“That
The Spirit May Be Saved”
I
Corinthians 5:3-7
3.
For I verily, as absent in body, but
present in spirit, have judged already, as 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 the day of the Lord Jesus.
6.
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not
that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7.
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For
even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
|
T |
his statement may very well cause
confusion. Many would wonder if the statement really means “spirit” or “soul?” Actually, in verse 5, we find an
explanation.
Here, we are instructed that we are not
to preserve flesh, but rather, to destroy
it. The truth of the matter is that the only
thing worth saving is that which will live forever—and that is identified as
the soul.
Contrary to what many know and believe,
the soul is a neutral entity,
influenced only by the or the. Both of these avenues
mean that Man is not saved by the flesh. If he would ever be helped, he will be helped only through the Spirit. You
see, because of the nature of the flesh (that is, the sin nature), flesh can never be saved, because its intrinsic desire is to please itself. We all know that
when this state exists, there is nothing that we will not do for us! For this reason, when salvation is
introduced to a man’s soul, the Lord always makes it clear that the condition of that salvation is the death
of the flesh!
This concept is automatically
intimidating, for we bring to bear upon it (that is, the concept of “death”)
our personal understanding. Obviously, we do not speak of actual physical
death, but being dead to the things
of the flesh.
As we see Man’s time “dwindling,” it
becomes clearer and clearer that Man has little understanding as to the odious
nature of the flesh. If we did, we would hate all manifestation of anything
that even comes close to the flesh. As
it is, we seem not to really understand that the fleshly nature does not change and that flesh and Spirit is not interchangeable. If one acts or
reacts in the flesh, he is a fleshly
being and will be subject to the penalties one must suffer for his behavior.
Like it or not, believe it or not, we determine our own salvation through whether or not we react through the flesh. Notice
no mention was made about anyone else and how he might react to us or what he might do. All attention (by the Lord) is paid to
us and what we choose to do.
Some of us feel and know that we are
“non-reactive” to some things, but not others. Without being wholly committed
to the things of the Spirit, we cannot be “wholly saved.”
The background of our scripture text,
today, concerns the fact that fornication had been committed in the body and
virtually, had been ignored. Paul had admonished them all for being wrong for not attempting to “fix” the situation. Basically,
they were “uninvolved” because they did not care.
Verse 5 of our scripture text is
problematic for many. Paul had informed the Corinthians that the one caught in
the offense should be delivered to Satan that his flesh might be destroyed, the
ultimate purpose of which was to ensure the saving of his spirit.
Generally, we look at any discipline of
this sort as someone being “picked on” or “ostracized.” The “human tactic” in these situations is to
make sure that everyone “feels good” and “happy,” even though one is in
trouble. This outlook shows total disregard for one’s spiritual state and a
lack of interest in what is right before God.
No matter the crime or offense, the one
committing it needs to be brought to spiritual understanding. While it is not
our place to “judge” any offense, it is our responsibility to try to restore a
brother or sister.
If one caught in an offense would be helped, he must accept that he needs
to forsake his chosen lifestyle. Too often, this is not done because man finds
himself loving his sin.
We
need never be “in the dark” about what is the right thing to do. As long as we
are willing to follow the principles of salvation, our lives can be calm,
productive and error-free. Inarguably, many “things” happen to us in our saved
lives and no one ever promised us that they would make sense. But, it is true
that even if we do not “understand,” all
that confronts us does so “that the spirit may be saved.”
Just think how appropriate it is that
we are confronted with that which often, makes no sense to us. This walk is one
of faith and through those things we must endure, we are taught that our
sufficiency is of Him. You see, one way or the other, it is God Who must get
the glory.
Many times, the argument used by those
who will not submit to be saved is that evidently, they are not one of those chosen by the Lord. While it is true
that God has foreknowledge of who will and will not ultimately submit, this has no
influence over us. Our decisions as to how we will conduct ourselves are our decisions.
Take, for instance, the example of Paul
and Agabus. When he encountered Paul, Agabus took Paul’s girdle from him and bound Paul with it. He
told Paul that this is what would happen to the one owning the girdle if he went to
As opposed to worrying about
accomplishing what we think we
should, our attention needs to be directed to one thing and one thing only:
that which God directs to be done. Only a total “sell out” to the Lord gives one
peace of mind. When we serve the Lord “in the Spirit,” our flesh is not taken
into account. We will find that there is nothing too much for the Lord to ask
us.
Now is the time for true repentance. We
see the world, as we know it “falling apart.” If we did not know the truth,
perhaps we could be content with our relative lack of accomplishment. We can no
longer ignore the signs of Man’s disobedience—which includes our own.
We have been blessed with the greatest
opportunity ever presented to Man: the opportunity for salvation. It is because
of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that we have this opportunity.
Such an opportunity has absolutely nothing
to do with us personally. In fact, if the Lord would take “us” into account,
He would not waste His time. No, this “opportunity” is all about Jesus—Who
He is and why He came—and He came “that the spirit (might) be saved.”