I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
The writing spoken of is an earlier letter Paul had sent to the Corinthian church warning it about its immoral conduct. That letter called the church to repent and to put away the evils that were among them before he came to them in person, including dealing with those whose lustful, lascivious behavior was bringing disgrace upon the church. Its command is that believers are not to keep company with church members who persist in fornication and immoral conduct.
This separation does not mean altogether avoiding the fornicators of this world, nor the covetous nor idolaters, for that would require going out of the world. The instruction as first given was brief, and the Corinthians perverted its meaning and used their own interpretation of it as an excuse for ignoring and disobeying it. Those who pursue a course of transgression are first to be visited and labored with, and if they refuse to repent they are to be separated from church fellowship, with their names removed and no longer retained on the church books. This cutting off is required lest the saints be held accountable for the evil deeds of the evildoers left among them.
The writing spoken of is an earlier letter Paul had sent to the Corinthian church warning it about its immoral conduct. That letter called the church to repent and to put away the evils that were among them before he came to them in person, including dealing with those whose lustful, lascivious behavior was bringing disgrace upon the church. Its command is that believers are not to keep company with church members who persist in fornication and immoral conduct.
This separation does not mean altogether avoiding the fornicators of this world, nor the covetous nor idolaters, for that would require going out of the world. The instruction as first given was brief, and the Corinthians perverted its meaning and used their own interpretation of it as an excuse for ignoring and disobeying it. Those who pursue a course of transgression are first to be visited and labored with, and if they refuse to repent they are to be separated from church fellowship, with their names removed and no longer retained on the church books. This cutting off is required lest the saints be held accountable for the evil deeds of the evildoers left among them.