I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 5-8.

    Paul starts off today’s passage by addressing a particular situation which was happening among the Corinthian believers. However, he extends his commands (I want to note that, unlike much of what Paul writes which is direction and advice, here he gives a command to the Church in Corinth) to a more general applicability. He tells the Corinthians that they must not associate with immoral people. greedy swindlers, or idolaters. He quickly clarifies that when he says this he is not referring to those outside of the Church. Instead, he is referring to those who call themselves followers of Christ yet do these things. It is not our place to hold those outside of the Church accountable for their behavior, but we are to take a different tack with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Not only are we to judge those in the Church who sin, and call them to repentance (Paul speaks more on this in his second letter to the Corinthian Church) we are to take our legal disputes with fellow believers before the Church rather than to government authorities. It is better to be taken advantage of than to take our disputes with fellow believers before nonbelievers for judgment.