For those who say we should not judge or discipline anyone in the Church, here is what God says:
Paul heard from someone else who reported it to him.
Paul encouraged the body of Christ to put out the one who was sinning.
Paul pronounced judgment on the one who was sinning.
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
"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. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 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. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 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."
The people of Corinth were proud of the tolerance of the one who was sinning, even boasting about it, wow, sounds familiar.
Public sin was not to be handled privately, it was to be handled by the entire body of believers. Everyone in the group was to have nothing to do with this sinner until he repented.
Pride was the problem of the Corinthian church that needed to be dealt with to spare the rest of the flock from sinful influence.
We see what happens when churches are tolerant of sin, the sin grows and the people become intolerant of correction.
Paul was concerned about the holiness of the church gathering and the two who were sinning, more than the feelings of the one who was in sin.
Galatians 5:9 "9 A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough."
One of the reasons our churches are apostate and such a mess is because the leaders did not emphasize the devastation of sin in the body not only on those who are sinning but on those who are not sinning but are influenced by the acceptance of sin. God is not glorified but ignored and disrespected.
The purpose of discipline in the body is the protection of the body and help to repent and return to obedience to Christ.
Our world calls good bad and bad good. The people in the churches call it mean to discipline those who are sinning in the gathering. They call it love to protect and coddle the ones who live disgracefully. But in fact, it is not loving to protect a person in sin. It is not loving to pretend God is not offended by what the sinner is doing.
God's love warns people of the pitfalls of sin and disobedience. It is love that brings correction to those who are in error or out-and-out sin.
Would anyone think it was unkind for a fireman to run up to a person in a flaming building and shout "get out now the building is on fire"? How much more important is the message that Christ is coming and that hell awaits for those who will not trust in Him.
Matthew 24:14 "“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
