Is it right to make a judgment, about who's a Christian and who's not a Christian?
Hi.
Welcome to today's little lesson, and for the past three little lessons, we've been
talking about the biblical concept of shunning.
We've studied Matthew, chapter 18, verses 15 through 17, Jesus's three step instructions
for confrontation of someone who sins, or sins against you.
Now, we're looking at First Corinthians chapter five, where Paul is instructing the Corinthian
Church to excommunicate a guy, who he's convinced is not a true believer.
He's a Polk.
He calls him a so-called brother, and the reason is because he's grossly immoral.
He's living with his stepmother in a sexual relationship with her, and some even think
that he could be living with his widowed mother, or divorced mother in a sexually immoral relationship.
So Paul...
So this is a kind of a morality that doesn't even exist amongst the Gentiles, and Corinth
was the most immoral city in the ancient oracle.
So, this guy was bad news, and Paul says, "Remove the wicked man from among yourselves,
not remove the way we're brother.
Remove the wicked man."
Later on in First Corinthians, the very next chapter, Paul gives more insight as to how
he feels about people like this.
Now, I'm gonna preface this by saying that there is a common Christian cliche, you hear
it often.
People say, "Well, all sin is the same in God's eyes.
If you tell a little lie, that's just as bad as telling a big lie.
If you hate somebody, it's just as bad as murder."
They derive this sometimes from some things that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,
but it doesn't hold any water biblically, in the greater context of scripture, nor logically.
So, all sin is grievous to God, right?
Right.
But some sin is more grievous, and when someone is guilty of the most blatant, grievous, the
most grievous sins in God's eyes, that surely certainly marks them as an unbeliever according
to the Bible, and we have that right to judge.
I was just reading this morning, in my own personal devotions, where John wrote in his
First Epistle, the Children of God, and the children of the devil are obvious.
The one who practices righteousness is righteous.
The one who practices sin, is of the devil.
There is a difference folks, between Christians and Non-Christians.
Contrary to what that bumper sticker says, that Christians are not perfect, they're just
forgiven.
Well, that is kind of a misrepresentation of the Gospel in my humble opinion, and yeah,
Christians are not perfect, but they're more than forgiven.
They're born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, Children of God, on the narrow path that leads
to life, and they're striving to obey Jesus's Commandments.
If they're not, they're not a Christian.
Now, we're going to jump ahead to First Corinthians chapter six, and it becomes crystal crystal
clear, and this is something that I'm telling you, so many Christians fail, apparently to
understand this.
You hear these silly things about, "Well, we don't know what's in their hearts."
Well, wait a second, we don't know what's in the adulterer's heart?
It's not purity, you know.
"Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."
Jesus said.
So though, what comes out of the mouth?
Certainly a revelation of what's in the heart.
And Jesus said from the heart, proceed all those wicked things and even lists adultery
as one of those things.
So, what's in the heart of the adulterer?
We don't know what's in their hearts.
Oh yes, we do.
Adultery is in their hearts.
That's why they're acting out as adulterers.
Also, there's lust there.
Lust always proceeds adultery.
All right, so are you ready to read First Corinthians chapter six, and verses nine through
11?
This is the Bible.
This is New Testament.
"Or do you not know," Paul said, "that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of
God."
Now, what defines an unrighteous person, according to Paul?
Well, we don't have to ask that question too long, because the answer is given to us right
away.
Paul elaborates in the very next sentence, and he doesn't define the unrighteous as those
who have not prayed the little prayer, to invite Jesus into their hearts.
That's not the definition of an unrighteous person.
Paul lists very definitively, "do you not...
Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor a feminent,
nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers,
will inherit the Kingdom of God."
You can see, it's just as plain as can be.
I know there are some Christian teachers who say that Paul is not talking here about ultimate
salvation, but rewards that will get in heaven.
They won't inherit the Kingdom.
That doesn't mean they won't get into heaven, as some people say.
That means that they just...
They're going to miss out on some of the perks, up there in the Kingdom.
Is that even worth commenting on?
Jesus said, "Come, you who are blessed of my Father, to the sheep on his right.
Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Inherit the kingdom, and what happens to them?
They enter into eternal life, whereas the goats are cast into hell.
They don't inherit the Kingdom.
Inheriting the Kingdom is the same as getting into heaven, being saved.
These categories of unrighteous people, who are guilty of practicing the most grievous
sins in God's eyes, they will not inherit the Kingdom, and so that's why when Paul identifies
a guy in the Corinthian Church, who's living in an immoral relationship, he says, "Get
the guy out of there."
Now I'm going to say something, that I hope you'll keep listening, because this could
be the most important thing I say.
This was written to the Corinthian Church, which was chock-full of all kinds of problems,
which all had sin as their root, right?
Oh my goodness, yes.
There's strife.
There's divisions.
There is inconsideration with fellow believers during the Lord's Supper.
There was people even getting drunk in the Lord's Supper.
Although, Paul did mention here, of course, drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of
God, okay?
If you read through the Corinthian letter, the First Corinthian letter, all those problems
keep popping out, Abuse of spiritual gifts and so forth.
Paul didn't say to excommunicate anybody, but this one guy.
See, so this is reserved for the most grievous sins.
This is cause for excommunication and shunning.
There are other things that are not as grievous to God obviously, or else Paul would have
said, "I want everyone who was dividing and determining who, and saying, I'm a Paul, I'm
a Paulus, I'm obsequious.
kick all those people out, all the people that are there, that are showing inconsideration
in the Lord's Supper.
Kick all of them out.
We're just going to shun, and excommunicate everybody that's guilty of any degree of sin.
Well, there would be nobody left, and if you or I had been there, we wouldn't have been
left either.
This kind of excommunication is reserved for the most blatant, and if you're part of a
church that excommunicates people for little things, like they're not going with the pastor's
vision, or all these types of things, but this is different, and that's not biblical.
When they start excommunicating people for little things.
Paul says, "Such were some of you."
See, were past tense, but you were washed.
You were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
in the Spirit of God, because when the Holy Spirit comes at you, you get delivered from
these most grievous sins very quickly.
Now, the other things, the less grievous ones, do take some time, but these babies, Man,
out the door, and if we're not out the door Pronto, well, there's a big warning sign,
that the new birth hasn't happened.
Okay, well over my time.
Thank you so much for listening.
I think we'll talk about this one more time, at least in our next lesson.
Hope to see you then.
God bless you.