3114.-Judging by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 3, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 17.

3114.—Judging

By Editor

Please harmonize 1 Cor. 5:9-13 with 1 Cor. 11:28. A READER OF THE SIGNS.

We do not know what our correspondent thinks is out of harmony. 1 Cor. 5:9-13 simply tells us just what the Christian's conduct should be regarding others. One should not keep company with fornicators; and the apostle goes on to declare that he does not mean we should not have anything to do with the people of this world, who are all sinners more or less. There are certain kinds of business that we must do with the world; yet that does not mean that we should be one of them. But if there are those who are professing to be religious, professing the name of Christ, and yet are guilty of these gross sins, and we know it, we are not to show them, by partaking with them, that we condone or excuse their evil deeds. It is the duty of the church, rather than to excuse such wrongs, to excommunicate those who are guilty of them, unless there is repentance. Only in that sense are they to judge. If the church has taken the proper course toward the erring one, they are in duty bound to carry that course to the very finish as shown in Matt. 18:15-17. That does not mean that we should hold hard feelings against him, nor does it mean that we should consider him outside of the pale of salvation. He is still a subject for labor and help.

1 Cor. 11:28 simply declares that a man should examine himself before he eats of the Lord's Supper. He should know whether he is in the faith. 2 Cor. 13:5. The one has reference to our duty toward our fellow men; the other our duty toward God as regards ourselves.