Does Paul Really Mean This?

 1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one.

11 νῦν δὲ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν μὴ συναναμίγνυσθαι ἐάν τις ἀδελφὸς ὀνομαζόμενος ᾖ πόρνος ἢ πλεονέκτης ἢ εἰδωλολάτρης ἢ λοίδορος ἢ μέθυσος ἢ ἅρπαξ, τῷ τοιούτῳ μηδὲ συνεσθίειν.

This is one of those verses that is easy to gloss over because it cannot possibly mean what it seems like it means, right? Paul uses the word συναναμίγνυσθαι. This is an infinitive form and it literally means "to mix together with." This word appears in the LXX in Hosea 7:8 where it reads that "Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples." It appears earlier in 1 Corinthians 5:9 with basically the same usage. It also appears negatively in  2 Thessalonians 3:14 where Paul commands that the recipients "have nothing to do with" certain people. Clearly this word connotes close fellowship.  


Does Paul really mean that we are not to associate with those who do such things if they are in the church? What about grace? Shouldn't we love on these people rather than purge them from our midst?


Obviously there is a place for grace. There is always a place for grace. However, that does not mean that such people should worship in the fellowship. This is tied into the commands for church discipline in Matthew 18. There is a standard of holiness expected for believers.


Now this can easily turn into the kind of legalism seen in some independent fundamentalist churches if we focus on conduct. This is similar to how well-meaning Christian parents raise obedient Pharisees because they focus on the conduct. Obedience to this command starts with the heart. 


What it does not mean is that we should feel comfortable driving to our megachurch in a $50,000 vehicle to hear a sermon about how other people have problems and we need to fix them. It does mean that we need to examine our own hearts and look for these sins. We need to confess them and repent. 


And we also need to take care not to become morality police. This passage refers to people whose lives are characterized by these practices. It does not mean someone who looks at a brother's iPad 2 and thinks how great it would be to have one. It does not mean someone who is out with his friends and occasionally drinks one pint too many. It does not mean someone who has clicked on a link he knows that he shouldn't have and then repented of it. No, this refers to people whose lives are characterized by these sins. You could call them "besetting sins" to use some old parlance. There are no hard and fast lines to be drawn here.


The point is that to Paul the idea of accepting Christ as your Savior without repentance is unthinkable. If anyone does that and his life shows no change then it is time to get back to the gospel because he is not a brother in Christ. 

The God of Everyone

Romans 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since God is one--who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

29 ἢ Ἰουδαίων ὁ θεὸς μόνον; οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν; ναὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν, ³⁰  εἴπερ εἷς ὁ θεὸς ὃς δικαιώσει περιτομὴν ἐκ πίστεως καὶ ἀκροβυστίαν διὰ τῆς πίστεως.

This is how Paul ends a pretty lengthy and difficult argument. Frankly, I don't get a ton out of this when I read it in Greek because it is difficult to follow his arguments. But a quick read in English clears things up.


Paul begins chapter 3 by asking if there is any advantage to being a Jew. It seems that they do have an advantage in that God chose them to speak His Word. We call that the Old Testament. He also used the Jews to bring the Savior of the world in Jesus. In that sense there is a huge significance to being an ethnic Jew.


However, he ends the argument with these rhetorical questions. When he uses the construction οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν he is basically saying, "isn't that so?" That's what the particle οὐχὶ does. It's sort of like the French phrase "n'est-ce pas" that is tacked on to the end of a sentence when you expect a positive answer.


The point is that Paul is leveling the playing field between Jews and Gentiles. When Paul refers to the "circumcised" or the "uncircumcised" he is referring to Jew and Gentile. Basically, he is dividing the world into two classes of people - Jews and non-Jews. That includes everyone. And he says that God will justify everyone by faith. 


In other words, genetics will not save anyone. Removal of foreskin on the 8th day will not save anyone. Only faith will save people. That faith needs to be in Christ. If you are reading this and are Jewish I entreat you along with Paul to trust in Christ as Messiah. If you are reading this and are not Jewish I entreat you along with Paul to trust in Christ as the one will justify you before the Lord. In other words, I don't care who you are -- you need Christ. Will you trust Him?

Forgiving

Matthew 18:34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."


34 καὶ ὀργισθεὶς ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν τοῖς βασανισταῖς ἕως οὗ ἀποδῷ πᾶν τὸ ὀφειλόμενον. 35  οὕτως καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ οὐράνιος ποιήσει ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ ἀφῆτε ἕκαστος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν καρδιῶν ὑμῶν.

This comes at the end of a parable Jesus told the disciples in response to a question Peter asked.  Peter thought he was being really spiritual by offering to forgive his brother seven times.  Then Jesus told him that he was to forgive his brother seventy-seven times.  In other words, Jesus was using hyperbole to say that we must forgive as many times as we are wronged.  Then He told this parable about a wicked servant who was forgiven an unpayable debt but would not forgive a much more minor one.

This one always gets me because I know how vindictive my heart can be.  I do not default to grace, even though I often try to remind myself of just how much I have been forgiven.  It's convicting because of the construct ἐὰν μὴ.  This can be translated "unless."  In other words, this verse makes it seem like our acceptance before God is contingent upon how we forgive.

However, I don't think we should interpret this as a works-based salvation, though it would be natural to do so.  Instead, we need to see this as the natural result of grace.  If we have truly been forgiven for our sins by a holy God then forgiving our brother will not be that big of a deal.  It is something that we will be able to do.  In fact, how could we not do it if we truly believe in God's grace?

How are you doing with this?

Justification by Faith

James 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

24 ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον.

The title of this post and this verse seem to be at odds with each other, don't they?  This is a verse that the Roman Catholic Church uses to defend their view of the gospel.  In fact, the Council of Trent declared an anathema on anyone who believes in justification by faith alone.  Their view of how one is justified before God is rather complex and I suggest you look it up for yourself to understand just how it is different from that which came out of the Reformation and, if I may say so, that which comes from a plain reading of Scripture.

Yet we have James 2 in our Bibles.  Although Luther did take issue with this book, he did consider it to be canonical.  What do we do with James 2:14-26, and particularly 2:24?  The Greek doesn't help us here.  I suppose you could try to do something fancy with the ὅτι and somehow try to suggest some kind of causation with a translation of "because" instead of "that," but I think that the ESV gets it right.  What to do?

To me, this passage stands as a defense of what is sometimes called "Lordship Salvation," or as John MacArthur puts it, the gospel according to Jesus.  It is clear from reading the Gospels that faith in Christ means action.  How can anyone come to know the living God of the universe and not have his life changed?  Everything about a person changes when they know the Lord.  It has to.  Look at what happened to Moses.  Look at the apostles after the resurrection.  They didn't really "get" what was going on until after Jesus was raised and they received the Holy Spirit.  Look at how bold they became afterwards.

I also think that Ephesians 2:10 helps us.  That verse tells us that we were made for good works.  God didn't save us just to stare at our navels and talk theology, despite what some folks may think.  He saved us to action.

To be clear, this does not mean that we suddenly stop sinning.  What it means is that our hearts change.  We go from being bent toward sin to being bent toward the Lord.  There are times (perhaps extensive times) when we go our own ways, but ultimately our hearts are bent toward the Lord.  That's what having the Holy Spirit is all about.  If we accept the gospel merely as fire insurance we have missed it.  The gospel is about God, not about us.

Also, to be clear, we do not do works to earn merit before God, despite what a Roman Catholic might tell you.  We work because we are saved.  We are not paying off a debt (we cannot), but we are acting out of sheer gratitude.  God is glorious and as I've tried to show through this blog, He is worthy of honor and praise.  If we aren't inclined to that then we must question the state of our hearts.

To me, it comes down to a simple question.  If God is indeed God, how can we encounter Him and not be transformed?  Unlike the apostles we have a completed canon.  Let's read it and be changed by this awesome transcendent God that we serve.