Godly Social Order - Corinthians

The Chosen of God

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Sociology

Lesson: 14-49

Genre: Lecture

Track: 14

Dictation Name: RR274D8b

Location/Venue:

Year:

Glory be in His holy name. Let us pray.

Almighty God our heavenly Father we give thanks unto Thee that we live, move and have our being in Thee. So that we are never faced with a meaningless experience, a pointless fact, or a contradiction of meaning and of life. For all things come from Thee, and all things have in Thy sovereign purpose a place in Thy plan, in Thy decree for us. Teach us therefore to cast all our cares upon Thee and to wait upon Thee. To know that Thou art righteous and holy and all Thy purposes for us are Aye and Amen in Jesus Christ. In His name we pray, Amen.

Our Scripture is from First Corinthians 5:6-13. The Chosen of God. First Corinthians 5:6-13, The Chosen of God.

“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 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. 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 idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”

People come to Christ for a variety of reasons. Some find life meaningless without faith. For others there is no release from the burden of sin and guilty unless they come to Christ. Others find life in the covenant of faith as alone providing a security and a rational in a senseless world. There are many such reasons, all good ones.

And all wrong because their emphasis is man centered. The truth is that God uses our needs to bring us to Him, not merely for our satisfaction but for His service. Our sins for example must be dealt with by Christ’s atonement. But the focus is not on our peace but his kingdom and service. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, this is what our Lord says. We are not saved for our sake but for Christ’s purposes. For His kingdom. Not for inner or outer peace but for His purpose. To center Christ’s work on ourselves is to falsify it. This is not to say that our salvation brings us marvelous benefits but the focus is on His kingdom and Himself. Paul has called attention to one man’s sin, but he’s also concerned with the sin of the whole church because they had been tolerating and even affirming that sin. They had been puffed up over the sin which means that they saw the incest as a virtue. We do not know how they justified it, some have suggested that perhaps they misapplied the law of the liberate and justified it by means of that law but of course that law does not fit. On top of that what appealed to them in the case of the man marrying his young mother in law or step mother was that it offered a simple solution to the care of a widow. It cost the church nothing and the solution apparently appealed to them. Now Paul warns them that a little leaven will affect the whole lump of dough.

Leaven here means an evil impulse but it can also mean a good one as in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20 following. It is an error to concentrate leaven as either good or evil because the emphasis on influence. That’s the meaning of leaven it exercises an influence. We are not immune to influences to society and from those close to us. The requirement to purge out the leaven from one’s house was a part of the Passover preparation requirements. These we find in Exodus 12 and dueteronomy 16. The Corinthian church must purge out the old leaven of non-Biblical standards in order to be a new lump, an ew church and a true one. Cleansed of the old humanities leaven. The unleavened Passover bread was eaten in Egypt before their departure, that is the departure of the Hebrews. And the unleavened bread signified a radical break with the old world of slavery. Similarly, we are told Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us so that in Him we break with the old world of slavery into freedom in Christ. We therefore keep the feast, we live in the festival redemption with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth rather then with the leaven of malice and wickedness.

When Paul was informed of the moral problem in the church at Corinth apparently those who so informed him stressed the urgency of an immediate answer. And Paul may have sent a brief note of instructions with a statement that a letter would follow. He had said not to company with fornicators, he says. Apparently more than one sinner was involved. Paul chose one case here while covering related sins as he later on discusses marriage. In calling for separation from fornicators Paul makes clear that he has reference to those within the church. They could not generalize this to include all fornicators for then must ye needs to go out into the world. He says the separation is from those within the church! As you did business in the world you’re going to have to associate with people of all manners of offenses. You cannot be a perfectionist where they are concerned. You cannot expect the ungodly outside of the church to behave like believers. Such an expectation means that you must needs go out into the world, which is impossible. Within the church they are not to keep company with ostensibly Christian persons who are fornicators, covetous, idolaters or railers. A drunkard or an extortioner. With such they are not to eat. Whether the Passover of Christ or any other meal. Paul’s next statement is important. The church must prepare men to rule the world, he had said earlier, or rather in chapter six, verse two. This must be done by conversion, not coercion. Within the church judgment is necessary to preserve the purity of Christ’s congregation. It is clearly true that excommunication is in view here. But it is an error to emphasize that too much. Paul does not want the sinner separated from the church or rather he does want the sinner separated from the church, but that is not all, he writes to the church as a whole because a moral separation is more important than a judicial one. They must see sin as sin and separate themselves morally. In verse thirteen he stresses that there is a judgment by God on all sinners outside of the church.

Those within the church must be judged by the church both as a congregation and as individuals. In this instance the church itself has been derelict and the church is summoned to take a moral stand. Inverses three to five Paul requires that a meeting of a church deal with the sin and to deliver such a one unto Satan, that is to excommunicate him from Christ’s kingdom to Satan’s. In Second Corinthians 7:9-12 we learn that Paul’s orders were followed in the church, repentant. In verse eight the service of communion is called the feast. And this the old testament was, it lasted several days celebrating God’s saving power. Paul assumes that all Jews and gentiles are familiar with the Passover. Clearly the Old Testament teaching was strongly in view and Paul assumes a thorough knowledge of it by all, Jews and gentiles. So it tells us very clearly that the law of God was taught in the church, to the Gentiles. Paul’s summons in verse ten to separate from certain kinds of people is important. The stress is not on their coming to Jesus Christ but on the Lord’s requirements of them. The separation of the man guilty of incest from Christ is used by Paul to remind all that their Lord requires, faith with obedience. There can be no self acstitation. The law word of God judges the status of all. Thus Paul requires not only formidable action against the man guilty of incest but of biblical self-examination by all. This must lead to a recognition that God’s law judges them all.

And that they are redeemed, not by their choice but by Christ’s sovereign calling. They are therefore not their own. This is an important aspect of Paul’s letter. He says whatever reason may have led to your being saved, some Greek, your problem with your sin and guilt, you’re feeling of a senselessness of life, all those are valid, but the real reason you came to Christ is because he brought you. He ordained it. Now Paul says as he concludes this passage, they are redeemed by God’s choice, Christ’s choice, not their own. They are therefore not their own. Christ has bought them at a price! They are his property. And this we must always recognize, we are not our own, we have been bought with a price, we are the Lords. The true Passover people of the chosen of God. Paul sees us as servants or slaves all our life. First of all a slave to sin, then by our redemption the servants or slaves of Christ but this something different. This is what makes us free. For in Christ we are freed from the power of sin and death and in Christ being a new creation of his making. We have a freedom from the power of sin and death. This is the great dividing line, Jesus Christ. On the one side sin and death and on the other freedom and life. Let us pray.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee that in Jesus Christ we have freedom and life. That we are no longer slaves to sin and the people of death. We thank Thee for Thy word, for Thy grace, for Christ’s atoning blood. Make us strong therefore in our faith that all the days of our lives we may serve thee as we ought. And having done all that we must do, say we are unprofitable servants, for we have done that which we ought to do. Great are Thy ways oh Lord and Thy mercy and we thank Thee, In Christ’s name, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson?

It is interesting that in our time so many, many churches that claim to be evangelical have so far apostized that I have encountered here and there congregations that will not study Romans. Because the leadership of the church or the pastor has said it’s too controversial. Now I’ve never heard the same verdict about Corinthians but I’ve never heard of Corinthians being preached verse by verse all the way through. I’m sure it has been but it’s obviously become a rarity. Now in these two letters of Paul we have the heart of the gospel. And the avoidance of them except for picking and choosing a verse here and there out of context tells us how Protestantism has left Calvin and Luther far behind. They want really no part of them. This is why Reformation Day so often is just an occasion to rejoice on the part of some people rather hypocritically that they are not Catholics. The meaning is gone. When we neglect these two great epistles of Paul and this is why it is so urgently important that Corinthians be given the attention that is it’s due. Yes?

[Man speaking] Can you please expound on the saints judging angels?

[Rushdoony] Yes, Paul speaks on the fact that the saints are to judge the angels and it is clear from scripture that the angels are not on the same level as people. The Psalmist speaks and it’s a mistranslation that God has made us a little lower than the angels. And the translators were a bit startled by that in the original, a little lower than gods. We’ve been made in the image of God. So the fallen angels are to be judged by the people of God. This tells us how important man is in God’s purpose. Angels are messengers of God, servants, but we are to be His sons and daughters and heirs of the kingdom. Any other questions or comments? Yes?

[Woman speaking] In the sermon this morning, Ebenezer, what does Ebenezer refer to?

[Rushdoony] Ebenezer you’ll find in Genesis and it’s a place of theophany, of revelation of God. So what [unknown] was saying in effect, here, anywhere I am I can find my Ebenezer, my meeting place with God. Any other questions or comments?

If not let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee that Thy mercies indeed are new every morning. We thank Thee for Thy mercy and salvation. Thy grace in making us sons and daughters by adoption. Thy purpose for us to be citizens of Thy kingdom for all eternity. Take away from us all complaining about our trials and tribulations here and teach us that these things in Thy sovereign purpose are for our preparation for eternity. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.