Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. – I Corinthians 13:4-7, NKJV
I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. – I Corinthians 5:11, NLT
Any understanding of Christian love as accepting of all behavior is a not Biblical understanding of Christian love as these two juxtaposed passages demonstrate. They come from the same letter and author, the Apostle Paul.
By writing I Corinthians 13 about Christian love, he is certainly not telling the Corinthian believers to accept the sexually immoral individual he focused upon on I Corinthians 5. His instructions were clear to expel this individual (I Cor. 5;13).
That is Christian love, too.
Christian love sets boundaries and does not put up with unrepentant sin.
Anyone who uses I Corinthians 13 to justify tolerating adultery is not a good student of Scripture. They fail to understand the context of the verse and fail to understand God’s heart for His people.
God is holy.
And He expects His people to be holy.
Adultery is not tolerable. The Apostle Paul–inspired by the Holy Spirit–tells us to not even eat with a sexually immoral person claiming to be a Christian.
That’s tough love.
And that is how we are to respond as faithful Christians to the unrepentant adulterous spouse who “claims” Christ as Lord.
