Who are Christians to judge? And if we condemn the sin of others aren’t we doing harm to them? Remember that Paul’s teaching in the last chapter was redemptive (5:5). The goal of calling attention to the sin of other Christians is to draw them back into relationship with Christ. Telling people to continue sinning does not help them in the long run, even if it feels compassionate to do so.
The church at Corinth had a number of problems. On the one hand they were suing each other in secular courts. Pagan judges saw the Christians acting the same way the non-Christians did. In our litigious society, our first thought may be, “I will take them to court.” Paul believed that Christians could resolve their own disputes. After all, he reminds us that Christians will someday judge angels (6:3), so we can surely help fellow believers who are in conflict.
In the end, we Christians lovingly hold each other accountable because transformation is possible. Paul reminds the believers that sin separates from God. His list is inclusive but not exhaustive. People who continue to make a practice of the same old sins demonstrate that they have not been transformed. Notice the tense: “such were some of you . . .” Paul points out that before Christ we were subject to the whims of our own passions and desires. But in Christ we have been set apart for God and made right by God when we called upon him to save us. So what is the power to overcome sin? The resurrection. Here and in Romans 8 Paul says the same power that raised Christ from the dead enables us to resist temptation. There is no greater power! Let’s put it in practice and run from sin straight to the Savior.
