Did I read this right? Paul's letter to the church in Corinth - what do you think it means?

Question

This passage has me confused....our preacher yesterday said that Paul ordered the church to expel the sinful man - but the way that the passage read, and from what I've cross referenced, it seems he is telling them to kill the man (in Deuteronomy it talks about stoning to death the sexually immoral man)...

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3Even though I am nophysically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan, so that the flesh may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

Answer 1

2 Corinthians 2:5-11. The man was expelled for a time. We are under grace and mercy. Jesus came that we may have life and life more abundantly.....Paul did practice that kind of ridicule, until Jesus struck him when he was Saul. Remember when the Pharisees found the woman caught in adultery,said she should be stoned. Jesus said you without sin cast the first stone. No one could, did they all walked away? He said if no one condems you I do not condem you,go your way but sin no more. Jesus preached forgiveness of sins so did Paul. In his second letter he spoke about being grieved for them because they never did anything about the sin in the church. This type of thing can penetrate the whole body of believers,others would began to think it was OK to continue to do that.....that would give Satan a strong hold.

Answer 2

The Church at Corinth was one that was very gifted in the spiritual gifts but the brothers and sisters were very immature. For a Church to be experiencing all the various tongues and healings etc but still be struggling with taking eachother to the court and fornication and adultary...meant that even though they had the manifestations they lacked the growth in the Christian life.
This situation was really aweful in that the brother among them was with his own stepmother. That even though the saints there abounded in the gifts they lacked severely as to be puffed up regarding such degradation.

This matter was reported to Paul and as God's apostles to the gentiles.. and moreso the Church at Corinth which he raised.. Paul righteously judged this sinful behavior and since this sinning brother was unrepentant Paul told those there to cut him off from the fellowship of the Body and to give him over to satan so that his flesh ( the fallen body full of sin ) will be dealt with probably through some kind of sickness ...BUT in doing so.. the Brother's spirit will be saved.

In this passage in 1Corinthians 5 Paul made reference to Communion and the breaking of the bread and it would be totally evil had this brother been taking the Lord's table unworthily because of his fornicating with his own stepmother.

We do not know if this brother repented.. but the Lord is the final judge. We might say that paul should not judge but we need to realize that Paul was completely ONE with the Lord and lived an abiding Life and was able to discern through the Spirit what to do regarding this situation.

Answer 3

Remember first of all Paul in not in an Old Testament Town. Corinth was Greek and Roman law was in effect there so the man could not be facing captial punishment. Paul is outlining in his letter a whole series of behaviors he believes point out the incomplete immature nature of the faith of his converts in Corinth. They neglect the poor; they allow factions to develop over the preachers; they misunderstand about the reurrection of the dead;they do the eucharist based on wealth and status; and this case of a man marrying his stepmother. This was not a genetic caution. It was a denial of the absolute control men had over women who were their wives. The son was stealing from his father as it were.This would be undermining the patriarchal principles of society at the time. Paul is insisting that the man be barred from table fellowship with the Christian community in order to show what the man's sin had actually accomplished already. This is what excommunication is. It declares that a serious sin has cut somebody off from oneness with the other members of the Church, The Body of Christ. To hand someone over to Satan is to physically accuse a person so that repentance is likely. Satan is the "Accuser" of the conscience. In fact when Paul writes in Second Corinthians he readmits the man to fellowship because repentance seems to have taken hold.
Paul is basically dealing with believers who have become so caught up in enthusiasm for the Faith that they miss its deeper inplications. It is the Platonic World meeting the flesh and blood world of Judaism. Plato emphasized the world of ideas so much that the physical world was written off. It means that since I am saved by accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior that it does not matter what I do or how I live. Since God has chosen me I do not have to do anything. Other writers in the New Testament were trying to balance the call of Grace with the expectations of moral living. The correct understanding is that Yes, Christ has saved me(past). Christ is saving me right now in the choices that I am making(present). I trust that Christ will continue to save me by the grace the Spirit provides to walk the walk(future). This is why emphasis on a personal decision for Christ must always be balanced by a ready response to daily grace. This excommunication Paul inflicts is meant as a remedy and correction. Since his behavior apparently changed Paul urged the Corinthians to readmit his to communion. For Paul the world of ideas that Plato espoused was not sufficient to express salvation. We are not just saved in our minds or spirits but also our flesh. Hence the importance of cherishing the por; understanding the resurrection rightly; and living so as to express the union God has created in us through baptism into Christ. Paul's hymn to Love in Corinthians Chapter 13 hightlights this specific responsibility to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

Answer 4

I agree with the others in that it's not talking about killing him, it's talking about getting rid of the sinful nature of man:

Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Also consider what Paul tell the Thessalonians:

2Th 3:14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

2Th 3:15 Yet count [him] not as an enemy, but admonish [him] as a brother.

Answer 5

actually i think he saying to cut off contact with the offender and stop protecting him with prayers n whatnot so he can prolly gonna catch the herpes or something worse. miracles and faith were far more prevalent back then so a good 'jesus saves' was prolly like a full body condom and as long as the perv cozied up to the right holy roller and sat in the first 3 pews he was good for the week or month or what ever
one should point out that paul was a bit o an old skewl jew with the stone throwing classes ,sheep burning incentives and the whole chosen persons shabang which may be the thorn in his side that he rights about later or earlier or whenever(that or his penchant for encouraging youngsters to drink the booze. poor timothy) so its prolly within the the young christ-likes to temper his teachings with some o.g. jesus smack talk(e.g. - love thy neighbor, 4give 7X77, sell stuff at my dad hizzouse and i'll crack a whip like the pharoah died yesterday and ur still on block #462!)

Answer 6

I don't think he meant to stone the man. He would have followed Jesus' example and that would not have been it. He was saying that the man should have been tossed out of the church and they should not have anything to do with him until he got his act cleaned up. Instead, the church was proud of this man. If you will notice the last verse, this actual shows that even though you sin, you have eternal security. This man was very much sinning, to the point that God would allow Satan to take his life, but once he was dead his spirit would be saved. You do not lose your salvation when you sin, but you will be punished by God. If you continue in your sin severely, God may have to allow you to lose your life to save you from yourself. But you are still saved. When you sin you will lose your relationship with God, with your loved ones, your peace, your joy, your health, your wealth and eventually your life.

Answer 7

If he were physically killed, then how do you explain the passage in 2 Corinthians where the man is forgiven and accepted back? Unless you assume that Paul brought the dead sinner man back to life, then you have to assume that Paul didn't ask the people to physically kill him.

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If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
~2 Corinthians 2:5-11 (NIV)

Answer 8

Stoning is law under the old covenant so it is unlikely that Paul is instructing the church (under the new covenant) to do so. It is more likely he is telling them to seperate themselves from him...to treat him like a pagan. But even this is done in love; only after every other action has been taken and with the intention of shaming him into returning to the fold.

Answer 9

Well, Paul hated women and he created the Roman Church.
First
I would get a copy of the "Dead Sea Scrolls" there is a new translation out from Wise Abegg & Cook publishers and the "Nag Hammadi Library". This will give you the truth. if you are not afraid to find it. Also read ANYTHING you can get your hands on by Laurence Gardner. He is a historian and genealogist.
There is a law Thou shall not kill.
Also Justice is MINE sayeth the Lord. That does not mean that if you soot my child I should go and shoot yours. Killing leads to killing. Anger leads to anger. Love leads to love.
Don’t you find it interesting that we are taught to Fear every thing and love .......... who? Just God?
The news papers print only fear. The TV shows only violence. To show love is to be censored. Think why is that? We are being lead away from the truth. Which is, we are ALL CONECTED Earth, animals, air, plants and man? I hurt any of these things I hurt you, and vise versa. Love is the power. Love yourself and others forgive them their ignorance and point to the light. Be there if they need help. Do not impose your belief on others. Just be kind to each other. The past is gone it will not come back. Now, how you live and behave depends on us. Not the preacher man. we are responsible for what WE do and how WE behave. It is not important what others do. It is what we do TO OTHERS that counts. Now go and read and find out for yourself and trust your heart.
That through love of yourself you will find the truth. (If you don't love your self. do that first.) cause if you don’t love yourself. How can you give love from an empty cup.

Keep in mind that if God created everything then he created EVERYTHING. he did not make any mistakes. So gays are creations of God not man and sexuality in a gift from god to recreated not abuse. Abuse is hitting women and children. Abusing women and children it is the abuser that is at fault not God. We are all of the same value before God . it is man that is so afraid he need to have DOMINION over others to make him feel important. Any person who abuses any other person does not love him/herself and lives in fear. chouse love. You will be happier. But don't be foolish about it. ;o)

Answer 10

No, he is telling them to expel any man (or woman) who does not follow God's teaching, the fornicators, et al:


Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Paul wants them to separate from the evils of the world. There is no mention here of killing, as you know is a sin in itself.