians in this “spiritual elitism” who have by and large abandoned the True Ways of God, and are constantly casting about for these spiritual tidbits. As well, there are Bible Teachers, so-called, who are ready and willing to supply all of the so-called clever insights. In fact, the land is full of them.
Even as Paul said, despite their claims, these people are by and large babies respecting spiritual maturity, in other words, they do not have any maturity. As well, their spiritual growth has come to a grinding halt, at least as long as they remain in this posture, with regression actually the case.
Such is Satan and such is deception!
The phrase, “And have not rather mourned,” presents that which should have been the attitude of the Corinthian Believers respecting what was taking place all around them and especially the situation addressed by Paul.
The phrase, “That he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you,” carries with it several powerful statements:
First of all, the idea is presented in the Text that such an individual should be immediately told to repent and cease such activity, and if not, he must be disfellowshiped. However, not only was there no demand for Repentance, there was seemingly no understanding as to how bad the situation really was. In fact, Verse 2 proclaims the thought that the perpetrator was “glorying” in his situation instead of seeing it for what it really was (vs. 6).
In this Chapter (vs. 5), the Holy Spirit through the Apostle informs us, that those who are involved in something of this nature must be given an opportunity to repent. If they in fact, humble themselves before the Lord in True Biblical Repentance, the matter should end there. True Repentance before God always stops Judgment of any nature. However, sin always brings negative consequences, irrespective as to what the sin may be. So, if anyone thinks that Repentance means that someone is getting by, that person is engaging in fantasy. The simple reason being, that all sin, irrespective of how much that Repentance is engaged, always exacts a terrible toll. However, that toll must be confined to the act itself, and must never be the result of fellow Believers. Always remember, that “with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Mat. 7:1–2).
SOME MATTERS MAY HAVE TO BE LOOKED AT DIFFERENTLY
If the sin is child molestation, or homosexuality, and even possibly other things one could name, even though Biblical Repentance may be truly enjoined, the individual who has repented, as sincere as it may be, should not desire to be placed in a position to where the same thing could easily happen again. Neither should Church Leaders desire to place one in such a position.
In other words, if a man was teaching a class of boys in the Church, and was found to be molesting one of these boys, even though he may sincerely repent of the action, he should not immediately be placed in this position again, nor should he desire to be. Notwithstanding the crime that has been committed other than the sin, such action should not at all be forthcoming.
However, there definitely can come a time, that is if the individual walks closely to the Lord and such is obvious, that he could be trusted again in whatever capacity. However, special care and wisdom would have to be exercised in such a case.
If we truly believe that Jesus Christ delivers, and we certainly do, if in fact such a person is truly delivered, they must be treated as such. As well, such will be obvious.
IF NO REPENTANCE IS FORTHCOMING …
This 5th Chapter makes it very clear, if the individual refuses to repent and line up with the Word of God, then that person, as stated, is to be disfellowshiped.
Once again, we are speaking of scandalous sins, and not all types of wrongs which, in fact, every Church has.
All people must be dealt with patiently and kindly, showing great compassion, for this is the Way of the Lord. But a situation such as Paul addresses here, which is an extreme violation of the Word of God in just about every capacity, and being carried out openly, must be dealt with, or else it will destroy the Church.
LET ME GIVE AN EXAMPLE
A young man and a young lady who were members of our Church, Family Worship Center, were seeing each other, with both of them of course professing Salvation, etc. To make the story very brief, the young lady became pregnant.
As the Senior Pastor of the Church, I met with one of my Associate Pastors who was more acquainted with the situation than anyone else, and we discussed as to what should be done, in other words how we should handle the situation.
First of all, there was never a thought which entered our minds, that we should make these young people leave the Church, because they might be an embarrassment to the Church, etc. Those things were never even once thought of or spoken. Our every action was to salvage this young man and young lady, getting them back on track with God, putting this thing, as serious as it was, behind them.
My Associate went to them and addressed the problem. They immediately told him that they were going to be married, which was the right course in this situation.
This was done, with a beautiful little baby boy born to them a short time later, and now they have a second child. They are both in the Church serving God, closer to the Lord I think than they have ever been before, and to be frank with you, I personally am very proud of both of them.
Of course it was not right what they did. It was sin, and in a sense despite the Love of God and the Grace of God, there will always be some hurt between both of them because of this sin.
But yet, as the Pastor of this Church, it was my responsibility to love them, to help them, to pray with them, to get them back on track according to the Word of God, which we did, and thankfully to which they both acquiesced, and they were both beautifully and wondrously salvaged. That is True Bible Christianity.
HOWEVER!
To be kind and loving, even as Christ demands, does not mean that one condones the sin or the failure. It merely means that one knows and understands, that one is not morally qualified to point a finger at others. Knowing that all of us, even the best of us whomever that may be, are in constant need of the Grace of God, and knowing that, we should be very quick to judge ourselves harshly, but others very leniently.
However, if that young man and young lady had refused to do the right thing which was to marry, which in this case was possible, in other words if they had flagrantly ignored the Word of God and charted their own course whatever that may have been, I would have continued to love them and try to help them, but I would have told them to leave the Church, just as Paul here speaks. However, that would be done only as a matter of last resort, and only after we had exhausted every means to try to get them back on track. As stated, it is not the business of the Preacher or anyone else for that matter, to purify the Church, that being solely the Business of the Holy Spirit, and because He Alone is qualified to do so. But when people, purposely set themselves against the Word of God, refuse to repent, and, as stated, chart their own course which is in opposition to the Word, and blatantly so, even as Paul here addresses, there is no alternative but to disfellowship these individuals, which the Apostle here plainly proclaims.
WHY DID THE HOLY SPIRIT TREAT THIS SIN OF INCEST DIFFERENT THAN THE SIN DEALT WITH IN THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS?
It was the sin of pride which Paul dealt with in the first Four Chapters of this Book, and which was so severe that it threatened to destroy the Church. But yet, even though Paul did demand repentance (4:17–21), at no time did he speak of these being disfellowshiped as he did the one guilty of incest, as recorded in this 5th Chapter.
Why?
Some may answer that I Corinthians, Chapter 5 pertained to morals, while I Corinthians, Chapters 1 through 4 did not. However, that is incorrect.
The prideful factor of I Corinthians, Chapters 1 through 4 was moral in nature as was that in I Corinthians, Chapter 5. Actually, the word “moral” or “morals” simply means “principles of right and wrong pertaining to behavior.” Consequently, the behavior of those in Chapters 1 through 4 was morally wrong as was the one in Chapter 5. Actually, this is one of the problems of the Church.
It considers sins such as the incest of I Corinthians, Chapter 5 to be immoral, which it definitely is, but does not think of slander as immoral, or gossip, or a prideful attitude for that matter. However, they are all immoral in the Eyes of God, and should be in the eyes of all others as well.
The reason that the Holy Spirit did not instruct Paul to threaten disfellowship for those of I Corinthians, Chapters 1 through 4, is because in a sense this situation was a matter of Doctrine. Their Doctrine was terribly wrong, and the Holy Spirit through the Apostle called attention to this fact. Actually, had they continued in this vein, they stood in great danger of losing their souls. If error is not corrected, it only gets worse. But yet, to call attention to this situation and demand repentance was all that the Holy Spirit did. He did not demand disfellowship, as He did in I Corinthians, Chapter 5. The sin of Chapter 5 was a direct and flagrant breaking of the Fifth Commandment, “Honour thy Father and thy Mother,” of the Seventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and the Tenth Commandment, “Thou shalt not covet thy … neighbour’s wife” (Ex. Chpt. 20). Of course all sin, and irrespective of its nature, is a breaking of the Ten Commandments in some manner. But yet, some are far more obvious, even as this sin of Chapter 5, and, consequently, must be dealt with accordingly.
~J. Swaggart
1 Corinthians 5:1
(1) “IT IS REPORTED COMMONLY THAT THERE IS FORNICATION AMONG YOU, AND SUCH FORNICATION AS IS NOT SO MUCH AS NAMED AMONG THE GENTILES, THAT ONE SHOULD HAVE HIS FATHER’S WIFE.”
The phrase, “It is reported commonly,” tells us three things:
1. In all the questions which the Believers at Corinth had for Paul to address, they had not mentioned, at least in their Letter, the problem of the party spirit or this problem of immorality. These two things were related to Paul by those “of the house of Chloe,” quite possibly those who had brought the Letter to Paul from Corinth (I Cor. 1:11).
2. The word “commonly” insinuates that the immorality was more widespread than just the problem addressed.
3. Paul selects the worst case of the lot, that being a situation involving incest.
The phrase, “That there is fornication among you,” speaks of all kinds of impurity, perversion, and immorality. As stated, immorality, and of all types, seemingly was widespread in the Church at this time.
WHAT IS FORNICATION?
The Greek word is “porneia,” and as stated, means all kinds of impurity, perversion, and immorality. However, it is somewhat different than adultery.
For instance, it is commonly thought that adultery refers to those who are married, with fornication referring to those who are single. That is incorrect. Fornication or adultery has nothing to do with one’s marital or single status. The meaning of fornication is as follows:
1. First of all it means repeated adultery, going from one partner to the next (Mat. 5:32; 19:9; I Cor. 7:2; 10:8; I Thess. 4:3; Rev. 9:21).
All fornicators are adulterers, but all adulterers are not fornicators.
As bad as either sin is, an individual who has an affair with someone other than his or her wife or husband, is not a fornicator, but is definitely an adulterer.
For instance, David was an adulterer, but he was not a fornicator. By contrast, Esau was a fornicator (Heb. 12:16).
2. Incest is fornication (I Cor. 5:1; 10:8). Incest is sexual intercourse between persons so closely related that they are forbidden by law to marry. So, this man living with his Stepmother even while his Father was alive (II Cor. 7:12) constituted incest.
3. Idolatry and adultery in honor of idol gods is fornication (II Chron. 21:11; Isa. 23:17; Ezek. 16:15, 26, 29; Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; Rev. 2:14–21; 14:8; 17:2–4; 18:3–9; 19:2).
Temple prostitution in honor of idol gods was a common thing in Paul’s day and before. In fact, Corinth was filled with this vice, which in fact, made it one of the most debauched places in the world of that time.
4. Natural harlotry (prostitution) is fornication (Jn. 8:41; I Cor. 6:13–18).
5. Spiritual harlotry is also called fornication (Ezek. 16:15, 26, 29; Rev. 17:2–4; 18:3–9; 19:2).
This speaks of Believers, or those who are supposed to be Believers, forsaking the Lord and going after idols or false Doctrine. The Holy Spirit likens these to spiritual fornicators.
6. Sodomy (male homosexuality) and male prostitution come under the heading of fornication (Rom. 1:24–29; I Cor. 6:9–11; II Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5; Heb. 12:16; Jude 6–7).
Adultery does not merely pertain to those who are married, but rather to any type of unlawful relationship between men and women, whether single or married. However, the term does not cover the wide scope as does fornication.
The phrase, “And such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles,” simply means that it was not common among the Gentiles, even though it definitely was at times committed. The idea is, that even the Gentiles who looked at most immorality with indifference, in fact, frowned severely on this particular sin.
The phrase, “That one should have his Father’s wife,” refers to his Stepmother. As stated, it seems from II Corinthians 7:12 that the Father was alive for it refers there to the one “that suffered wrong” as well as the one who had “done the wrong.”
Evidently, this man was ignoring what had been said regarding this sin in Leviticus 18:17 and Deuteronomy 27:20. As well, from the complete silence regarding the woman, it may be inferred that she was not a Believer.
In fact, Mosaic Law demanded death for such an act, and even Roman Law prohibited it.
(2) “AND YE ARE PUFFED UP, AND HAVE NOT RATHER MOURNED, THAT HE THAT HATH DONE THIS DEED MIGHT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM AMONG YOU.”
The phrase, “And ye are puffed up,” tells us that this action was not, on the surface, motivated by animal passion but by false religious philosophy; but this only made this conduct, example, and teaching the more deadly to the spiritual life and the more destructive to the Gospel.
This Chapter, therefore, uncovers something of the evil and folly of the natural heart even in a Christian; and also illustrates the depths of Satan in cunningly persuading Believers that grossly immoral conduct can be misconstrued as exalted Christian liberty (Williams).
A LEADER IN THE CHURCH?
There is some evidence in Paul’s statement, that this man was not merely a member of the Corinthian Church, but was rather one of its Leaders. The idea seems to be that the people in the Church seemed to think little about this situation, and if we are to interpret Verse 6 literally, were actually glorying in what was being done. In fact, and as stated, it seems that other types of immorality were taking place as well.
Unless they met in a cave or some such like place, the Churches in Paul’s day were normally made up of several groups, each group meeting in a house with its particular Leader. As stated, this man could have been one of those Leaders.
HOW COULD THE CHURCH COME TO THIS ERRONEOUS CONCLUSION?
Whatever the thinking in their minds, the real reason was that they had left the Word of God as is blatantly obvious, had become puffed up in their spiritual pride thinking they were spiritual giants, so much so they were denigrating Paul, all which made them easy targets for Satan.
A broken and contrite spirit, which speaks of humility, and which is actually a Christlike spirit, closes the door to Satan and keeps it open to the Holy Spirit. This is the reason that over and over again in the Bible, we are warned that brokenness and contrition are the spiritual qualities looked for by the Spirit of God, and in fact, the only qualities which God can bless (Ps. 51:17; Isa. 66:2; Mat. 5:3–5; Lk. 18:14).
Some Expositors claim that Paul using the words “puffed up” only pertains to the Church not taking action concerning this matter. While it is certainly true, that they did not take action, the entirety of the situation was of far greater magnitude than that.
As we have previously stated, this matter was not merely a sin of animal passion, as bad as that would have been, but was rather far deeper and of far greater consequence, in that it was motivated by false religious philosophy. In fact, this is why the Holy Spirit took up so much space respecting the first Four Chapters of this Epistle, in dealing with this problem. It was not a matter of merely preferring one Preacher over the other, or even exalting one out of proportion to reality. Again, it was deeper and of greater magnitude than that.
SPIRITUAL ELITISM
Once again, it was the sin of spiritual elitism, which makes one unteachable except by some designated individual. Consequently, they make up their own rules as they go along.
Through the years, I have seen people in my Church do the same thing, as I suppose has every other Pastor, etc. Exactly as they did Paul, they would begin to insinuate that I was not deep enough for their spiritual intelligence. Oftentimes, I would watch them attach themselves to a Preacher who I knew was not living right, or else was conducting himself improperly in other ways.
The Truth is, that these people whomever they may have been, even as those at Corinth, were spiritual babies regarding the Word and its understanding, even though they considered themselves to be spiritual giants.
This type of people become very big in their own eyes, spiritually speaking, and then begin to cast about for clever things which they are deluded into believing are the “deep things of God.” When they come to this stage, even as at Corinth, and sadly there are many in modern Churches, the Salvation of lost souls is now of little significance. Believers being Baptized with the Holy Spirit is not worth their attention. People being delivered from the powers of darkness do not raise an eyebrow in their thinking. They are looking for something “deep,” and these things mentioned, which is what Calvary is all about, are simply not deep enough in their thinking.
~JSM
Con’t -How Change Occurred in Our Education/Governmental System Through the Years pt. 2
by John Rosenstern
WALL OF SEPARATION
The Danbury Baptist Association wrote to President Thomas Jefferson in 1801, and in the president’s reply, he coined the phrase “a wall of separation between church and state” in assuring the Baptists that government would not interfere with their religious freedoms recently guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The phrase, “a wall of separation between church and state,” cannot be found in the Constitution or any other founding documents. Justice Black made a decision that was based on a quote from the response letter Jefferson wrote back to Danbury Baptist Association. What the First Amendment says is: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers knew the intension of the First Amendment was simply to prevent the establishment of a single denomination. The letter sent to Jefferson by Danbury expressed their concern that the guarantee of the “free exercise of religion” appeared in the First Amendment. To them, this suggested that the right to religious freedom was a government-granted right rather than a God-granted right. Their concern, as should be ours, was that someday the government might try to regulate religious expression. A court declared in 1799: “By our form of government, the Christian religion is the stablished religion; and all its sects and denominations of Christians are placed on the same and equal footing.” The misapplication and distortion by Justice Black of Jefferson’s response phrase “a wall of separation between church and state” gave license to all in government to use the new philosophy of the court to abolish Christianity from the public sector.
The eight words within Jefferson’s letter to Danbury have become a mantra often repeated enough for the masses to believe it as though this is what the founders desired. The unconstitutional phrase was used successfully in the case of Engel v. Vitale—the case that struck down school prayer. The court also redefined the word church in their ruling. Up until 1962, the word church, as used in the phrase “separation of church and state,” was defined to mean a federally established denomination. From 1962, the word church would now mean “a religious activity in public.” Prayer was considered an activity in public and, therefore, deemed unconstitutional based on the new meaning. The meaning of the First Amendment was altered by the courts.
Within a year after prayer was successfully removed from schools by the court, two more cases also eliminated Bible reading, Bible classes, and instruction. This was a great departure from our founders. NOW WHAT? Christian education was replaced with humanism and psychology. Have the changes in our schools helped our society? Is moral evolution working to improve humanity, or has it been our demise in America? We will continue our discussion on education next month. Satan knows that if he can get the minds of our youth while they are impressionable, he can then plant seeds of doubt and foster rebellion against Christianity. The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”