5:6Paul 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.
Life Application Study Bible1 CorinthiansChapter 5
1 Corinthians 5
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1934, 1935
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51 Corinthians 5
2. Disorder in the church
Paul Condemns Spiritual Pride
1Ican hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.* 2You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship. 3Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit.* And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4in the name of the LORD Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church.* I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our LORD Jesus. 5Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed* and he himself* will be saved on the day the LORD* returns. 6Your boasting about this is terrible. Don't you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.* 8So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread* of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread* of sincerity and truth. 9When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer* yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12]t isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”*
Textual footnotes
- church.
- the spirit. 5:5c¢ Other manuscripts read the LORD Jesus; still others read our LORD Jesus Christ.
- been sacrificed.
- 5:1 Greek his father's wife.
- 5:3 Or in spirit.
- 5:4 Or In the name of the LORD Jesus, you must call a meeting of the
- 5:5a Or so that his body will be destroyed; Greek reads for the destruction of the flesh.
- 5:5b Greek and
- 5:7 Greek has
- 5:8a Greek not with old leaven.
- 5:8b Greek but with unleavened [bread].
- 5:11 Greek a brother.
- 5:13 Deut 17:7.
Life Application Notes 4 notes
5:7,8As 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 12:15; 13:7). 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 (“old bread”).
5:9Paul is referring to an earlier letter to the Corinthian church. often called the lost letter because it has not been preserved.
5:10,11Paul 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 28:18-20). But we are to distance ourselves from the person and the angels, we should be able to deal with disputes among ourselves. See John 5:22 and Revelation 3:21 for more on judging the world. Judging angels is mentioned in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6.
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Study feature · page 1935
1935 ee 5:12 “Mark 4:11 ta -tDeut 17:7; 19:19; igt2t, 24; 24:7 (6:1 ‘Matt 18:17 6:2 ‘Dan 7:22 *Luke 22:30 ‘Rev 3:21 6:3 2 Pet 2:4 I dude 1:6 6:5 4 Cor 4:14 6:7 Matt 5:39 1 Thes 5:15 4 Pet 3:9 6:8 1 Thes 4:6
“CHURCH DISCIPLINE The church, vat times, must “exercise discipline itoward members «who have sinned. But church discipline must be handied carefully, straightforwardly, “and lovingly.
Situations Unintentional error and/or private sin Public sin and/or those done flagrantly and arrogantly
Steps (Matthew 18:15-17) 1. Go to the brother or sister; show the fault to him or her in private. 2. If he/she does not listen, go with one or two witnesses. 3. If he/she refuses to listen, take the matter before the church,
After these steps have been carried out, the next steps are 1. Remove the one in error from the fellowship (1 Corinthians 5:2-13).
. The church gives united disapproval, but forgiveness and comfort are in order if he/she chooses to repent (2 Corinthians 2:5-8). . Do not associate with the disobedient person; and if you must, speak to him/her as one who needs a warning (2 Thessalonians 3:14, 15). . After two warnings, reject the person from the fellowship (Titus 3:10).
who claims to be a Christian, yet indulges in sins explicitly forbidden in Scripture by rationalizing his or her actions. By :fationalizing sin, a person harms others for whom Christ died 2and dims the image of God in himself or herself. A church that Anciudes 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. &: 12 The Bible consistently tells us not to criticize people by (gossiping or making rash judgments. At the same time, however, “Wwe 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 SQpen 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 .Gisciplne such a person in love. Also see the notes on 4:5 and “Off. 8:1-6 \|n chapter 5, Paul explained what to do with open immo- Yality in the congregation. In chapter 6, he teaches how the Congregation should handle smaller problems between believers. Society has set up a legal system in which disagreements can be resolved in courts. But Paul declares that Christians should /Not have to go to a secular court to resolve their differences. )As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit and the mind of Christ, ‘$0 why should we turn to those who lack God’s wisdom? Because of all that we have been given as believers, and because “Of the authority that we will have in the future to judge the world
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