In 1 Cor 5 Paul chastises the church for allowing one of its members to practice horrendous immorality. He writes in 5:1, “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.” Paul questions why this gross sin does not cause them to weep! This sin cannot be tolerated. If it is continued to be overlooked, sin will spread throughout the church and cause its ruin (vv 6-8). The church has an obligation to preserve the purity of its witness. This man must be confronted (vv 9-12). Assuming that this man is not going to repent upon initial rebuke, Paul closes this discussion with the command “Purge the evil person from among you” (v 13).
Where does Paul derive his methodology? How does he reach the conclusion that sins such as this must not be tolerated at all within the church. Indeed, the person is to be removed, no questions asked. The purity of the church must take absolute priority! One might first think that Paul is reading Matthew’s instructions in Matthew 18:15-17. However, Paul has actually quoted another passage. Paul’s theology of church discipline comes from the book of Deuteronomy! Moses warns the people that certain sins are not to be tolerated at all, and his prescription for punishment is: “So you shall purge the evil from your midst” (17:7, 12; 21:9, 21; 22:21, 22, 24; 24:7). Under the Old Covenant, that meant death. Under the New Covenant, it means removal from church membership and considered to be an unbeliever.
It is a good reminder for us that church discipline is sometimes necessary for the church and has its roots way back in the days of the OT. God always calls upon his people to deal with sin!
What do you think about the laws excluding Moabites + Ammonites (10 generations) and Edomites + Egyptians (3 generations) in Deuteronomy 23:3-6? Ten generations or three generations from when? From Moses giving the Deuteronomy teaching just before Israel crossed the Jordan? Why so lenient with the Egyptian would-be worshippers? Egypt certainly was nasty enough to Israel and had no kinship ties. And I wonder what generation from the time of Deuteronomy (if that is how the generations were counted) that Ruth was? The ESV notes for 23:2-4 state that "10 generations" could be another way of saying "forever." And what about King David who would have been 1/8 Moabite from his great-grandmother? I'm GLAD for how God makes tremendous exceptions (MERCY!) and how the generational "curse" is broken when one person, Ruth, chooses to believe in the One True God--but how does this passage fit with the "no son will be punished for his father's sin" ruling? Wouldn't an Ammonite or Moabite who wanted to "enter the assembly of the LORD" be someone who, like Ruth, was wanting to worship God? Would they be excluded? Baffling.
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