Replies

The way the Catholic Church is organized into a hierarchy it might be difficult to reject a local church and not the Catholic Church altogether.

Either way, the bottom line is that I Corinthians 5 is not just a suggestion.

Thanks for your reply, Sister. I agree that individuals injured by the ungodly within their churches will find it hard to separate their local church from the denomination. As mentioned, that occurred with my own father.

However, I am very careful saying that the sins of a few in a denomination lead to the conclusion that all must depart. That same logic can be turned around to apply to Christianity at large. The charge would be stated: "Because of the sins of XYZ, that means Christianity is wrong and all of you should abandon it."

Let God be true and every man a liar.

I agree wholeheartedly about 1 Corinthians 5. Expel any brother or sister who refuses to repent. I believe in the case of the 1 Co 5 man that in II Co we find he did repent.

5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent--not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.