Day 25 | Imperfect – Definition

Read 1 Corinthians 5

Today’s passage addresses an issue with a church member who was living in sin—a sin that was detestable even among pagans. Instead of mourning over his behavior (see 1 Corinthians 5:2), the church allowed it to continue and even boasted about it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6). In response, Paul rebuked the church of Corinth and explained in detail people who claim to follow Christ must be held to a higher standard. This is sometimes painfully executed, as Paul instructs the Believers in this church not to associate with this man. Paul equates sin to leaven, if you put just a tiny bit of leaven into unleavened dough, it spreads throughout the whole batch. If the sinful actions of this man went unchecked, it would eventually infect the entire church.

As Believers, we must hold our Christian brothers and sisters to a higher standard than those who do not follow Christ. We are not to associate ourselves with people who claim to follow Christ yet actively live in unrepentant sin. On the contrary, we are to associate and walk with those who are not yet Believers. We see this modeled in the life of Jesus. In verse 10, Paul explicitly instructs us to remain in community with the immoral people of this world. Anyone apart from Christ is not going to act Christ-like, and we can’t expect them to.

All throughout Scripture and in our own lives, we see perfection is never going to be achieved on this side of Heaven. However, a true Believer in Christ won’t want to live in a consistent pattern of sin. Whenever we are aware a brother or sister in Christ is living a sinful lifestyle, we are to follow the teachings of this text and do as it instructs.

Pray for God to reveal any sinful patterns in your life to repent of.