"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality
among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among
pagans" (1 Corinthians 5:1).

Chapter 5 begins with a difficult text. It is not difficult
to understand what it says. The meaning is quite clear.
Again, the difficulty is found in ourselves because we do
not want to accept what it says as being true. Nonetheless,
it is the testimony of the historic churches that these
verses are true and can be trusted.

The primary subject of the first four chapters of 1
Corinthians has been Paul's concern about the confusion of
the foolishness of the world with the wisdom of God (1
Corinthians 3:19). The leaders of the Corinthian church had
grown the church into a large, wealthy, influential
organization in the community. However, Paul found that
they had done so by substituting the foolishness of the
world for the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 4:8-16). The
whole point of Paul's letter to the Corinthians was to
accuse the leaders of the church of being confused and
faithless, and to call them to repentance, forgiveness in
Jesus Christ, and a change of belief and behavior.

Beginning with this fifth chapter Paul set an example of
their faithlessness before them (v. 1). There are two ways
that the Greek word "porneia" is translated. The older
versions translated it as "fornication," and the newer
versions translate it as "sexual immorality." The problem
with using sexual immorality is that the English lacks
definition. What does sexual immorality mean? The term can
mean different things to different people. Would Paul say
that all sexual activity was okay between consenting
adults, and that only the lack of consent constitutes
sexual immorality? Hardly! If there is any confusion about
this issue it is ours. Paul was very specific about what he
said and about what he meant.

The Greek Lexicon (Thayer & Smith) defines porneia as
"illicit sexual intercourse." The word "licit" is Latin and
means permissible by law. So, "illicit" means not
permissible by law. Paul said that it had been reported to
him that people in the Corinthian church were involved in
illegal sexual activity, what was not permissible by law.
The point is that Paul was talking about more than some
generalized idea of immorality. His point was that leaders
of the Corinthian church were engaged in illicit behavior
-- illegal behavior between a man and his father's wife. We
should also note that Paul's specificity does not annul the
more general interpretation accorded to sexual immorality.
It's just that Paul was being very specific by citing
particular people involved in a specific relationship.

The Lexicon goes on to define porneia more generally to
include adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism,
intercourse with animals, sexual intercourse with close
relatives (Leviticus 18), or sexual intercourse with a
divorced man or woman (Mark. 10:11-12). And just to be
clear the English dictionary defines adultery as "voluntary
sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner
other than the lawful spouse."

But what law had been broken? Greece, and particularly the
seaport of Corinth, was rife with such practices. Greek
culture is well known for its sexual permissiveness. The
civil law of Greece and of Corinth were very tolerant of
such behavior. So, Paul was not talking about Greek or
Roman civil law. Rather, he was talking about God's law,
biblical law, the Ten Commandments, the Bible.

So far, all I have done is to define a word that Paul used
in his accusation against the leaders of the Corinthian
church. And it is very interesting to simply define Paul's
terms and understand them as he understood them. This kind
of clarification speaks volumes about our own abandonment
of God's law in the Twenty-First Century. By simply
defining a word, we come face to face with our own
immorality. But we are not talking about our situation, we
are talking about Paul's accusation of the people of
Corinth. So, I will leave the application of this verse in
our contemporary context to the exercise of the Holy Spirit
and your conscience. Lord, bring conviction upon your
people.

Paul went on to say that the behavior of these church
leaders was "not tolerated even among pagans" (v. 1).
Matthew Henry calls it "incestuous fornication." Suffice it
to say that whatever was going on was not common practice,
even among the pagan Greeks. This is fascinating. We
usually think of the church of the First Century as being
more holy or more perfect or more faithful than we are
today. And in some ways they may have been. But here we see
Paul calling the leaders of one of the more successful
churches of the First Century on the carpet for gross
immorality and faithlessness.

----------------------------------------------------
Phillip A. Ross has been a pastor for over 25 years and is
the author of many Christian books. He founded
http://www.Pilgrim-Platform.org in 1998, which documents
the church's fall from historic Christianity. Demonstrating
the Apostle Paul's profound opposition to worldly
Christianity, he published an exposition of First
Corinthians in 2008. Ross recounts how Paul turned the
world upside down in his book, Arsy Varsy -- Reclaiming the
Gospel in First Corinthians.

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