“in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” 2 Corinthians 2:11 NIV
Reflection: if a brother or sister in Christ have sinned against you, are you just to forgive and move on?
In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul addressed a very shameful situation of sin in the church. Let’s read briefly “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:1-2 ESV. Now, Paul is not shying away from this situation, excusing it, or ignoring it, but deals with the sin head-on. Notice the address is towards the congregation primarily, that they need to remove the man, basically excommunicate him. And this seems very harsh, as we are also told to forgive, right?
But let’s be very careful here, as it is not that simple. Let’s look at what Jesus actually said. “So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. “Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”” Luke 17:3-4 NIV. Notice first he is talking about brothers and sisters; not with our enemies. Why? Because forgiveness between brothers and sisters has to do with reconciliation and restoring of a relationship.
We see here two dimensions of dealing with such sin. First “rebuke”, and then if repentant, forgive; forgiveness is dependent on repentance and is for the purpose of reconciliation. Paul is first addressing the point of rebuking. His point of excommunication of this man is that, by his choice of lifestyle, will taint the whole body of believers. He must be rebuked and removed. He continues “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” 1 Corinthians 5:6-7 ESV.
The hope is, of course, that the rebuking and excommunication will drive him to true repentance. And this is where we pick up again the story in 2. Corinthians chapter 2. Paul continues “If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” 2 Corinthians 2:5-7 NIV. Clearly, the man had understood his wrong, the rebuke worked, if you will, and Paul says “The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient.” The rebuke was necessary for the man to take action, to understand his wrong, and repent.
Repentance is a sorrowful, broken heart, a heart and mind that takes responsibility for the wrong, and have a desire to leave behind the wrong, and change direction. And once he had gotten there, Paul encourages the Corinthians “Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him”, which is exactly in line with what Jesus taught about forgiveness between brothers and sisters in Christ. We don’t just haphazardly forgive; it starts with rebuke and possibly punishment. Then if the brother or sister is repentant, then forgive. So why is this important?
Paul ends up with talking about Satan’s schemes, trying to “outwit” us, the body of Christ. In the case of this man living in sin, trying to taint or poison the body of Christ. And we see this all the time in churches today, where sinful behavior is tolerated; even praised by some. It causes degradation, conflict and finally separation of the body. Churches become powerless, just a fancy building filled with empty words. We can even see Satan’s schemes in relationships, using the weakness in one person to create a situation or a conflict. And if we are not aware of what is really going on, that we are being played, or outwitted by Satan, we can easily fall for it. But, we can and must address it once we understand what just happened. Like the church in Corinth, the sin cannot just be “swept under the rug”, but instead requires rebuke and possibly tough love “punishment”, in hope of repentance and reconciliation. This is very important so that we can be restored.
Once we have forgiven, and been forgiven, reconciled and restored, we cannot go back to the sin again at some later point. It has to stay in the past. Can you image if Jesus would do that to us, to keep a record of our wrong?