Delivery and Birth

September 3, 2009 at 8:42 am | Posted in Eternity | 1 Comment
Tags: 1 Corinthians 5, Biblical chastening, Biblical chastisement, Biblical deliverance, Biblical discipline, born again, chastening of the Lord, chastisement, church discipline, deliverance, eternal salvation, eternal security, Eternity, everlasting security, extreme measures, fornication, God's love, once saved always saved, open immorality, perseverance of the saints, Satan, the devil, the evil one, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, unborn

How often we pray for people to be delivered from the bondage of Satan, the evil one! However, there is at least one occasion in the Bible where the Lord commanded that a Christian be delivered to the devil.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

I Corinthians 5:4-5

This was an extreme measure spurred by one of the Corinthian believers’ extreme sin: He was openly committing incest.

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

I Corinthians 5:1

There are times when God may allow Satan to have power over Christians in order to cause them financial devastation, severe trials, and physical illness. There can be little doubt that Satan would like to drag these believers down to the very pit of hell itself, which is the devil’s eternal destination. He may not do so, however.

The reason is that when someone is saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, he or she is “born” again. (I Peter 1:23) A person who has been truly born may struggle, suffer, fail to properly grow, and even die. But a person who has been TRULY BORN may never, ever be UNBORN.

We must be thankful that God loves His children enough to chasten them. A father who indulges his children, even in the things that harm them, cannot be said to truly love them. The love of God for His children, however, is a perfect love. The evidence of that love is both kindness and chastening.