Moment of Meditation: Delivered to Satan (1 Timothy 1:19-20)

Original Broadcast: February 2011

Monthly Theme: Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy 1-2)

By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander,
whom I handed over to Satan
that they may learn not to blaspheme.
(1 Timothy 1:19-20)

Delivered to Satan

Here are some of Paul's hardest words to handle. He handed people who were supposed to be Christians over to Satan. What kind of psychopath does that! That's giving up completely on them, isn't it? These two men were great antagonists of Paul. They taught that the general resurrection of the dead had already happened (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2). That everything was over and there was no more need for the Christian Church. They refused to see the resurrection of the body that the Creed confesses. They went about sowing seed of despair among all who called upon Jesus' name.

Paul handed them over to Satan, in the same way that Judas handed Jesus over to the Jewish leaders. But even for Paul it wasn't a complete rejection and condemnation of these two men. He handed them over to Satan "that they may learn not to blaspheme." He wanted them back in the orthodox faith. He wanted to see them in Heaven on the Last Day. He wanted them to believe properly.

Some times it's best to let people alone in their sins and errors so they can find the way out for themselves. It's not a horrible burden we're putting upon them. It's church discipline in action. They aren't behaving and believing as they should as Christians. Therefore we should not treat them as Christians. They are endangering their own salvation and the salvation of any who fall under their influence. Paul delivered them over to Satan so they would see their sin and repent of them. That's the drive of all discipline, that people may repent. Amen.