Feb 25, 2018
by: Jack Lash Series: 2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle | Category: NT books | Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:5–11
- Introduction
A. Paul here begins to reveal the trouble in the Corinthian church that had brought on all this in the first place. Paul had stopped in on the believers in Corinth. A problem occurred there between Paul and a certain man in the church. We don’t know the exact nature of the problem. It may have been that Paul had heard of something this man (perhaps along with others) was doing, and went to Corinth to deal with it.
B. Whatever the case, though, the problem became a show-down between Paul and one particular man. It is reasonable to conclude that this man led the opposition to Paul during the visit to Corinth, challenging the apostle’s authority before the whole congregation.
II. Explanation
A. What was the punishment imposed upon this man?
1. Paul says nothing about it here. But all through his epistles he talks about the punishment that must be imposed on those who continue in unrepentant sin.
2. It is first found on the lips of our Lord in Matt.18:15-17: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."
a. The last part of this is the punishment itself: "let him be to you as a Gentile & a tax collector."
3. In 1Cor.5:4-5, Paul insisted on this same punishment for (presumably) another man: "In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
4. But 1Cor.5:9-11 elaborates: “I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”
5. This is the only church punishment talked about in the NT. (See also Rom.16:17; 1Cor.5:12-13; 2Thess. 3:6, 14; 1Tim.1:20; Titus 3:10.)
B. Apparently in his severe letter Paul had commanded the Corinthian church to discipline this man, to “deliver him to Satan.” And apparently the man had now repented and Paul is instructing the church to stop this church sanction and accept the man back and forgive him. The goal of the discipline had been achieved.
1. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.
C. To our modern ears, the question which cries out is not whether the man should be forgiven, but...
III. Does punishment belong in the church of grace?
A. How can we square the concept of punishment with the idea of forgiveness and grace?
B. Here Paul endorses (and probably originally commands) punishment of a member of the church.
C. Isn’t this contradictory to God’s forgiveness which is the core principle of the gospel?
1. And isn’t it a violation of Jesus’ command not to judge (Matt.7:1)?
2. The gospel of grace says that people are accepted by God because of what Christ did and not on the basis of how good he is or what good things he does.
3. That doesn’t sound consistent with punishing people in the church.
D. But I would suggest that the two are not at odds with one another. I would suggest that the concept of punishment is in fact in harmony with the idea of grace.
1. To explain this, let’s talk about the gospel. Gospel means good news.
2. Good news only makes sense if there’s something bad.
3. And you can’t grasp the good news of Christ if you don’t understand the bad news.
4. The bad news is that we’re cosmic rebels doomed to God’s eternal punishment.
5. The good news is that God has sent Jesus to become a man and die on the cross in our place that if we believe in Him, we might be saved from God’s eternal punishment and receive eternal life.
6. Well, when Paul gives the reason for the punishment of the man in 1Cor.5:5, he says it is so "that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
7. The punishment is designed to bring the man salvation on the day of the Lord?
a. This must mean that the sin which the man had fallen into had ruined or endangered his salvation. And that the punishment was designed to rescue him out of his sin so that he might be saved.
b. The goal isn’t vengeance, the goal isn’t justice. The goal is redemption. The goal is restoration.
8. One of the primary purposes for church discipline is to try to bring about repentance and, thus, the restoration of the person back to Christ and His Church. It is restorative not malicious, redemptive not vengeful. It is not contrary to love, but is supposed to be an act of desperate love.
9. Illustrations: electric shock, surgery, chemotherapy — to preserve life
E. Of course, those who don’t understand the significance of Christ’s salvation don’t think grace and punishment CAN be reconciled.
1. In our day of "live and let live" any kind of punishment for what a person does with regard to religion goes against the tide of our culture. But then so does much of what Christ commanded.
F. It’s because salvation by the grace of Christ is so important that church discipline is needed.
1. If the salvation of Christ is a little thing, then it’s not a big deal if you give it up.
2. But discipline is done because salvation is so important.
G. Church discipline is done when a person sins in such a way as to be falling away from that salvation – as a drastic measure to prevent him from falling away.
1. Or when a person acts in a scandalous way creating a roadblock to others coming to salvation.
IV. Church discipline and hell
A. You see, you can’t really understand church discipline without grasping the danger of hell.
B. Every time a person dies, people say: “He or she is in a better place.”
1. But the fact is, not every person who passes away goes to a better place — not even the ones who seemed like good people.
2. Unless you love Christ and put your trust in Him, you go to a much worse place.
C. Jesus taught us numerous times about the reality of eternal punishment in hell. One time, for instance, someone asked Jesus this question: “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
1. Now if universalism was true, if in the end EVERYONE was going to be saved, Jesus would have said something like, ‘Are only a few going to be saved? No! Everyone is going to be saved.’
2. But that’s not what He said. This is what He said: “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able to. Once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’”
3. But those people left outside will not be happy, Jesus says. They will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But the master will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’
4. And then Jesus concludes with these daunting words: “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.” – Luke 13:23–28 (Cf. Matt. 10:28; 13:49- 50; 25:41, 46)
5. Doesn’t sound like everyone is going to be saved.
D. Thinking that everyone will end up in heaven — called universalism — fits in much better with contemporary thought. Universalism is much more pleasant to believe. That’s why people work so hard to figure out a way to believe it.
1. I completely understand why people would want to erase the doctrine of hell from the Bible.
a. Unpopular
b. Loved ones lost
c. Disturbing to think about
E. But the Christian faith is a revealed faith, not something people came up with. So we don’t set our doctrine by what seems good, but by the Bible.
1. And to advocate universalism if hell is real, that’s cruel.
F. The doctrine of hell is what causes church discipline to make sense.
1. If everybody gets to heaven, if nobody is sent to hell, then it makes sense that we wouldn’t make a big deal about what each man chooses to do.
G. And think about the cross: What in the world is the cross for – if there is no hell?
1. Hell and the cross go together. The cross doesn’t make sense without the doctrine of hell.
H. Beloved, it is one of the church’s greatest privileges to preach the gospel of God’s grace to a fallen world. But it can’t be done faithfully without warning people about the consequences of not receiving the grace of Christ.
1. And if those who say yes to Christ but then begin to stray from Christ, we betray either a lack of love or a lack of real belief in the reality of hell if we just sit by and do nothing.
2. This is what church discipline is all about.
V. Kindness and severity
A. To be faithful to God’s word, the church needs to talk about both the kindness and the severity of God, the righteousness and holiness of Christ but also His grace and love.
1. The fact is, the righteous, holy, almighty God is gracious and loving!
2. It’s not that some churches emphasize grace too much. It’s that some churches so ignore the holiness and righteousness of God, that it actually diminishes grace instead of magnifying it.
B. Think about parenting.
1. It is very possible for a parent to be too severe and not loving enough.
2. And yet is it not also very possible for a parent to be too kind and not strict enough?
3. So, do you want a parent to be 50% loving and 50% severe or strict? I don’t think so.
4. They should be kind and affirming, until severity is called for.
5. And when parents need to be strict, they should be strict because they love their kids.
C. There are opposite errors a churches can fall into.
1. A church can only chide, condemn and challenge, neglecting the grace & forgiveness of Christ.
2. Or a church only encourage, affirm and assure, ignoring the judgment and wrath of God.
D. The understanding of Jesus is so frequently distorted. The Jesus who is perpetually nice is not the Jesus of the Bible. And the Jesus who is perpetually severe is not the Jesus of the Bible.
E. Paul wrote a severe letter and then he wrote a gracious letter. And both were written in love.
F. Jesus spoke such words of love and compassion no one had ever heard before toward those who were humble, but to the proud He rebuked them with words which make your skin crawl.
G. Upon those who trusted in Christ, Paul heaped up assurances of glory that makes your ears tingle.
1. But he spoke about those who rejected Christ with very strong language, like in 2Thes 1:7-12 “When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
H. We’re playing for keeps, Folks. Following Jesus is serious business. And yet it’s also a life of joy.
1. The God of the Bible is not a Santa Claus who gives us whatever we want.
2. And the Christian faith is not all about feeling better. Counselor: “It’s all about finding that inner peace.” No, it’s not.
3. Nor is the Christian faith all about getting our lives in line with God’s moral code.
4. The Christian faith is all about knowing Jesus the Christ, and trusting and hoping in Him, and being filled with Him, and empowered by Him.
I. He has extended to mankind the most gracious offer ever extended. Abundant life and forgiveness and a promise of an eternity with Him, if we repent of our sin and embrace Him and rely on Him.
1. But He also warns us that if we refuse His offer, or if we accept it but then later repudiate it, we will know the terror of His wrath on that great day when He says, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” (Matt.7:23)
J. In Rom.11:22 Paul was addressing Gentile believers who had grown cocky about being saved: “Behold the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen away, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.”