from home to get away from his father. He was afraid that he might do something which would harm his parent. According to historical lore he had been reared as a foster child by the King of Corinth. Later, when Oedipus grew up, he went to the sacred city of Adelphi. His concern was that he might kill his father and marry his mother. This is why he fled. On his way he ran into a man along the pathway who caused him a minor skirmish. A battle ensued and Oedipus killed him before going on to the city of Thebes. That city had been hit by a plague which was broken by his arrival. The people were so jubi lant that they gave him, as his wife, the widowed queen of the city of Thebes. It was then that Oedipus discovered that the man he had killed along the road was this wo man's husband. To make matters unbelievably worse he learned too late that the widowed queen was his real mother. He had been sent away as a child to be reared in the city of Corinth. The word was so stunning Oedipus gouged out his eyes and went into exile. His moth er, who had become his wife, committed suicide. That is quite a legend. Such was well known to the people of Corinth. Even the unsaved of Paul's day considered incest totally unacceptable behav iour. Paul then points out to the Cor inthian believers that people in the church should be brought to see the seriousness of their behaviour (I Corinthians 5:2). Instead of re acting with remorse to the sin, these people became full of pride. Their lack of humility outstripped their concern for Cod's direction. They foolishly felt they could do
anything they liked. There was no grieving or remorse for their sin. How sad that they should think that their liberty in Christ would allow them to offend both God and the world. When a person does not recognize the seriousness of his behaviour, blatantly going on his way without any concern, drastic action has to be taken. Even today there should be an awareness on our part of any deviation from Cod's prescribed course of life. Paul uses the illustration of leav en (vrs. 6 to 8). This goes back to Exodus 12:15ff and 13:7. Leaven is a symbol of that which was evil. It was to be removed from the home so that the people might be cere monially clean, prepared for the passover. When the Apostle writes, "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" he has reference to those little sins which can so easily permeate our lives. Such will always cause great er problems. As Christians we are to keep our lives prepared in ser vice for Him. The danger is that we overlook the small sins until they have grown so large they have got ten completely out of hand. Paul urges the believers to take action (vrs. 3-5). It seems rather severe for him to exhort them, concerning the unrepentant sinner "to deliver such an one unto Satan for the de struction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." The apostle is pointing out that the individual's position in Christ is immaterial since he is saved and has the assurance of heaven. The question concerns his physical body in which the un speakable sins have been com mitted. You simply cannot flaunt the laws of Cod and make prog- Page 21
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