I Corinthians 5:1-2

We have to understand that this sin was not just a one-time affair. Rather, it was a sin that was continuously occurring, and these people were allowing it to go on. Do you think for a moment that the fornicator thought that he was affecting the whole church by what he was doing, and this "little lie" that he was living there somewhere around Corinth? I do not think so. But, again, you see that this is in here for us to understand.

Understand what? Understand that every single one of us has a responsibility not only to God, but also to the Body. What you do and what you say—God very clearly shows—is going to affect the efficiency, and effectiveness, and the purity of the whole! You understand what was occurring here [in I Corinthians 5]. What this man was doing was confusing and dividing the congregation. He was jeopardizing the spiritual health of the entire congregation.

I Corinthians 5:1-2

Pride takes sin lightly. It produces complacency because in the proud person's eyes the perverse comparison makes the self better than others. In this same situation the humble would be filled with shame, remorse, and grief over what hardly stirs an emotional chord, a ripple, in the proud. It did not seem to affect them at all. Paul said they were yet carnal, and that is what they did in relation to pride. Let us go back to Proverbs again as we continue to move along here.

I Corinthians 5:1-5

They were glorying in an evil thing—in the church! To their minds, their liberality was a good thing. How did it come to be this way? Why is there so much confusion? Why do people regard living according to one's conscience so highly? Confusion is part of the reason. Another part of it is that people learn they cannot trust their ideals to be absolute, and so it leads to a very weak conscience. They just are not sure.