1 Corinthians · chapter 5 of 16
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1 Corinthians 5 deals with a case of sexual immorality the Corinthian church was tolerating: a man was living with his father's wife. Paul orders them to remove him from the fellowship, warns that a little leaven leavens the whole lump, presents Christ as our Passover and clarifies that judgment applies to those inside, not outside.
After dealing with divisions, Paul takes up a different and grave matter that had been reported to him: sexual sin within the church. What troubles him most is not only one man's sin, but the congregation's proud attitude in tolerating it. The chapter shows that the holiness of the church is a responsibility shared by all.
Paul begins by saying it is reported that there is immorality among them of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: a man has his father's wife. Instead of mourning, the church has become arrogant. Paul, though absent in body, present in spirit, has already judged the case and asks that, gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus and with his power, they hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
He then warns that their boasting is not good. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, so they must clean out the old leaven to be a new lump, as they really are unleavened. Paul reminds them that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed, and so they must keep the feast not with the old leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Finally he clarifies an earlier letter: he did not tell them to avoid the immoral people of this world, for then they would have to leave the world. He meant that they must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother and is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard or a swindler; with such a person they should not even eat. Judging outsiders is not their business, for God judges them. What they must judge are those inside, and Paul closes with the command to purge the evil person from among them.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Paul rebukes the church for being puffed up when it should have been mourning, and for not removing the offender. The problem is not only one person's sin but everyone's indifference.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Paul uses an everyday image to warn that tolerating serious sin without correcting it affects the whole community.
Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed, so the Christian life is a feast kept with sincerity and truth, not with malice and evil. The cross is the reason for holiness.
The church is not to judge outsiders, whom God judges, but those inside. Discipline is a matter for the family of faith, and its aim is to keep the community clean.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A man was living with his father's wife. — 1 Corinthians 5:1
Answer: They were arrogant and had not mourned so as to remove the offender. — 1 Corinthians 5:2
Answer: A little leaven that leavens the whole lump. — 1 Corinthians 5:6
Answer: Our Passover lamb, who has been sacrificed. — 1 Corinthians 5:7
Answer: Anyone who calls himself a brother and is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard or a swindler. — 1 Corinthians 5:11
Answer: Those outside. — 1 Corinthians 5:13
1 Corinthians 5 is a hard but necessary text. It reminds us that the church is not a club where everything is tolerated but a community called to holiness. When a believer lives in serious, unrepentant sin, loving them truly includes approaching them with humility and truth, not ignoring the matter.
At the same time, the chapter corrects a harsh attitude toward the world. Paul does not ask us to isolate ourselves from unbelievers or to judge them. Discipline is for those who call themselves brothers and sisters, and its goal is restoration. A small group can learn to speak with honesty and tenderness, without gossip and without complicit silence.
1 Corinthians 5 makes clear that the church's holiness matters and that it is the church's job to guard it from within. In chapter 6 Paul continues with matters of life together: lawsuits between believers before secular courts and the use of the body as the Spirit's temple.
The expression refers to putting him out of the church's fellowship and leaving him in the realm where Satan operates. Paul hopes that this hard experience will lead to repentance, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. It is a corrective measure, not revenge.
No. Paul clarifies that he does not mean the unbelievers of this world, among whom Christians live, but someone who calls himself a brother and lives in openly sinful ways without repenting. Judging outsiders belongs to God.
At Israel's Passover all leaven was removed from the houses and a lamb was sacrificed. Paul applies that image: Christ is the sacrificed lamb, and the redeemed community must live without the old leaven of malice and evil.