be; the man that ought not will not be. How solemn will be the impartial trial of the world! Who can think of it but with alarm! 7th. We have no occasion for pride or vainboasting. (Ver. 7.) All that we have of beauty, health, wealth, honour, grace, has been given to us by God. For what he has given us we should be grateful; but it should not excite pride. It is, indeed, valuable because God gives it, and we should remember his mercies, but we should not boast. We have nothing to boast of. Had we our deserts, we should be driven away in his wrath, and made wretched. That any are out of hell is matter of thankfulness; that one possesses more than another proves that God is a sovereign, and not that we are more worthy than another, or that there is by nature any ground of preference which one has over another. 8th. Irony and sarcasm are sometimes lawful and proper. (Ver. 8-10.) But it is not often as safe as it was in the hands of the apostle Paul. Few men can regulate the talent properly; few should allow themselves to indulge in it. It is rarely employed in the Bible; and it is rarely employed elsewhere where it does not do injury. The cause of truth can be usually sustained by sound argument; and that which cannot be thus defended is not worth defence. Deep wounds are often made by the severity of wit and irony; and an indulgence in this usually prevents a man from having a single friend. 9th. We see from this chapter what religion has cost. (Ver. 9-13.) Paul states the sufferings that he and the other apostles endured in order to establish it. They were despised, and persecuted, and poor, and regarded as the refuse of the world. The Christian religion was founded on the blood of its author, and has been reared amidst the sighs and tears of its friends. All its early advocates were subjected to persecution and trial; and to engage in this work involved the certainty of being a martyr. We enjoy not a blessing which has not thus been purchased; and which has not come to us through the selfdenials and toils of the best men that the earth has known. Persecution raged around all the early friends of the church; and it rose and spread while the fire of martyrdom spread, and while its friends were every where cast out as evil, and called to bleed in its defence. 11th. We have an argument here for the truth of the Christian religion. The argument is founded on the fact that the apostles were willing to suffer so much in order to establish it.They professed to have been eye-witnesses of what they affirmed. They had nothing to gain by spreading it if it was not true. They exposed themselves to persecution on this account, and became willing to die rather than deny its truth. Take, for example, the case of the apostle Paul. (1.) He had every prospect of honour and of wealth in his own country. He had been liberally educated, and had the confidence of his countrymen. He might have risen to the highest station of trust or influence. He had talents which would have raised him to distinction any where. (2.) He could not have been mistaken in regard to the events connected with his conversion. (Acts ix.) The scene, the voice, the light, the blindness, were all things which could not have been counterfeited. They were open and public. They did not occur 66 in a corner.' (3.) He had no earthly motive to change his course. Christianity was despised when he embraced it; its friends were few and poor; and it had no prospect of spreading through the world. It conferred no wealth; bestowed no diadem; imparted no honours; gave no ease; conducted to no friendship of the great and the mighty. It subjected its friends to persecution, and tears, and trials, and death. What should induce such a man to make such a change? Why should Paul have embraced this, but from a conviction of its truth? How could he be convinced of that truth except by some argument that should be so strong as to overcome his hatred to it, make him willing to renounce all his prospects for it; to encounter all that the world could heap upon him, and even death itself, rather than deny it? But such a religion had a higher than any earthly origin, and must have been from God. 12th. We may expect to suffer reproach. It has been the common lot of all, from the time of the Master himself to the present. Jesus was reproached; the apostles were reproached; the martyrs were reproached, and we are not to be surprised that ministers and Christians are called to like trials now. It is enough "for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord." CHAPTER V. VER. 1. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 10th. We have here an illustrious instance of the manner in which reproach, and contempt, and scorn should be borne. (Ver. 12, 13.) The apostles imitated the example of their Master and followed his precepts. They prayed for their enemies, persecutors, and slanderers. There is nothing but religion that can produce this spirit, and this can do it always. The Saviour evinced it; his apostles evinced it; and all should evince it, who profess to be its friends.We may remark, (1.) This is not produced by nature. It is the work of grace alone. (2.) It the very spirit and genius of Christianity to produce it. (3.) Nothing but religion will enable a man to bear it, and will produce this This chapter is entirely occupied with a notice temper and spirit. (4.) We have an instance of an offence which existed in the church at here of what all Christians should evince. All Corinth, and with a statement of the measures should be in this like the apostles. All should which the apostle expected them to pursue in rebe like the Saviour himself. gard to it. Of the existence of this offence he a Deut. xxvii. 20. E allowed. The crime was known in a few instances, but chiefly of those who were princes and rulers; but it was nowhere regarded with approbation, but was always treated as abomin us to understand by the word "named" here, is, that it was not tolerated or allowed; it was treated with abhorrence, and it was, therefore, more scandalous than it was allowed in a Christian church.-Whitby supposes that this offence that was tolerated in the church at Corinth, gave rise to the scandals that were circulated among the heathen respecting the early Christians, that they allowed of licentious intercourse among the members of their churches. This reproach was circulated extensively among the heathen, and the primitive Christians were at much pains to refute it. That one should have.-Probably as his wife; or it may mean simply that he had criminal intercourse with her. Perhaps some man had parted with his wife, on some account, and his son had married her, or maintained her for criminal intercourse. It is evident from 2 Cor. vii. 12, that the person who had suffered the wrong, as well as he who had done it, was still alive. Whether this was marriage or concubinage, has been disputed by commentators, and it is not possible, perhaps, to determine. See the subject discussed in Bloomfield. had been informed, probably by "those of the house of Chloe," (chap. i. 11,) and there is reason to suppose that they had not even alluded to it in the letter which they had sent to him asking advice. See chap. vii. 1. Comp. the Intro-able wickedness. All that the connexion requires duction. The apostle (ver. 1) reproves them for tolerating a species of licentiousness which was not tolerated even by the heathens; he reproves them (ver. 2) for being puffed up with pride even while this scandal existed in their church; he ordered them forthwith to purify the church by removing the incestuous person, (ver. 4, 5;) and exhorts them to preserve themselves from the influence which a single corrupt person might have, operating like leaven in a mass. (Ver. 6, 7.) Then, lest they should mistake his meaning, and suppose that by commanding them not to keep company with licentious persons, (ver. 9,) he meant to say, that they should withdraw all intercourse from the heathen who were known to be idolators and corrupt, he says that that former command was not designed to forbid all intercourse with them, (ver. 9-12 ;) but that he meant his injunction now to extend particularly to such as were professed members of the church; that they were not to cut off all intercourse with society at large because it was corrupt; that if any man professed to be a Christian and yet was guilty of such practices they were to disown him, (ver. 11;) that it was not his province, nor did he assume it, to judge the heathen world which was without the church, (ver. 12 ;) but that this was entirely consistent with the view that he had a right to exercise discipline within the church, on such as professed to be Christians; and that therefore, they were bound to put away that wicked person. It is reported.-Gr. It is heard. There is a rumour. That rumour had been brought to Paul, probably by the members of the family of Chloe. (Chap. i. 11.) Commonly, ("Owc.) Every where. It is a matter of common fame. It is so public, that it cannot be concealed; and so certain, that it cannot be denied. This was an offence, he informs us, which even the heathen would not justify or tolerate; and, therefore, the report had spread not only in the churches, but even among the heathen, to the great scandal of religion.-When a report obtains such a circulation, it is certainly time to investigate it, and to correct the evil. That there is fornication.-See Note, Acts xv. 20. The word is here used to denote incest; for the apostle immediately explains the nature of the offence. And such fornication, &c.-An offence that is not tolerated or known among the heathen. This greatly aggravated the offence, that in a Christian church a crime should be tolerated among its members which even gross heathens would regard with abhorrence. That this offence was regarded with abhorrence by even the heathens, has been abundantly proved by quotations from classic writers. See Wetstein, Bloomfield, and Whitby. Cicero says of the offence, expressly, that "it was an incredible and unheard of crime." Pro Cluen. 5, 6.-When Paul says that it was not so much as named among the Gentiles," he doubtless uses the word (ovopalera) in the sense of named with approbation, tolerated, or 66 b VER. 2. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. b 2 Cor. vii. 7. And ye are puffed up.-Note, chap. iv. 18. You are filled with pride, and with a vain conceit of your own wisdom and purity, notwithstanding the existence of this enormous wickedness in your church. This does not mean that they were puffed up, or proud, on account of the existence of this wickedness, but they were filled with pride notwithstanding, or in spite of it. They ought to have been a humbled people; they should have mourned, and should have given their first attention to the removal of the evil: but instead of this, they had given indulgence to proud feeling, and had become elated with a vain confidence in their spiritual purity. Men are always elated and proud when they have the least occasion for it. And have not rather mourned, &c.-Have not rather been so afflicted and troubled as to take the proper means for removing the offence. The word "mourn here is taken in that large sense. Ye have not been so much afflicted, so troubled with the existence of this wickedness, as to take the proper measures to remove the offender.-Acts of discipline in the church should always commence with mourning that there is occasion for it. It should not be anger, or pride, or revenge, or party feeling, which prompt to it. It should be deep grief that there is occasion for it; and tender compassion for the offender. Might be taken away. By excommunication. He should not, while he continues in this state, be allowed to remain in your communion. For 1 verily.-But I, whatever it may cost me; however you may esteem my interference; and whatever personal ill-will may be the result towards me, have adjudged this case to be so flagrant as to demand the exercise of discipline; and since the church to whom it belongs have neglected it, I use the authority of an apostle and of a spiritual father, in directing it to take place. This was not a formal sentence of excommunication, but it was the declared opinion of an apostle, that such a sentence should be passed, and an injunction on the church to exercise this act of discipline. As absent in body.— Since I am not personally present with you, I express my opinion in this manner. I am absent in body from you, and cannot, therefore, take those steps in regard to it which I could were I present. But present in spirit.- My heart is with you: my feelings are with you: I have a deep and tender interest in the case; and I judge as if I were personally present. Many suppose that Paul by this refers to a power which was given to the apostles, though at a distance, to discern the real circumstances of a case by the gift of the Spirit. Comp. Col. ii. 5; 2 Kings v. 26; vi 12. (Whitby, Doddridge, &c.) But the phrase does not demand this interpretation. Paul meant, probably, that though he was absent, yet his mind and attention had been given to this subject; he felt as deeply as though he were present, and would act in the same way. He had, in some way, been fully apprized of all the circumstances of the case, and he felt it to be his duty to express his views on the subject. Hare judged already.-Margin, Determined (KEKOLKA.) I have made up my mind, have decided, and do decide. That is, he had determined what ought to be done in the case. It was a case in which the course which ought to be pursued was plain, and on this point his mind was settled. What that course should be, he states immediately. As though I were present.-As though I had a personal knowledge of the whole affair, and were with you to advise. We may be certain that Paul had the fullest information as to this case, and that the circumstances were well known. Indeed, it was a case about the facts of which there could be no doubt. They were every where known, (ver. 1,) and there was no need, therefore, to attempt to establish them by formal proof. VER. 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of four Lord Jesus Christ. but means that they were to be assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and that they were to proceed to exercise discipline by his authority. The idea is, that the authority to administer discipline is derived from the Lord Jesus Christ, and is to be exercised in his name, and to promote his honour. When ye are gathered together.Or, "You being assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus." This is to be connected with the previous words, and means, (1.) That they were to be assembled for the purpose of administering discipline; and (2.) That this was to be done in the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus. And my spirit.-Ver. 3. As if I were with you; that is, with my declared opinion; knowing what I would advise, were I one of you; or, I being virtually present with you by having delivered my opinion. It cannot mean that Paul's soul would be really present with them, but that, knowing his views and feelings, and what he would do, and knowing his love for them, they could act as if he were there. This passage proves that discipline belongs to the church itself; and so deep was Paul's conviction of this, that even he would not administer it, without their concurrence and action. And if Paul would not do it, and in a case too where bodily pains were to be inflicted by miraculous agency, assuredly no other ministers have a right to assume the authority to administer discipline without the action and the concurrence of the church itself. With the power, &c.-This phrase is to be connected with the following verse: "I have determined what ought to be done. The sentence which I have passed is this. You are to be assembled in the name and authority of Christ. I shall be virtually present. And you are to deliver such a one to Satan, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ." That is, it is to be done by you; and the miraculous power which will be evinced in the case will proceed from the Lord Jesus. The word "power" (dvváμuç) is used commonly in the New Testament to denote some miraculous and extraordinary power; and here evidently means that the Lord Jesus would put forth such a power in the infliction of pain and for the preservation of the purity of his church. VER. 5. To delivers such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of judgment. To deliver.-This is the sentence which is to be executed. You are to deliver him to Satan, &c. Unto Satan.-Beza, and the Latin fathers, suppose that this is only an expression of excommunication. They say, that in the Scriptures there are but two kingdoms recognised-the of the world, which is regarded as under the kingdom of God, or the church, and the kingdom control of Satan; and that to exclude a man from one is to subject him to the dominion of the other. There is some foundation for this opinion; and there can be no doubt that excommunication is here intended, and that, by excommunication, the offender was in some sense placed under the control of Satan. It is further evident that it is here supposed that by being thus placed under him the offender would be subject to corporal inflictions by the agency of Satan, which are here called the "destruction of the flesh." Satan is elsewhere referred to as the author of bodily diseases. Thus in the case of Job. (ii. 7.) A similar instance is mentioned in 1 Tim. i. 20, where Paul says he had delivered Hymeneus and Alexander to "Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme." It may be observed here that though this was to be done by the concurrence of the church, as having a right to administer discipline, yet it was directed by apostolic authority; and there is no evidence that this was the usual form of excommunication, nor ought it now to be used. There was evidently miraculous power evinced in this case, and that power has long since ceased in the church. For the destruction of the flesh.-We may observe here, (1.) That this does not mean that the man was to die under the infliction of the censure, for the object was to recover him; and it is evident that, whatever he suffered as the consequence of this, he survived it, and Paul again instructed the Corinthians to admit him to their fellowship. (2 Cor. ii. 7.) (2.) It was designed to punish him for licentiousness of life often called in the Scriptures one of the sins, or works of the flesh, (Gal. v. 19,) and the design was that the punishment should follow in the line of the offence, or be a just retribution- -as punishment often does. Many have supposed that by the "destruction of the flesh" Paul meant only the destruction of his fleshly appetites or carnal affections; and that he supposed that this would be effected by the act of excommunication. But it is very evident from the Scriptures that the apostles were imbued with the power of inflicting diseases or bodily calamities for crimes. See Acts xiii. 11. 1 Cor. xi. 30. What this bodily malady was, we have no means of knowing. It is evident that it was not of very long duration, since when the apostle exhorts them (2 Cor. ii. 7) again to receive him, there is no mention made of his suffering then under it.This was an extraordinary and miraculous power. It was designed for the government of the church in its infancy, when every thing was fitted to show the direct agency of God; and it ceased, doubtless, with the apostles. The church now has no such power. It cannot now work miracles; and all its discipline now is to be moral discipline, designed not to inflict bodily pain and penalties, but to work a moral reformation in the offender. That the spirit may be saved.-That his soul might be saved; that he might be corrected, humbled, and reformed by these sufferings, and recalled to the paths of piety and virtue. This expresses the true design of the discipline of the church, and it ought never to be inflicted but with a direct intention to benefit the offender, and to save the soul. Even when he is cut off and disowned, the design should not be vengeance, or punishment merely, but it should be to recover him and save him from ruin. In the day of the Lord Jesus.-The day of judgment, when the Lord Jesus shall come and shall collect his people to himself. in your present condition, as if you were eminent The occurs also in the Greek classic writers. By leaven the Hebrews metaphorically understood whatever had the power of corrupting, whether doctrine, or example, or any thing else. See Note, Matt. xvi. 6. The sense here is plain. A single sin indulged in, or allowed in the church. would act like leaven; it would pervade and corrupt the whole church, unless it was removed. On this ground, and for this reason, disciplice should be administered, and the corrupt member should be removed. VER. 7. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that Isa. liii. 7. 1 Pet. i. 19. Rev. v. 6, 12. Purge out therefore, &c.-Put away; free yourselves from. The old leaven.-The apostle here takes occasion, from the mention of leaven. to exhort the Corinthians to put away vice and sin. The figure is derived from the custom of the Jews in putting away leaven at the celebration of the passover. By the old leaven he means vice and sin; and also here the person who had committed the sin in their church. As the Jews, at the celebration of the passover, gave all diligence in removing leaven from their houses, searching every part of their dwellings with candles, that they might remove every particle of leavened bread from their habitations; so the apostle exhorts them to use all diligence to search out and remove all sin. That ye may be a new lump.-That you may be like a new mass of flour, or dough, before the leaven is put into it. That you may be pure, and free from VER. 6. Your glorying is not good. Know ye the corrupting principle. As ye are unleavened. -That is, as ye are bound by your Christian profession to be unleavened, or to be pure. Your very profession implies this, and you ought, therefore, to remove all impurity, and to become holy. Let there be no impurity, and no mixture inconsistent with that holiness which the gospel teaches and requires. The apostle here does not refer merely to the case of the incestuous person, but he takes occasion to exhort them to put away all sin. Not only to remove this occasion of offence, but to remove all impurity, that they might become entirely and only holy. The doctrine is, that Christians are by their profession holy, and that therefore they ought to give all diligence to remove every thing that is impure. For even Christ, &c.-As the Jews, when their paschal lamb was slain, gave great diligence to put away all leaven from their dwellings, so we Christians, since our passover is slain, ought to give the like diligence to remove all that is impure and corrupting from our hearts. There can be no doubt here that the paschal lamb was a type of the Messiah; and as little that the leaven was understood to be emblematic of impurity and sin, and that their being required to put it away was intended to be an emblematic action, designed to denote that all sin was to be removed and forsaken. Our passover. — Our paschal lamb, for so the word άoya usually signifies. The sense is, We Christians have a paschal lamb, and that lamb is the Messiah. And as the Jews, when their paschal lamb was slain, were required to put away all leaven from their dwellings, so we, when our paschal lamb is slain, should put away all sin from our hearts and from our churches." This passage proves that Paul meant to teach that Christ had taken the place of the paschal lamb-that that lamb was designed to adumbrate or typify him-and that consequently, when he was offered, the paschal offering was designed to cease. Christ is often in the Scriptures compared to a lamb. See Isa. liii. 7. John i. 29. 1 Pet. i. 19. Rev. v. 6, 12. Is sacrificed for us.-Margin, Or slain, (έτυξη.) The word Sύω may mean simply to slay or kill; but it is also used often in the sense of making a sacrifice as an expiation for sin. (Acts xiv. 13, 18. 1 Cor. x. 20. Comp. Gen. xxxi. 54; xlv. 1. Exod. iii. 18; v. 3, 8, 17; viii. 8, 25-29; xiii. 15; xx. 24.) 2 Chron. xv. 26, where it is used as the translation of the word as, to sacrifice. It is used as the translation of this word no less than ninety-eight times in the Old Testament, and perhaps always in the sense of a sacrifice, or bloody offering. It is also used as the translation of the Hebrew word, and w, to slay, to kill, &c., in Exod. xii. 21. 1 Kings xi. 19; xxv. 11. 2 Chron. xxix. 22, &c.: in all in eleven places in the Old Testament. It is used in a similar sense in the New Testament, in Matt. xxii. 4. Luke xv. 23, 27, 30. John x. 10. Acts x. 13; xi. 7. It occurs no where else in the New Testament than in the places which have been specified. The true sense of the word here is, therefore, to be found in the doctrine respecting the passover. That that was intended to be a sacrifice for sin is proved by the nature of the offering, and by the account which is every where given of it in the Old Testament. The paschal lamb was slain as a sacrifice. It was slain in the temple; its blood was poured out as an offering; it was sprinkled and offered by the priests in the same way as other sacrifices. See Exod. xxiii. 18; xxxiv. 25. 2 Chron. xxx. 15, 16. And if so, then this passage means that Christ was offered as a sacrifice for sin; in accordance with the numerous passages of the New Testament which speak of his death in this manner; (see Note, Rom. iii. 25;) and that his offering was designed to take the place of the paschal sacrifice under the ancient economy. For us. For us who are Christians. He died in our stead; and as the Jews, when celebrating their paschal feast, put away all leaven, so we, as Christians, should put away all evil from our hearts, since that sacrifice has now been made once for all. VER. 8. Therefore let us keep "the feast, "not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 66 Let us keep the feast.-Margin, Holy day, (toprálopev.) This is language drawn from the paschal feast, and is used by Paul frequently to carry out and apply his illustration. It does not mean literally the paschal supper here, for that had ceased to be observed by Christiars, nor the Lord's supper particularly; but the sense is, As the Jews, when they celebrated the paschal supper, on the slaying and sacrifice of the paschal lamb, put away all leaven, as emblematic of sin; so let us, in the slaying of our sacrifice, and in all the duties, institutions, and events consequent thereon, put away all wickedness from our hearts as individuals, and from our societies and churches. Let us engage in the service of God by putting away all evil." Not with the old leaven.-Not under the influence, or in the indulgence of the feelings of corrupt and unrenewed human nature. The word leaven is very expressive of that former or old condition, and denotes the corrupt and corrupting passions of our nature before it is renewed. The leaven of malice.-Of unkindness and evil, which would diffuse itself, and pervade the mass of Christians. The word malice (Kakiac) denotes evil in general. And wickedness.-Sin; evil. There is a particular reference here to the case of the incestuous person. Paul means that all wickedness should be put away from those who had been saved by the sacrifice of their passover, Christ; and, therefore, this sin in a special manner. But with the unleavened bread, &c.- That is, with sincerity and truth. Let us be sincere, and true, and faithful; as the Jews partook of bread unleavened, which was emblematic of purity, so let us be sincere and true. implied here that this could not be done unless they would put away the incestuous person. No Christians can have, or give evidence of sincerity, who are not willing to put away all sin. It is |