1Cor 5:6, 11:30 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 6. Your glorying . Your boasting; or confidence in your present condition as if you were eminent in purity and piety. Is not good . Is not well, proper, right. Boasting is never good; but it is especially wrong when, as here, there is an existing evil, that is likely to corrupt the whole church. When men are disposed to boast, they should at once make the inquiry whether there is not some sin indulged in, on account of which they should be humbled and subdued. If all individual Christians, and all Christian churches, and all men of every rank and condition, would look at things as they are, they would never find occasion for boasting. It is only when we are blind to the realities of the case, and overlook our faults, that we are disposed to boast. The reason why this was improper in Corinth, Paul states--that any sin would tend to corrupt the whole church, and that therefore they ought not to boast until that was removed. A little leaven , etc. A small quantity of leaven or yeast will pervade the entire mass of flour, or dough, and diffuse itself through it all. This is evidently a proverbial saying. It occurs also in . Comp. . A similar figure occurs also in the Greek classic writers. By leaven the Hebrews metaphorically understood whatever had the power of corrupting, whether doctrine, or example, or anything else. . The sense here is plain. A single sin indulged in, or allowed in the church, would act like leaven--it would pervade and corrupt the whole church, unless it was removed. On this ground, and for this reason, discipline should be administered, and the corrupt member should be removed. (c) "glorying" (d) "leaveneth"

1 Corinthians 5:6

Verse 6. Your glorying. Your boasting; or confidence in your present condition as if you were eminent in purity and piety.

Is not good. Is not well, proper, right. Boasting is never good; but it is especially wrong when, as here, there is an existing evil, that is likely to corrupt the whole church. When men are disposed to boast, they should at once make the inquiry whether there is not some sin indulged in, on account of which they should be humbled and subdued. If all individual Christians, and all Christian churches, and all men of every rank and condition, would look at things as they are, they would never find occasion for boasting. It is only when we are blind to the realities of the case, and overlook our faults, that we are disposed to boast. The reason why this was improper in Corinth, Paul states--that any sin would tend to corrupt the whole church, and that therefore they ought not to boast until that was removed.

A little leaven, etc. A small quantity of leaven or yeast will pervade the entire mass of flour, or dough, and diffuse itself through it all. This is evidently a proverbial saying. It occurs also in Gal 5:9. Comp. Mt 13:33. A similar figure occurs also in the Greek classic writers. By leaven the Hebrews metaphorically understood whatever had the power of corrupting, whether doctrine, or example, or anything else. Mt 16:6. The sense here is plain. A single sin indulged in, or allowed in the church, would act like leaven--it would pervade and corrupt the whole church, unless it was removed. On this ground, and for this reason, discipline should be administered, and the corrupt member should be removed.

1 Corinthians 11:30

Verse 30. For this cause. On account of the improper manner of celebrating the Lord's Supper. See 1Cor 11:21.

Many are weak. ασθενεις. Evidently referring to prevailing bodily sickness and disease. This is the natural and obvious interpretation of this passage. The sense clearly is, that God had sent among them bodily distempers as an expression of the Divine displeasure and judgment for their improper mode of celebrating the Lord's Supper. That it was not uncommon in those times for God in an extraordinary manner to visit men with calamity, sickness, or death, for their sins, is evident from the New Testament.

1Cor 5:5; Acts 5:1 and Acts 5:2-10. Acts 13:11; 1Timm 1:20, and, perhaps, 1Jn 5:16, and Jas 5:14,15. It may possibly have been the case, that the intemperance and gluttony which prevailed on these occasions was the direct cause of no small part of the bodily disease which prevailed, and which in some cases terminated in death.

And many sleep. Have died. The death of Christians, in the Scriptures, is commonly represented under the image of sleep, Dan 12:2, Jn 11:11,12, 1Cor 15:51, 1Thes 4:14, 5:10. Perhaps it may be implied by the use of this mild term here, instead of the harsher word death, that these were true Christians. This sentiment is in accordance with all that Paul states in regard to the church at Corinth. Notwithstanding all their irregularities, he does not deny that they were sincere Christians, and all his appeals and reasonings proceed on that supposition, though there was among them much ignorance and irregularity. God often visits his own people with trial; and though they are his children, yet this does not exempt them from affliction and discipline on account of their imperfections, errors, and sins. The practical lesson taught by this is, that Christians should serve God with purity; that they should avoid sin in every form; and that the commission of sin will expose them, as well as others, to the Divine displeasure. The reason why this judgment was inflicted on the Corinthians was, that there might be a suitable impression made of the holy nature of that ordinance, and that Christians might be led to observe it in a proper manner. If it be asked whether God ever visits his people now with his displeasure for their improper manner of observing this ordinance, we may reply,

(1.) that we have no reason to suppose that he inflicts bodily diseases and corporeal punishments on account of it. But,

(2.) there is no reason to doubt that the improper observance of the Lord's Supper, like the improper observance of any other religious duty, will be followed with the expression of God's displeasure, and with a spiritual blighting on the soul. This may be evinced in the following modes:

(a.) In hardening the heart by an improper familiarity with the most sacred and solemn ordinances of religion.

(b.) Increased coldness and deadness in the service of God. If the ordinances of the gospel are not the means of making us better, they are the means of making us worse.

(c.) The loss of the favour of God, or of those pure, and spiritual, and elevated joys which we might have obtained by a proper observance of the ordinance. There is no reason to doubt that God may make it the occasion of manifesting his displeasure. It may be followed by a want of spiritual comfort and peace; by a loss of communion with God; and by a withholding of those comforts from the soul which might have been enjoyed, and which are imparted to those who observe it in a proper manner. The general principle, is, that an improper discharge of any duty will expose us to his displeasure, and to the certain loss of all those favours which might have resulted from a proper discharge of the duty, and to the tokens of the Divine displeasure. And this is as true of prayer, or of any other religious duty, as of an improper observance of the Lord's Supper.

(*) "sleep" "are dead"