How Much of Corinth in our Church?

This morning our Pastor Malcolm preached on the above subject.  The sermon was based on 1 Corinthians 5.  The background was that the Corinthian Church accepted incest which was not even acceptable to the city of Corinth.  The city was notorious in their immorality, yet it was not acceptable.

This question is interesting in that we have to question ourselves how we should react in such situation.  Many a time, we evangelicals at least in the Asian context is more lenient in dealing with expulsion of members in such cases.  From 1 Corinthian 5, Paul taught that we should not associate with such Christians.  In 1 Cor 5:13 said, "Expel the wicked person from among you.”  But Pastor Malcolm taught that we should not straight away expel such person, but only if he does not repent but continue in his old ways.  This teaching is reasonable because we are commanded to love our neighbors so we should encourage our fellow brother to repent and not to continue to sin.  This standard can be applied to other situations that violate the teachings in the Bible.  We have to stand on the teachings of the Bible and not on man's teachings or standards.