tive in reaching them. We must ever have before us the objective that Paul had, to build up the body and to follow Christ in daily living. BEHAVIOR OF THE CHRISTIAN Things are never quite as they seem in the world today. No long er are areas black or white, they are tinged with grey and punctu ated with question marks. Is it ever right for one believer to break fel lowship with another? I Corinthi ans 5:1-8 indicate that there may be instances when this will be nec essary. The primary basis to con sider is if there has been some gross violation of a Biblical precept or principle. The first thing we find here is the abhorent sin of incest. The word for fornication in the or iginal is the same one from which we get "pornography." Today's so ciety uses this to refer to printed or visual materials. Originally the connotation included prostitution or any illicit sexual relationships. It is an abomination to God Him self (Leviticus 18:6-8). Paul's concern was that unbe lievers in Corinth would question why such immoral conduct was tolerated in their fellowship. If so, where was the advantage in being a Christian when the same kind of problems were in the church as those upon which society in gener al looked down upon. Even among the Gentile unbelievers of that day incest was contemptible. Paul pointed out that such activity vio lated God's laws as well as the world's standards. There is a very interesting story in Greek legend. Have you heard of the Oedipus Complex? This is an attitude a son may have against his father. Oedipus had run away
says in verse 19, "I am going to come shortly and I am going to see whether some of these who have been talking along with hot air really have power in their lives. By that I mean are they led of the Spirit or pure human desire." He indicates in verse 20 that the King dom of God is not simply a lot of words, but it is a demonstration of the Holy Spirit living in and through the life. So Paul is not afraid to come again— in fact, he hopes to get there. But he does state that they are puffed up and that they need to follow him in being more like Christ. Paul closes this fourth chapter of I Corinthians with this verse, "What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?" Paul loves these people too much to let them make a mess of their lives. So he said, "If this understanding that I hoped to impart to you through the strong passages that I have writ ten will do the job, then fine. But if not, I will have to be more blunt next time and I may have to come with even stronger language than I have done before." I think this kind of echoes what we hear in I Corinthians 11:31 where Paul writes, "If we would judge our selves we would not be judged." That is, if you will listen to the les sons that I have given to you and apply them to your life then you will be using the self-corrective method and you will not need ad ditional correction from me or from God Himself. We must have the proper pur pose in counseling and working with other Christians. We must un derstand people deeply and com pletely if we are going to be effec
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