“Don’t judge.”
“We must be tolerant.”
Those are the words of many in this world today.
There is a sense in which those words are true.
Jesus warns against hypocritical judging. (Matthew 7:1-5)
Paul warns against judging those outside the church. (1 Corinthians 5:11-12a)
But then he specifically tells us we are to judge those who claim to be Christians and yet live in unrepentant sin. (12b)
Specifically, he says,
Remove the evil person from among you. (13)
This is not to say that our primary response should be anger and self-righteousness. Rather, we are to grieve. (2)
We are to desire and pray for their restoration. (5)
But we are not simply to tolerate their behavior. Rather, we are to remove that person from among us.
The principle comes from God’s law in Deuteronomy 17:12-13. In talking about dealing with sin and judging God’s people, Moses said,
The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving the Lord your God or to the judge, must die.
You must purge the evil from Israel. Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly. (Deuteronomy 17:12-13)
In those times, the punishment for such arrogance was death.
In these times of the church, the punishment is excommunication.
But the principal is the same: arrogant, unrepentant sin is not to be tolerated in the church.
Unfortunately, the Corinthians were arrogant. They were boasting about being so “accepting.” And so Paul rebuked them sharply for it.
It is one thing for a person to fall into sin and yet mourn over it and repent. It is one thing for a person to struggle with certain sins in their life, the key word being: struggle.
We are to help, pray for, and encourage such people.
It is another thing altogether to say, “I will live however I like, regardless of what God says.”
No person who says that can honestly call themselves a Christian. And God’s church cannot simply “tolerate” such a person.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 