1 Corinthians 5:1-5 – The issue of immorality in the church

Paul now turned to deal with the immoral living that had plagued the Corinthian church. The key issue was about the church’s careless attitude towards immorality among her members. Paul brought up a situation in which a man in the church was having a sexual relationship with his father’s wife. This woman was not his own mother but a subsequent wife of his father. We are not told if the first wife had died or was divorced from this man. However, the Corinthians knew about this situation and tolerated it. The woman couldn’t have been a member of the church or else she would have been subjected to discipline that Paul ordered in verses 2-5 and 11-13.  Paul was so appalled by the situation that he said it was a sexual immorality that was not found among the Gentiles. That man not only did not live up to the standard of holiness but was doing something that even Gentiles found it disgraceful.

In verse 2 we see Paul not only condemned the culprit but also the church for being indifferent towards the matter. In their arrogance, the church did not see the gravity of the matter. Instead of having that member dealt with, the church was indifferent toward his act. Paul told them that something ought to be done to arrest the situation. The culprit should have been removed from their midst.  Paul was basically saying that they had a moral responsibility to deal with the moral conduct of individuals as it would affect the life of the whole community.

 

Paul expected the Corinthians to gather and as a church take serious action to expel the immoral man from the Christian community. But while they had taken an indifferent attitude over the issue, Paul on his part had already made a judgment on that immoral him. He did it even though he was absent from them physically, so he expected the Corinthians to take action like he would have done.

 

The church’s action of expulsion was not merely to be a kind of trial, but as a spiritual community assembled in worship, act in the power of the Lord Jesus. Paul’s major consideration is this: the church, gathered as a spiritual community, is endowed with the authority and power of the risen Christ, to pronounce this wrongdoer no longer a member of the community.

 

In delivering the offender over to Satan, the offender would have been put outside the scope of God’s redemptive hedge. Here Paul was probably describing the consequence of being expelled from the church. He also expressed the hope that in the discipline and expelling of the man, that the sinful man’s flesh, meaning his fleshly passions and desires, would be dealt with. Hopefully, after undergoing the discipline, he would repent and be saved ultimately.

 

The church is called to make a difference. Hence Christians have a standard to upkeep. As Christians let’s seek the Lord for strength to know how to harness our fleshly passions and desires. Let’s seek to honor God even in this area of our life!