Day 1: Expel the Immoral Brother

Reading: 1 Corinthians 5

Listen to: 1 Corinthians chapter 5

Historical Context

Paul opens his treatment of specific Corinthian problems with a case so scandalous that even the phrase he uses conveys shock: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans” (v. 1). The Greek word porneia, broadly covering all forms of sexual immorality, is here specified as a man “living with his father’s wife” – almost certainly his stepmother. Roman law explicitly prohibited such unions; the Lex Iulia de adulteriis of Augustus imposed severe penalties for incestuous relationships, and even the relatively permissive sexual culture of Corinth would have found this arrangement disgraceful. The Old Testament was equally unambiguous: Leviticus 18:8 declares, “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife,” and Deuteronomy 22:30 pronounces a curse on anyone who violates this boundary. The father is not mentioned, suggesting he may have died or divorced, but the relationship remains prohibited in both Jewish and Roman legal frameworks.

What disturbs Paul even more than the sin itself is the Corinthian response to it: “And you are arrogant!” (v. 2). The Greek word phusioo means “puffed up” or “inflated,” and it recurs throughout 1 Corinthians as Paul’s diagnosis of the church’s fundamental disease. The Corinthians had developed a theology of spiritual superiority – they were so enlightened, so spiritually advanced, that moral boundaries no longer applied to them. Some scholars suggest they had distorted Paul’s own teaching about freedom from the law into a libertine theology: if grace abounds where sin increases (cf. Romans 6:1), then moral restrictions are irrelevant to the truly spiritual person. This proto-Gnostic tendency to separate spiritual status from bodily behavior would plague the church for centuries.

Paul’s remedy is stark: “Hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord” (v. 5). This extraordinary phrase has generated enormous scholarly discussion. “Handing over to Satan” likely means formal exclusion from the community of faith – putting the person back into the domain that lies outside the protective boundary of the church. The “destruction of the flesh” (sarx) may refer to physical suffering or to the destruction of the sinful nature that drove the behavior. The purpose, critically, is redemptive: “so that his spirit may be saved.” Church discipline in Paul’s framework is never merely punitive; it aims at restoration. This understanding is confirmed in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, where Paul urges the Corinthians to forgive and restore someone who has been disciplined – likely the same individual.

Paul grounds his argument in Passover imagery that would have resonated deeply with any Jewish believers in the congregation. “Clean out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (v. 7). In Jewish practice, all leaven was removed from the household before Passover, symbolizing the removal of corruption and the start of a new beginning. Paul brilliantly transposes this into an ecclesial key: the church is the household, the unaddressed sin is the leaven, and Christ’s sacrifice is the Passover that demands the community’s holiness. The verb “clean out” (ekkathairo) is in the imperative mood – this is a command, not a suggestion.

The chapter concludes with an important clarification about the scope of Christian moral judgment. Paul had apparently written an earlier letter (now lost, sometimes called the “previous letter”) warning the Corinthians “not to associate with sexually immoral people” (v. 9). They had misunderstood this as a command to withdraw from all contact with immoral people in general – which, in a city like Corinth, would have meant leaving the city entirely. Paul corrects this misunderstanding with a distinction that remains foundational for Christian ethics: “I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or reviler, a drunkard or swindler – not even to eat with such a one” (v. 11). The judgment he demands is directed at those within the community who claim the name of Christ while living in flagrant contradiction of it. “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (v. 12). This distinction between internal accountability and external witness remains one of Paul’s most important contributions to ecclesiology. The church is not called to police the morality of the surrounding culture but to maintain its own integrity as a community that embodies the holiness of God.

Paul closes with a direct quotation from Deuteronomy: “Purge the evil person from among you” (v. 13; cf. Deuteronomy 17:7, 19:19, 22:21, 24:7). This phrase appears repeatedly in Deuteronomy’s legal code, always in the context of protecting the covenant community from corruption. By citing it, Paul implicitly identifies the church as the new covenant community that inherits Israel’s responsibility to maintain holiness – not through ethnic boundaries or temple ritual, but through communal discipline exercised in love with the aim of redemption.

Key Themes

• The necessity of church discipline – Ignoring blatant sin is not grace but arrogance; the community has a responsibility to address behavior that contradicts the gospel it professes.
• Passover and the church’s holiness – Christ’s sacrifice as the Passover lamb demands that the church “clean out the old leaven” of unrepentant sin, living as the “unleavened” new creation it truly is.
• Judgment within, not without – Paul draws a critical boundary: the church is responsible for holding its own members accountable, not for judging those outside the community of faith.

Connections

• Old Testament Roots: Leviticus 18:8 and Deuteronomy 22:30 explicitly prohibit the sexual relationship Paul addresses. The refrain “purge the evil person from among you” (Deuteronomy 17:7) grounds church discipline in the covenant tradition of Israel. The Passover imagery (Exodus 12) provides the theological framework for communal holiness.
• New Testament Echoes: Jesus’ teaching on church discipline in Matthew 18:15-20 provides the procedural framework Paul assumes. The redemptive aim of discipline is confirmed in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, where Paul urges forgiveness and restoration. Paul uses a similar “handing over to Satan” phrase regarding Hymenaeus and Alexander in 1 Timothy 1:20.
• Parallel Passages: Matthew 18:15-20 (church discipline procedure), 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 (restoration after discipline), Galatians 6:1 (restoring the one caught in sin), 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 (disassociation from the disorderly).

Reflection Questions

1. Paul says the Corinthians were “arrogant” about the sin in their midst rather than grieved by it. What does it look like when a community confuses tolerance with spiritual maturity?
2. The purpose of discipline is explicitly redemptive: “so that his spirit may be saved.” How does this change the way you think about accountability within a community of faith?
3. Paul distinguishes between judging those inside the church and those outside it. How might this distinction reshape the way you engage with moral issues in your surrounding culture?

Prayer

Father, you call your people to be holy as you are holy, yet you discipline us not to destroy but to redeem. Give us the courage to speak truth within our communities of faith, the humility to receive correction ourselves, and the wisdom to know the difference between self-righteous judgment and loving accountability. Protect us from the arrogance that tolerates what should grieve us and from the harshness that wounds when it should heal. Make us a people who reflect your holiness and your mercy in equal measure. Through Christ our Passover, who was sacrificed for us. Amen.