Read 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

   To cast this man into Satan’s hands means to exclude him from the fellowship of believers. Without the spiritual support of Christians, this man would be left alone with his sin and Satan, and perhaps this would drive him to repentance. “So that this sinful nature will be destroyed” states the hope that the experience would bring him to God and destroy his sinful nature through his turning from sin. Sinful nature could mean his body or flesh. This alternative translation would imply that Satan would afflict him physically and thus bring him to God. Putting someone out of the church should be a last resort in disciplinary action. It should not be done out of vengeance but out of love, just as parents punish children to correct and restore them. The church’s role should be to help, not hurt, offenders, motivating them to repent of their sins and to return to the fellowship of the church. 

   Paul was writing to those who wanted to ignore this church problem. They didn’t realize that allowing public sin to exist in the church affects all its members. Paul does not expect anyone to be sinless: all believers struggle with sin daily. Instead, he is speaking against those who deliberately sin, feel no guilt, and refuse to repent. This kind of sin cannot be tolerated in the church because it affects others. We have a responsibility to other believers. Blatant sins, left uncorrected, confuse and divide the congregation. While believers should encourage, pray for, and build up one another, they must also be intolerant of sin that jeopardizes the spiritual health of the church. 

 

   As the Hebrews prepared for their exodus from slavery in Egypt, they were commanded to prepare bread without yeast because they didn’t have time to wait for it to rise. And because yeast also was a symbol of sin, they were commanded to sweep all of it out of the house (Exodus 12 and 13). Christ is our Passover Lamb, the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Because He has delivered us from the slavery of sin, we should have nothing to do with the sins of the past. 

 

   Paul makes it clear that we should not disassociate ourselves from unbelievers: otherwise we could not carry out Christ’s command to tell them about salvation (Matthew 28). But we are to distance ourselves from the person who claims to be a Christian, yet indulges in sins explicitly forbidden in Scripture by rationalizing his/her actions. By rationalizing sin, a person harms others for whom Christ died and dims the image of God in himself or herself. A church that includes such a person is hardly fit to be the light of the world. To do so would distort the picture of Christ it presents to the world. Church leaders must be ready to correct, in love, for the sake of spiritual unity. 

 

   The Bible consistently tells us not to criticize people by gossiping or making rash judgments. At the same time, however, we are to judge and deal with sin that can hurt others. Paul’s instructions should not be used to handle trivial matters or to take revenge; nor should they be applied to individual problems between believers. These verses are instructions for dealing with open sin in the church by a person who claims to be a Christian and yet who sins without remorse. The church is to confront and discipline such a person in love.

 

   The church must discipline flagrant sin among its members. Such sins left unchecked can polarize and paralyze a church. The correction, however, should never be vengeful. Instead, it should be given to help bring about a cure. The Corinthian believers had refused to deal with a specific sin in the church: A man was having sexual relations with his mother or stepmother. The church was ignoring the situation, and Paul was saying that it had a responsibility to maintain the standards of morality found in God’s commandments. God tells us not to judge others. But He also tells us not to tolerate flagrant sin because allowing such sin to go undisciplined will have a dangerous effect on other believers.