1 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us
When Tare moved from Warri to Lagos, he got in touch with Tega his best friend on campus. They were so excited to meet again and they continued their friendship as before. But Tare was now happily married while Tega was a womanizer who could not keep his marriage together.
Tare really loved his wife and had eyes for no other woman. But after living six months in Lagos, with continuous fellowship with Tega, he noticed that his love for his wife was now waxing cold. And he was becoming drawn to other women.
He couldn’t understand what was happening to him. He had vowed never to cheat on his wife, but it was now becoming very difficult to keep his vow.
After almost falling into adultery with a lady in the office, he decided it was time to seek help. He talked to his pastor about his struggles while he waited on the Lord concerning this issue.
Through the guidance of his pastor, he discovered that he had been affected by the spiritual disease of his new best friend, Tega. He was advised to break close fellowship with this friend if he wanted his marriage to survive.
There were two reasons why Apostle Paul commanded that the man who was cohabiting with his father’s wife be removed from fellowship with the church.
The first reason was so that he would come to repentance after he had suffered the consequences of separation from the spiritual covering of the church. The second reason was that Apostle Paul didn’t want the yeast of his iniquity to spread among the brethren.
Iniquity is like a contagious disease. That’s why believers are warned not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers (see 2 Cor 6:14) and not to keep company with ‘believers’ who behave like unbelievers (see 1 Cor 5:11).
—SD Abraham
Bible in 1 Year: John 1-2 (in today’s audio)
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