How should we apply Paul's teaching on excommunication in 1 Corinthians 5?

That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity.

Hi, I'm Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. And we would love to hear from you. Here's our phone number. It's 8333-the-core. That's 1-833-843-2673. We'll be taking calls for the next 25 minutes or so. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites.

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us your question at Questions at Core Christianity.com.

And, Adrial, first up today, here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Judith.

I would like to know, pastor in the Bible referenced that two will be in the field and the one will be taken.

Is the one that's taken the Christian or the one that's left behind is Christian?

I heard a pastor said people would be surprised that it's the bad one that's taken. However, he went on to say that the pastor will be in church the following Sunday and see the pews empty.

And to me, that's contradictory. the following Sunday and see the pews empty.

And to me, that's contradictory.

If the bad one is taken, that means the Christian will be in church.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Hey, thank you for that question.

And the passage of scripture that you're referring to is Matthew chapter 24, where Jesus is talking about the time of the final judgment, his second coming.

And in that context, what we read is verse 38, for as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the son of man. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

I think sometimes, you know, people read this passage and they take verse 40 out of context. I'll say two men will be in the field. One will be taken and one will be taken and they think, well, this is the sort of idea of being left behind, the rapture, the Christian is going to be taken, and the non-Christian is going to be left behind.

But what we do, you know, if we go that route is we're just reading a bunch of things into this text.

It's talking about judgment specifically.

And my view is in the context, the one who's taken is the one who's judged. You think

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