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1 Corinthians Chapter 5

The gift of eternal life with the grace of God's forgiveness extended over our faults is in coincidence with the ministry of the Holy Spirit that trains us to repent as God writes His laws in our hearts and minds. Paul writes that such wickedness of adultery (so as even not to have a common name) is known among their fellowship so openly (v1) that it must be excised.

The believers were so "puffed up" that they had been justified that they had overlooked that the forgiveness of sins is extended by grace and is conditioned upon the repentance of the believer. (v2) Effort to repent must be displayed. If there is no repentance, then an act of this kind is truly wickedness, and not covered by God's grace that was extended within the eternal life gifted by Christ's death. Such a one is not a believer (v3) - and should not be bringing their fellowship (v4) into open disrepute. Moreover the body of Christ, His temple (spiritual Israel) is made Holy by the righteousness that is imputed to repentant faith, is truthfully to be wholly Holy to the Lord - and any wickedness is in truth without (outside) the lump of the temple. (v5) Such an adulterer should be expelled to the dominion of satan, whose works he is displaying.

Being so convinced of freedom to sin in the present day rather than evidencing freedom from sin is not good. (v6) For a little pollution in a holy temple would make the temple unholy. Therefore, as Christ's righteousness is the gift to our faith by which we escape the judgement while we repent under His grace; the unrepentant "leaven" or "pollution" (v7) should be considered as outside the righteousness, grace, and faith of the temple or "bread" by the feast alluded to here. (That feast is the sure election to Christ's Holy tabernacle.) (v8) Excluding the leaven from the election will keep the bread Holy, and the judgement will be on the adulterer now expelled outside the feast that is Christ's instead of upon the temple (the elected).

Paul also referred to the leaven of malice and wickedness; Paul had warned them previously not to associate with the covetous etc; (v10) because If they were to make their fellowship with everyone, they would therefore need to leave the whole world in order to be separated by election. Here in this epistle, Paul further writes then that they not allow such wickedness and malice within the fellowship of believers in general - not even to eat with such as them. (Specifically including the Lord's supper.) To judge those that are outside the fold is not necessary, only those within that do such things. (v12) Those outside that are not repentant are under judgement by God already for lacking repentant faith. Since the distinction among their company is uniquely repentance - they should put such wicked "brothers" from beyond their fellowship.(v13)


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