The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 169

but the sitme representative thinker of humanity ,varns us that when we "mean to build," we should " survey" "The plot of the situation, and the model;' Consent upon a sure foundation." • Promptness is not always the synonym of prudence, and where one Hamlet wastes excessirn sensibility on mere ideas and their images, so that "enterprises lose the name of action," scores of men wi:eck t~emselves in an opposite direction. Between these extr_emes, S~. Paul was hapl_lllY: poised. He had mastered principles, he under- .stood details by virtue of these prmc1ples, and he was an exception even amon" great leaders, because he saw very deeply into the springs of action. So that when he .came to deal with the case of_ the notorious. offender among the Corinthians, a broad sp9.ce had been cleared for himself. The ideal of the Church, of the ministry of {Jbristiani~y itself, ha_d been resplendently displayed. Thought had been eleva'ted, feeling qmckened, seltishness put to shame, and a state of mind created in himself and we may hope in his brethren, favourable to fortunate issues. How much thes~ Corinthians needed ju~t such instruction, and, more particularly, what oblicrations were laid upon them by Christianity to be humble, we see plainly enough in this chapter. "Instead of expelling the offender with mourning and shame, you-oh, strange mystery of the invariable connection between sensuality and pride-have been inflated with sophistical excuses about the matter" (Dr. Farrar). And yet, all the while, though this wickedness is an outrage on common decency, and in shameless contempt of public opinion, at which even paganism would blush, St. Paul approaches the subject from the standpoint of Christianity. He never takes a lower way when the .higher is possible. For with him it is a cardinal principle that the higher includes the lower; this is his method of thought; and agreeably thereunto he is the profoundest of intellectual philosophers, even in his exposure of the meagreness and vanity of the world's reasonings. So that we see in this instance that he felt himself set for the defence of true reason, no less than of genuine religion, working down to the instinct -of the reason as be worked down to the depths of consciousness in all else. The reality of the position, t.he solemnity of the transaction, the whole body of circumstances, rise with instant vividness before the eye of the mind, never so much an eye as when outer -vision is suspended. .A way in Ephesus, the apostle had brooded over this severe trial ·so taxative to skill and patience, since the roots of the horrible evil were as a cancer spreading its poisonous fibres through the body. Night and day it clnng to him, and, wherever be went, some new rumour of the disgrace awaited his heart. Ionia was as .A.chaia. So long had he dwelt upon it, so many prayers had gone up to God for enlightenment and guidance, so agonizing had been the wrestlings of his spirit, that he was as if on the spot. "Absent in body," says he, "but present in spirit," and I have ·" judged already, as though I were present" with you in the body. And thus ideall,r in their midst, the whole procedure not only before the Church, but the Church partici- pating in the judicial act, he himself a witness and an actor, and Christ Jesus with them .in the power of the Spirit, this shocking offender must be delivered to Satan. Not only bad the Church been dishonoured by the guilty man, but they themselves had shared the sin and the reproach by neglecting to exercise that discipline which was one form, and a very important form, of the kingdom that was " not in word, but in power.'' Deliverance to Satan means excommunication from Christian fellowship. How much more is implied it is difficult to determine. Taking the passage in its immediate bearings and in connection with the general tenor of the Scriptures, it would seem to indicate that the culprit was surrendered to the power of Satan, by whose influence be had already been corrupted; his own will consenting to the depravation. This act of the Church gave him over to the malignant agency of Satan, and in so doing fulfilled a Divine judgment. Yet it contemplated besides a merciful discipline. The punish• ment was punishment since it was "for the destruction of the flesh," and coincidently a disciplinary process that " the spirit =Y be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." :Mercy and truth meet together here, and righteousness and peace kiss each other. 'l'he <l.oor of repentance is not closed; still less is the possibility of reconciliation forestalled. ·Christ demonstrates himself in and through the Church, his representative, as Christ ou. v. 1-13.] 'l'HE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 173-