1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
Commentary
Vs. 1 "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!"
The Apostle Paul now moves into the area of sexual immorality within the church community at Corinth. And such sexual immorality as he says "as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!" Clearly this was a shocking revelation to the Apostle Paul. That a Christian man would take his father's wife! Now most commentaries understand this incestuous act or relationship which the law condemns (see Lev 18:6-8; Deut. 22:30; 27:20), as either the man taking his stepmother in sexual relations (Believers Bible Commentary; Bible Knowledge Commentary; Wiersbe etc.), or his taking her as his own wife (KJ Bible Commentary). Now what is interesting to note in all of this is since their is no rebuke of the woman, she must not have been a believer. For the church has no jurisdiction over those outside of the Christian community. That said, it most certainly has jurisdiction over of us all who believe (Matt 18:15-20). And so here in chapter five the Apostle Paul wants to not only address the offender, (and what should've been done with him), but also the Corinthians themselves, for not addressing this most heinous sin amongst themselves with the sort of seriousness and diligence that such an immoral act must be judged with (consider 1 Tim 5:20).
Vs. 2 "And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you."
And so rather than mourning the sinners offense (since it seems that the man himself was unmoved to repent of his own sin) the Corinthians themselves became puffed up by it! No doubt being influenced by the man and or their own cultures degenerate values that permitted or overlooked such licentious behavior. And that is what always happens when sin is tolerated, people not only become complacent towards it, but as was the case in Corinth may even become puffed up by it! Thus the Scripture warns us all not to be complacent about sin, or unrepentant sinners amongst us since, "one sinner destroys much good". Ecc. 9:18 Therefore the Corinthians should not have taken that mans evil lifestyle so lightly, rather they should have have mourned his offense, so that he might have been taken away from among them. Taking away by the church leadership which sadly along with the congregation had only become complacent towards it all, or failing their inaction, by God Himself who always comes to the aid and defense of His people when they uphold His ways (consider 1 Thess 4:3-7, vs. 6).
Vs. 3-5 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
The Apostle Paul now makes clear his decision about that man and what must be done. For though the Apostle Paul was absent in body, yet he was there in spirit amongst the Corinthians, and his decision as an Apostle of Christ was that such a man must be removed from the congregation and turned over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (vs. 5). Here then the goal is not the mans eternal destruction, rather the goal is to bring about his repentance, so that he may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. For truly some sins are not repented of until the consequences of them are personally and intimately felt. And clearly both the man, and even the Corinthians themselves had to see his sin for what it really is, and what harm it could do to both him, and them, if they continued on in it, and they continued on in their being puffed up over it (consider Rev 2:20-23).
Vs. 6 "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
The Apostle Paul now uses the imagery of unleavened bread and the Passover (vs. 7-8) to make it abundantly clear to the Corinthians that sin tolerated will only lead to the moral decline of the entire congregation. That is what Paul is saying when he asks them, "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump". For just as a little leaven will permeate the whole loaf so will a little sin tolerated.
Vs. 7 "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
Before the Jews kept the Passover all leaven had to be removed from their homes and dwelling places (see Exodus 12:15-20). And thus throughout the Bible leaven often serves as a metaphor for sin and evil. Therefore the Apostle Paul drawing upon that familiar metaphor now commands the Corinthians to purge out the "old leaven", which here is not only the offender, but also their own carnal and complacent attitudes about his sin, which are not in accord with their new nature in Christ (consider Rom 12:2). For as Paul says of our mutual sanctified status because of Christ, "... you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us." Thus Christ having been crucified as our Passover Lamb (John 1:29) so that by His death and shed blood for us God can "passover" us in His wrath and judgment when we reptant and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus having resotred us to Himself we are now to live out our new "unleavened status" as God's people, purged of our old sins and sanctified by God's indwelling Presence by His Holy Spirit within us all.
Vs. 8 "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Here the Apostle Paul's saying that we are to "keep the feast..." seems not a literal feast. Rather it is a metaphor for our new and now sanctified lives In Christ. Therefore we are to live our new lives In Christ not with the old leaven of sin and unrighteousness, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but rather let us feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Vs. 9-11 9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
In a previous epistle to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul had written that they not to keep company with sexually immoral people. And so in clarification of his previous exhortation that we are not to keep company with sexually immoral people, the Apostle Paul says means sexually immoral people within the church, not sexually immoral people in the world (vs. 10). For truly to have no contact with sinful men and women in this world one would need to go out of this world! Not something our Lord did, nor would He have us do (consider Matt 9:9-13). Instead we are to live sanctified lives while dwelling in the midst of this ungodly world (Matt 5:14-16). Which starts with living sanctified lives amongst ourselves so that truth of the Gospel will be self-evident to one and to all. That done, we can then engage people with the truth of the Gospel about how Christ truly changes lives. Now if a brother or sister in the Lord knows these things, yet continues to live on in their sins and transgressions (unwilling to repent and get right with God and the church) then we are to shun having all contact with them. Because to have fellowship with a professing Christian while such an individual is unmoved out of their sexually immoral lifestyle is only to allow them to make a mockery of the Gospel. Thus if the individual is repentant, restore such an individual in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves lest you also be tempted (see Gal. 1-2). But if, like it was here in Corinth, where such an individual is boasting about their sin, and thus dragging others down with them in their moral debauchery, then put them out, and have no more fellowship with them.
Vs. 12-13 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
And so here the Apostle Paul makes it clear that we are not to judge those who are sinning in the world, rather we are to judge those who are sinning in the church. For the judgment of this world, and those of it, belong to God. But those who are sinning in the church, the church is to judge. That is Christ's commandment through the Apostle Paul for us. Therefore in putting such an individual outside of Christian fellowship, they are turned over to the judgment of God.
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Additional Resources Consulted
MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Edited by Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995.
Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992.
Hindson, Edward E., and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds. KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994.
Vs. 1 "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!"
The Apostle Paul now moves into the area of sexual immorality within the church community at Corinth. And such sexual immorality as he says "as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!" Clearly this was a shocking revelation to the Apostle Paul. That a Christian man would take his father's wife! Now most commentaries understand this incestuous act or relationship which the law condemns (see Lev 18:6-8; Deut. 22:30; 27:20), as either the man taking his stepmother in sexual relations (Believers Bible Commentary; Bible Knowledge Commentary; Wiersbe etc.), or his taking her as his own wife (KJ Bible Commentary). Now what is interesting to note in all of this is since their is no rebuke of the woman, she must not have been a believer. For the church has no jurisdiction over those outside of the Christian community. That said, it most certainly has jurisdiction over of us all who believe (Matt 18:15-20). And so here in chapter five the Apostle Paul wants to not only address the offender, (and what should've been done with him), but also the Corinthians themselves, for not addressing this most heinous sin amongst themselves with the sort of seriousness and diligence that such an immoral act must be judged with (consider 1 Tim 5:20).
Vs. 2 "And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you."
And so rather than mourning the sinners offense (since it seems that the man himself was unmoved to repent of his own sin) the Corinthians themselves became puffed up by it! No doubt being influenced by the man and or their own cultures degenerate values that permitted or overlooked such licentious behavior. And that is what always happens when sin is tolerated, people not only become complacent towards it, but as was the case in Corinth may even become puffed up by it! Thus the Scripture warns us all not to be complacent about sin, or unrepentant sinners amongst us since, "one sinner destroys much good". Ecc. 9:18 Therefore the Corinthians should not have taken that mans evil lifestyle so lightly, rather they should have have mourned his offense, so that he might have been taken away from among them. Taking away by the church leadership which sadly along with the congregation had only become complacent towards it all, or failing their inaction, by God Himself who always comes to the aid and defense of His people when they uphold His ways (consider 1 Thess 4:3-7, vs. 6).
Vs. 3-5 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
The Apostle Paul now makes clear his decision about that man and what must be done. For though the Apostle Paul was absent in body, yet he was there in spirit amongst the Corinthians, and his decision as an Apostle of Christ was that such a man must be removed from the congregation and turned over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (vs. 5). Here then the goal is not the mans eternal destruction, rather the goal is to bring about his repentance, so that he may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. For truly some sins are not repented of until the consequences of them are personally and intimately felt. And clearly both the man, and even the Corinthians themselves had to see his sin for what it really is, and what harm it could do to both him, and them, if they continued on in it, and they continued on in their being puffed up over it (consider Rev 2:20-23).
Vs. 6 "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
The Apostle Paul now uses the imagery of unleavened bread and the Passover (vs. 7-8) to make it abundantly clear to the Corinthians that sin tolerated will only lead to the moral decline of the entire congregation. That is what Paul is saying when he asks them, "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump". For just as a little leaven will permeate the whole loaf so will a little sin tolerated.
Vs. 7 "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
Before the Jews kept the Passover all leaven had to be removed from their homes and dwelling places (see Exodus 12:15-20). And thus throughout the Bible leaven often serves as a metaphor for sin and evil. Therefore the Apostle Paul drawing upon that familiar metaphor now commands the Corinthians to purge out the "old leaven", which here is not only the offender, but also their own carnal and complacent attitudes about his sin, which are not in accord with their new nature in Christ (consider Rom 12:2). For as Paul says of our mutual sanctified status because of Christ, "... you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us." Thus Christ having been crucified as our Passover Lamb (John 1:29) so that by His death and shed blood for us God can "passover" us in His wrath and judgment when we reptant and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus having resotred us to Himself we are now to live out our new "unleavened status" as God's people, purged of our old sins and sanctified by God's indwelling Presence by His Holy Spirit within us all.
Vs. 8 "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Here the Apostle Paul's saying that we are to "keep the feast..." seems not a literal feast. Rather it is a metaphor for our new and now sanctified lives In Christ. Therefore we are to live our new lives In Christ not with the old leaven of sin and unrighteousness, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but rather let us feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Vs. 9-11 9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
In a previous epistle to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul had written that they not to keep company with sexually immoral people. And so in clarification of his previous exhortation that we are not to keep company with sexually immoral people, the Apostle Paul says means sexually immoral people within the church, not sexually immoral people in the world (vs. 10). For truly to have no contact with sinful men and women in this world one would need to go out of this world! Not something our Lord did, nor would He have us do (consider Matt 9:9-13). Instead we are to live sanctified lives while dwelling in the midst of this ungodly world (Matt 5:14-16). Which starts with living sanctified lives amongst ourselves so that truth of the Gospel will be self-evident to one and to all. That done, we can then engage people with the truth of the Gospel about how Christ truly changes lives. Now if a brother or sister in the Lord knows these things, yet continues to live on in their sins and transgressions (unwilling to repent and get right with God and the church) then we are to shun having all contact with them. Because to have fellowship with a professing Christian while such an individual is unmoved out of their sexually immoral lifestyle is only to allow them to make a mockery of the Gospel. Thus if the individual is repentant, restore such an individual in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves lest you also be tempted (see Gal. 1-2). But if, like it was here in Corinth, where such an individual is boasting about their sin, and thus dragging others down with them in their moral debauchery, then put them out, and have no more fellowship with them.
Vs. 12-13 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
And so here the Apostle Paul makes it clear that we are not to judge those who are sinning in the world, rather we are to judge those who are sinning in the church. For the judgment of this world, and those of it, belong to God. But those who are sinning in the church, the church is to judge. That is Christ's commandment through the Apostle Paul for us. Therefore in putting such an individual outside of Christian fellowship, they are turned over to the judgment of God.
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Additional Resources Consulted
MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Edited by Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995.
Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992.
Hindson, Edward E., and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds. KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994.
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