It turns out it was worse than that, and that the brother had to punished dealt with by 'handing him over to Satan so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord'. (NIV translation)

Fortunately, the man's soul was saved (again) and his doomed fate averted as he was punished by the christian church he was in which took a quick appropriate course of action upon receiving Apostle Paul's commands in the previous letter to the Corinthians. and repented of his grievous sin. The mention of this happy ending is in 2 Corinthians 2:6:
"The punishment afflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him."

Later, Apostle Paul extrapolates on how he is glad that sorrow caused by his rebukes, to the Corinthians in the first letter, has led to repentance.
2 Corinthians 7:8-onwards

You are absolutely right, true Christians do sin! But we shouldn't! 🙂 I am reminded of the brother who had his father's wife, and Paul said to expel the immoral brother. If we do sin we have an advocate Jesus Christ the Righteous and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we confess them and truly repent.

The scriptures do tell us that it is possible to have our fleshly bodies made holy by the removal of iniquities, darkness, strongholds and evil spirits etc…

1st Thessalonians 5:23-24

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."

Many Blessings!

Thank you for writing. You have asked an excellent question.

Although there are some who claim to be Christians (sincerely), who have never been born again, it is a mistake to believe that Christians do not sin, sometimes egregiously.

One passage I have found helpful to discuss this subject with others is I Corinthians 3. Paul writes:

I Corinthians 3:1-3
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

Notice that Paul is writing to Christians who have been born again of the Spirit of Christ. He acknowledges that they are "spiritual men," yet they are behaving as carnal, or fleshly men. This is what Paul means when he says they are walking as "mere men." One who is merely a man has only been born of Adam, but has not been born of the Spirit of Christ.

As you read the entire book this passage comes from you will find that these born again saints were engaging in much sinful behavior. Some were acting as gluttons, others as drunkards, and some were even having sexual relations with temple prostitutes. That is another good section to look at, for it reveals that these were truly Christians who were engaging in sinful behavior. Paul scolds them for taking their bodies, which are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and joining them to a prostitute.

The truth is that Christians do sin even after being born again. The flesh is not made any better after a man comes to Christ. Paul says, "In my flesh dwells no good thing. Sin dwells in my flesh."

The flesh must be crucified and kept in subjection until the time it is put off and we receive a new, incorruptible body. To the degree that the saints fight the good fight of faith, and rule over the passions and desires of the flesh, they will walk in the righteousness of Christ as spiritual men. Many, however, continue to walk as fleshly men, and these will reap according to what they have sown.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

"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. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

Some first century saints committed many sinful acts BEFORE they were born from above, but AFTER they were baptized in water and filled with the Spirit of God they were washed, sanctified (made holy) and justified in the name of the Lord by the Holy Spirit.

My question is this, in light of the truth that we read in the written word of God, have those who continue to commit sin, (there is no 'struggle with sin' found in scripture) and call themselves followers of Christ really been born from above? I committed the same types of sin while calling myself a Christian, only to find out about eight years later that I had NOT received the Holy Spirit into my heart as I was led to believe.

Many professing Christians and sincere believers have not been truly converted to Christ according to the conversion pattern laid out for us by Jesus and the apostles in scripture, and many of those who have, have not continued on to be made holy by the Spirit of God, but stop short and are not taught what the process of sanctification is and therefore do not walk in holiness or the fullness of God.

The time is short and life as we know it now is about to change and the Spirit of God will be poured out on multitudes of people as the final harvest is reaped before the coming of the King.

I pray that those who continue to practice sin will truly repent and confess their sins before a Holy and Righteous God, and walk in the victory that Jesus Christ purchased with His blood for all of us on the cross of Calvary!

In Jesus Name,
Tyrone