1 Corinthians 5

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.

You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.

For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together with my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

you are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?

Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.

Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;

yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.

But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.

For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within?

But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter addresses the church’s failure to discipline a member living in unrepentant sexual immorality—specifically, incest—exposing a dangerous tolerance of sin within the Corinthian congregation. Paul rebukes their pride and indifference, calling for solemn discipline not as punishment but as a means of restoration and corporate holiness, grounded in the purity Christ secured for His people.

Flow.

Paul begins with shock and sorrow over a case of incest so severe it is unheard of even among non-Christians (v. 1).
He confronts the church’s arrogance and lack of mourning, asserting his spiritual authority to pronounce judgment in absentia (vv. 2–3).
He instructs them to excommunicate the offender “in the name of our Lord Jesus,” delivering him to Satan “for the destruction of the flesh” that his spirit might be saved (vv. 4–5).
Using the Passover imagery of unleavened bread, Paul explains that the church, as Christ’s purified people, must remove the “leaven” of sin to live in sincerity and truth (vv. 6–8).
He clarifies his earlier instruction about separation from sinners, emphasizing that believers must avoid close fellowship with those who profess faith but live in unrepentant sin, even refusing to share meals with them (vv. 9–13).

Connections.
Following chapter 4, where Paul challenges the Corinthians’ pride and premature self-assurance, this chapter intensifies the call to humility and holiness by confronting their moral complacency. The theme of church purity in chapter 5 sets the stage for chapter 6, which addresses how disputes among believers should be resolved within the church rather than before unbelievers, further developing the expectation of internal discipline and sanctified conduct among saints.

What it teaches.
The church is to maintain purity by exercising discipline over unrepentant members, not to destroy but to restore and protect the body (WCF 30.1). Excommunication is an act of love, intended to bring conviction and repentance, so that the individual may be reconciled to Christ and His people (2 Cor. 2:6–8). The imagery of unleavened bread points to Christ’s sacrifice as the basis of the church’s holiness (1 Cor. 5:7), echoing the Passover redemption that sets believers apart (Ex. 12; HC LD 15). Since Christ is the true Lamb whose blood covers His people, the church must live in the reality of that cleansing, removing the leaven of persistent sin (WCF 13.3; Belgic Confession Art. 29).

Apply.
When a professing believer persists in unrepentant sin, loving fellowship calls for temporary exclusion to awaken conscience and preserve the church’s witness.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.