It is commonly agreed that the most prevalent sin in local churches today is sexual immorality. Sexual sin is expressed in three forms:
- Pre-marital sex (fornication)
- Extra-marital sex (adultery)
- Perverted sex – homosexuality, lesbianism, oral sex, same sex marriage, incest.
The latter was going on at Corinth and Paul calls on the church to deal with the problem. Please note five things Paul commands in our text today, 1 Cor. 5:1-8:
- Paul confronts the church with the great scandal. Actually there were two scandals involved:
- the sin itself was abominable, a sin not allowed even by the pagan Gentiles – incest. A church member was living with his step mother.
- another scandal as great as the sin itself was the fact that the church did not condone the sin but was proud of it. Illus.: Reminds me of Myers Park Baptist, Charlotte, which boasts that it admits sexual perverts into its church and leadership. And of the Episcopal church who made Gene Robinson a bishop, who lives with his male companion and says Jesus was a homo-sexual. You say, but there are no other churches which would embrace immorality in its ranks. Are you sure? How about millions of churches who tolerate all kinds of sexual immorality go on and take no action whatsoever and even permit such persons to be deacons, teachers, etc.
- Paul confesses that, though absent, he had already judged the individual (v. 3). Paul did so to show how his attitude contrasted with the indifference of the church, evidently hoping his action would encourage the church to act.
- Paul commanded that the whole church, not just the pastor or deacons, gather together and expel the offender (v. 4-5). This was to be done by the authority of Jesus Christ – in His name – not simply on the authority of the church. “What does it mean to deliver a Christian “unto Satan”? It does not mean to deprive him of salvation, since it is not the church that grants salvation to begin with. When a Christian is in fellowship with the Lord and with the local church, he enjoys a special protection from Satan. But when he is out of fellowship with God and excommunicated from the local church, he is “fair game” for the enemy. God could permit Satan to attack the offender’s body so that the sinning believer would repent and return to the Lord.”[1]
- Paul then cautions the church against a “little leaven” in its membership (v. 6) “Leaven is picture of sin. It is small but powerful; it works secretly; it “puffs up” the dough; it spreads. The sinning church member in Corinth was like a piece of yeast: he was defiling the entire loaf of bread (the congregation). It was like a cancer in the body that needed to be removed by drastic surgery.
The church must purge itself of “old leaven”- the things that belong to the “old life” before we trusted Christ. We must also get rid of malice and wickedness (there was a great deal of hard feelings between members of the Corinthian church) and replace them with sincerity and truth. As a loaf of bread (1 Cor. 10;17), the local church must be as pure as possible.”[2]
- Finally, the apostle calls on the church to repent and be cleansed of the “old leaven” of sin in order to celebrate Christ “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (v. 7-8).
“If a professed Christian is guilty of the sins named here, he church must deal with him. Individual members are not to “company” with him (1 Cor. 5:9 – “get mixed up with, associate intimately”). They are not to eat with him, which could refer to private hospitality or more likely the public observance of the Lord’s supper (see 1 Cor. 11:23-34).
Church discipline is not easy or popular, but it is important. If it is done properly, God can use it to convict and restore an erring believer. Second Cor. 2:1-11 indicates that this man did repent and was restored to fellowship.”[3]
[1] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1989, p. 587.
[2] Ibid. p. 587
[3] Ibid. p. 587.