its contagious nature in corrupting a whole society, ver. 6.— And because this was written a little before the passover, when the Jews put away all leaven out of their houses as the symbol of corruption or wickedness, the apostle desired the Corinthians to cleanse out the old leaven of lewdness, by casting the incestuous person out of the church: For said he, Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Also he exhorted them to keep the feast of the Lord's supper, which was instituted in commemoration of Christ's being sacrificed for us, and which it would seem, was to be celebrated by them at the time of the passover, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, ver. 7, 8. Lest, however, the Corinthians might have understood the apostle's command to excommunicate the incestuous person, and to cleanse out the old leaven, as an order not to keep company with the unconverted heathens, he told them, that was not his meaning; since in that case they must have gone out of the world, ver. 9, 10.—And to make his meaning plain, he now wrote more explicitly, that if any person who professed himself a Christian, was a known fornicator, &c. they were to punish him by keeping no company with him, ver. 11.-This distinction in the treatment of heathen and Christian sinners, the apostle shewed them was reasonable, from the consideration, that church censures are not to be inflicted on persons who are without, but on them who are within the church, ver. 12.-And therefore, while they left it to God to judge and punish the wicked heathens, it was their duty to put away the incestuous person from among themselves, and to leave the woman with whom he was cohabiting, to the judgment of God, because she was a heathen, ver. 13. The apostle's order to the Corinthians, to keep no company with wicked persons, though seemingly severe, was in the true spirit of the gospel. For the laws of Christ do not, like the laws of men, correct offenders by fines and imprisonments, and corporal punishments, or outward violence of any kind, but by earnest and affectionate representations, admonitions, and reproofs, addressed to their reason and conscience, to make them sensible of their fault, and to induce them voluntarily to amend. If this remedy proves ineffectual, their fellow Christians are to shew their disapprobation of their evil courses, by carefully avoiding their company. So Christ hath ordered, Matt. xviii. 15, 16, 17. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.-16. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.-17. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man, and a publican.— Earnest representation, therefore, from the injured party, followed with grave admonition and reproof, from the ministers of religion when the injured party's representation is ineffectual, are the means which Christ hath appointed for reclaiming an offender and with great propriety; because being addressed to his reason and conscience, they are calculated to influence his will as a moral agent, and so to produce a lasting alteration in his conduct. But if these moral and religious means prove ineffectual, Christ hath ordered the society, of which the offender is a member, to shun his company and conversation, that he may be ashamed, and that others may be preserved from the contagion of his example. This last remedy will be used with the greatest effect, if the resolution of the society, to have no intercourse with the offender, especially in religious matters, is openly declared by a sentence deliberately and solemnly pronounced in a public assembly, (as in the case of the incestuous Corinthian,) and is steadily carried into execution. The wholesome discipline which Christ instituted in his church at the beginning, was rigorously and impartially exercised by the primitive Christians, towards their offending brethren, and with the happiest success, in preserving purity of manners among themselves. In modern times however, this salutary discipline hath been much neglected in the church; but it hath been taken up by gaming clubs, who exclude from their society, all who refuse to pay their game debts, and shun their company on all occasions, as persons absolutely infamous. By this sort of excommunication, and by giving to game debts, the appellation of debts of honour, the winners on the one hand, without the help of law, and even in contradiction to it, have rendered their unjust claims effectual, while the losers on the other, are reduced to the necessity, either of paying, or of being shunned by their companions as infamous.-I mention this as an example, to shew what a powerful influence the approbation or disapprobation of those with whom mankind associate, have upon their conduct; and from that consideration, to excite the friends of religion to support her against the attempts of the wicked, by testifying on every fit occasion, their disapprobation of vice, and their con tempt of its abettors; and more especially, by shunning the company and conversation of the openly profane, however dig Ver. 1. 1. That there is whoredom. The word πορνεια is used by the LXX. and by the writers of the New Testament, in the latitude which its correspondent word hath in the Hebrew language, namely, to denote all the different kinds of uncleanness committed, whether between men and women, or between men, or with beasts. Accordingly it is used in the plural number, chap. vii. 2. Nevertheless, δια τας πορνείας, on account of suboredoms. Here πορνεία, whoredom, signifies incest joined with adultery, the woman's husband being still in life, as appears from 2 Cor. vii. 12.-In the Old Testament, whoredom sometimes signifies idolatry, because the union of the Israelites with God as their king, being represented by God himself as a marriage, their giving themselves up to idolatry was considered as adultery. 2. As not even among the beathens is named. The word ονομάζεται, signifies to be named with approbation, Rom. xv. 20. Ephes. i. 21. v. 3.-See Gen. vi. 4. where ανθρωποι οι ονομαςοι, LXX. men who are named, is in our bibles translated, men of renown. 3. That one, εχειν, hath his father's wife. The word εχειν signifies sometimes to use thus, Deut. xxviii. 30. LXX. Γυναικα λήψη, και ανης ἕτερος έξει, Thou wilt take a wife, and another will use her. 4. His father's wife. It seems the woman with whom this whoredom was committed, was not the guilty person's mother, but his step-mother; a sort of incest which was condemned by the Greeks and Romans, as we learn from Cicero, Orat. pro Cluentio, sect. 4. and from Virgil, Eneid x. line 389. nified their station in life, or however great their fortune may be. See 1 Cor. v. 11. note 3. Wherefore from the Corinthians tolerating this crime, we may infer, that the guilty person was of some note among them; perhaps he was one of the teachers of the faction, who being greatly admired for his personal qualifications, had escaped censure by arguing, that such marriages were not forbidden by the gospel. Ver. 2.-1. He who hath done this work. The apostle very properly terms this sin, egyov, a work; and in the following verse, speaks of the person's working it out, because it was a practice continued in, and because the offender perhaps had taken great pains to screen himself from censure.It is remarkable, that neither here, nor in any of the passages where this affair is spoken of, is the woman mentioned, who was the other party in the crime. Probably she was a heathen; consequently not subject to the discipline of the church. See ver. 13. note. Ver. 3-1. Yet present in spirit. Some think the apostle, by a particular revelation of the Spirit, knew all the affairs of the Corinthians, as fully as if he had been personally present with them, just as Elisha was present with Gehazi, 2 Kings v. 26. Went not mine heart with thee, &c. But if this matter, in all its circumstances, was made known to St. Paul by the Spirit, Why did he found his knowledge of it, ver. 1. on general report? See Col. ii. 5. note. though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed; 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in πνευματι, ηδη κεκρικα ὡς σαρων, τον δυτω τουτο κατερ γασάμενον, 4 εν τῷ ονοματι του Κυ ριου ήμων Ιησου Χριςου, συ ναχθεντων ὑμων και του εμου πνευματος, συν συν τη δυναμει ο του Κυρίου ἡμων Ιησου Χριστου, 5 παραδούναι τον τοιουτον τῳ Σατανα εις ολεθρον της σαρκος, ἵνα το πνευμα σω τη the day of the Lord Jesus. Sῃ εν τῃ ἡμερα του Κυριου Ιησου. Ver 4.1. And of my spirit. Paul being particularly directed by the Spirit to give this command, with an assurance that the offender's flesh should be destroyed, he ordered them to assemble, not only by the authority of the Lord Jesus, but by the authority of the Spirit who inspired him to give the command; whom therefore he calls bis Spirit. 2. With the power of our Lord Jesus. The word Juvaus here, as in other passages, denotes a miraculous power derived from the Lord Jesus Christ. Ver. 5.-1. Deliver such an one. As the infinitive is used for the verb, in all its modes and tenses, Ess. iv. 9. I have translated the word παραδέναι, sball deliver. The Corinthians having been very blameable in tolerating this wicked person, and the faction with their leader who patronised him, having boasted of their knowledge and learning, the apostle did not order the church to use admonition, before proceeding to excommunication, but required them instantly to deliver the offender to Satan, that the faction might be roused to a sense of their danger, and the whole church be convinced of their error in tolerating such gross wickedness. 2. Το Satan. They who think the punishment to be inficted on the incestuous person, was only excommunication, explain the delivering him tọ Satan in the following manner. As there are only two families or king. doms in the moral world, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil, the expelling of a person from the family or kingdom of God, is a virtual delivering of him into the hands of Satan, to share in all the miseries resulting from his usurped dominion; and a depriving him of all those advantages which God hath provided in his church, for defending men against the snares of the devil, and the machinations of his instruments. In short, by a sentence of excommunication, if it is justly founded, a person is as it were put out of the protection of God. See, however, the following note. |