Can a brother committing fornication be used in church worship?
Question:
Good day, Brother Jeffrey,
I need your help on this. There is a brother committing fornication. He stopped worshiping. The reason why he doesn't want to wed is that his sister, who is living abroad promised him to help him work abroad. If he gets married, he may not have a chance to work abroad. Instead, he is committing fornication. He knew that he was committing fornication, but the new preacher is trying to restore him saying that the most important thing is your faith in God. I need your help on how to correct this mistake. They think that the apostle Paul tolerated this kind of action in I Corinthians 5:1-5. What should we do if he continues to worship with us? Can he lead the Lord's Supper or closing prayer, this brother who is committing fornication? I really need your help on this matter.
Take care always and God bless.
Answer:
I don't know how any could read I Corinthians 5:1-6:20 and conclude that fornication is tolerable.
"I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner -- not even to eat with such a person" (I Corinthians 5:9-11).
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 6:9-10).
Yes, any sinner should be restored but restored means brought out of his sins are restored to fellowship with God. So long as he continues in his sexual sins, he cannot be a part of the church. He must be withdrawn from until he repents of his sins.
