Bird's-eye view
In this bracing chapter, the Apostle Paul confronts a grotesque breakdown of moral sanity in the Corinthian church. The issue is not merely a private sin, but a public scandal that is being tolerated, and perhaps even celebrated, by the congregation. A man is engaged in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, a sin so egregious that even the surrounding pagan culture would blush. Paul's response is swift and severe. He rebukes the church not just for the sin in their midst, but for their arrogant and passive response to it. They were puffed up with a counterfeit spirituality, blind to the cancer growing within their own body. Paul, exercising his apostolic authority, commands them to assemble and, in the name and power of the Lord Jesus, to excommunicate the unrepentant man. This act of discipline, described as delivering him to Satan, has a twofold purpose: the destruction of his fleshly rebellion and, ultimately, the salvation of his spirit. This passage is a foundational text on the necessity of church discipline for the health of the church, the glory of God, and the good of the sinner.
The core problem in Corinth was not just the presence of sin, for sin is always with us. The core problem was the church's proud refusal to deal with it. They had mistaken grace for a license to sin and spiritual liberty for an excuse to abandon God's law. Paul has to remind them that the church is a holy community, and that unrepentant sin is a leaven that will corrupt the entire lump. The discipline he prescribes is not a vindictive act of score-settling, but a radical form of spiritual surgery, undertaken in the authority of Christ, for the purpose of redemption.
Outline
- 1. The Scandal of Tolerated Sin (1 Cor 5:1-5)
- a. The Notorious Report (1 Cor 5:1)
- b. The Arrogant Response (1 Cor 5:2)
- c. The Apostolic Judgment (1 Cor 5:3)
- d. The Corporate Sentence (1 Cor 5:4)
- e. The Redemptive Purpose (1 Cor 5:5)
Context In 1 Corinthians
This chapter marks a sharp turn in Paul's letter. Having addressed the problems of division and intellectual pride in chapters 1-4, he now moves to a matter of gross moral and ethical failure. The Corinthians' arrogance was not just a matter of bad ideas; it had produced rotten fruit. Their celebration of "wisdom" and "spirituality" had blinded them to the blatant sin they were tolerating. This section on church discipline is directly connected to the preceding arguments. Their failure to judge this matter rightly (5:3) stemmed from their failure to have the mind of Christ (2:16) and their carnality (3:1-3). This passage sets the stage for Paul's subsequent discussions on Christians suing one another (Ch. 6), sexual ethics in general (Ch. 6), and marriage (Ch. 7). Before he can correct their specific ethical confusions, he must first address the foundational issue of the church's corporate responsibility to maintain a holy standard and to discipline those who defy it.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Church Discipline
- Corporate Responsibility for Sin
- Spiritual Arrogance vs. Godly Mourning
- Apostolic Authority
- The Meaning of "Delivering to Satan"
- The Destruction of the Flesh
- The Redemptive Goal of Excommunication
A Church with No Fence
A church that does not or cannot discipline its members is a church with a compromised immune system. It has no way of fighting off infection. To change the metaphor, the church is a garden where the Word is preached and the sacraments are administered. Discipline is the fence around that garden. Fences are essential for gardens, but they don't grow in the garden themselves. Discipline is not the gospel, but without it, you won't have a gospel-shaped community for very long. The deer and the rabbits of the world, to say nothing of the wild boars, will get in and eat everything down to the nub.
The Corinthian church had dismantled their fence because they thought it looked exclusive and judgmental. They were a "welcoming community," you see. But in welcoming everything, they had welcomed a devouring rot. Paul is telling them, in the strongest possible terms, to rebuild the fence. This is not about being mean; it is about being holy. It is not about being exclusive; it is about defining what it is you are including people into. A refusal to discipline those who are threatening the integrity of the church is actually a form of discipline directed against those who love the peace and purity of the church.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
Paul begins with a bombshell. The phrase "it is actually reported" suggests this was not a quiet rumor but a notorious, public fact. The sin is porneia, a general term for sexual immorality, but this is a specific and shocking instance of it. It is a form of incest, a man having a sexual relationship with his stepmother. This was a violation not only of the Old Testament law (Lev. 18:8; Deut. 22:30) but also of the common decency of the pagan world. Roman law, for example, forbade such a union. Paul's point is that the Corinthian church was tolerating behavior that even lost people found repulsive. Their spiritual arrogance had made them morally numb. They were out-paganing the pagans, but not in a good way.
2 And you have become puffed up and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
Here Paul identifies the root of the problem, and it is not the man's sin but the church's reaction. Instead of being horrified, they were puffed up. This is the same word for arrogance he has used throughout the letter. How could they be proud of this? Perhaps they saw their "tolerance" as a mark of spiritual maturity, a sign that they were "above" such petty moral rules. They were free in Christ, after all. But this was a cheap grace, a counterfeit liberty. The proper response, Paul says, was to mourn. This is not just a feeling of sadness, but a deep, corporate grief over sin's offense to a holy God and its destructive presence in the body. True mourning leads to action. Had they mourned properly, they would have already done what was necessary: the man who did this would have been removed from your midst. Their pride had paralyzed them.
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present:
Since the Corinthians have failed to act, Paul steps in. He makes it clear that his physical absence is no barrier to his apostolic authority. He is present in spirit, which means he is with them in the authority and spiritual reality of his office. And in that capacity, he has already judged the matter. This is not a snap judgment. The facts were clear, the sin was blatant, and the man was unrepentant. There was no need for a long, drawn-out investigation. The verdict was in. Paul is not asking for their opinion; he is delivering a ruling. This demonstrates that while church discipline is to be carried out by the local body, the standards for that discipline are not locally derived but are given by God through His apostles.
4 in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
This verse lays out the formal basis for the act of excommunication. It is a solemn, corporate act. First, it must be done when you are assembled. This is not a backroom decision by a few elders; it is a public act of the entire covenanted community. Second, it is done in the name of our Lord Jesus. This is the source of the authority. The church does not act on its own behalf, but as an embassy of King Jesus. They are His court, carrying out His verdict. Paul reiterates that he is with them in spirit, linking his apostolic authority to their local action. Finally, it is done with the power of our Lord Jesus. This is not just a symbolic gesture. Real spiritual power is being exercised to enforce the boundaries of the kingdom.
5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
Here is the sentence itself. To deliver such a one to Satan means to formally expel him from the visible church. The church is the kingdom of Christ, the place of His gracious rule and protection. The world outside is, in a certain sense, the dominion of Satan (1 John 5:19). To excommunicate someone is to put them back out into that domain, to remove the spiritual hedge of protection that surrounds the covenant community. The purpose of this is twofold. The immediate goal is the destruction of his flesh. This does not mean his physical death, though that can happen (1 Cor. 11:30). "Flesh" here refers to his sinful nature, his prideful, rebellious disposition. The hope is that being exposed to the harsh realities of Satan's kingdom, without the grace and support of the church, will break his rebellion and lead him to repentance. This severe mercy has an ultimate, redemptive aim: so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. The goal of church discipline is not to destroy the man, but to destroy the sin in the man so that the man himself might be saved. It is a radical, loving act designed to bring a sinner back from the brink.
Application
This passage is deeply uncomfortable for the modern evangelical mind, which has largely traded in the biblical categories of holiness, judgment, and discipline for the softer virtues of niceness, tolerance, and indiscriminate affirmation. We have convinced ourselves that the most loving thing we can do is to ignore sin, when in fact it is often the most cruel. To allow a brother to persist in a destructive, soul-damning sin without confrontation is not love; it is a form of passive-aggressive hatred.
We must recover the biblical practice of church discipline. This does not mean becoming a congregation of self-righteous witch-hunters. Discipline is always for the purpose of restoration. It begins with quiet, private admonition and only escalates to public action in cases of serious, unrepentant sin. But it must exist. Our churches must be places where sin is taken seriously because grace is taken seriously. We must be communities that are willing to mourn over sin, both our own and that of our brothers.
And for any who are caught in such a sin, the message here is a severe mercy. The pain of being put out of the church is intended by God to be a gracious wake-up call. It is God's megaphone to a deafened conscience. The way back is always open to the one who is willing to repent. The goal is not damnation, but salvation in the day of the Lord. This is tough love, to be sure, but it is love nonetheless, the kind of love that cares more for a person's eternal soul than for their temporary comfort or our own reputation.