1 Corinthian (Class Version)

Chapter 5

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife.

2 And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?

3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.

4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,

5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

How did the sin of this one man become a problem for the whole church?

The Believers there in Corinth were not handling the situation properly. They were even proud of themselves for being so accepting of this guy – maybe thinking, "aren't we loving. We accept this guy just as he is. "But really they were hurting him by not helping him out of his sin

Is there any indication of whether this was a onetime act or an ongoing sin?

"a man has his father's wife" is spoken in the present continuous – the sin was ongoing – he wouldn't repent and nobody was doing anything about it. Paul exercises his authority as if he were there with them.

What does he tell them to do?

"Hand him over to Satan"

What does this mean???

Satan is the god of this world, so Paul is saying to let the man continue his sin in the world and not allow him to be a part of the fellowship. This man's sin was of course affecting himself, but it was also causing the other believers to stumble because they were getting the idea that this sort of thing is okay. Paul's solution is harsh, but it was needed for the survival of that fellowship and for the benefit of the sinning man

How could this possibly be beneficial for the man who was sinning? What would this accomplish for him?

First of all, we should correct the NIV's use of the phrase "sinful nature". According to Romans ch.6 and Galatians ch.2, the sinful nature (also called the 'old man') was crucified when we first believed and were born again. The sinful nature was put to death and the spiritual nature was born. But, as spiritual beings we live in fallen bodies, which the Bible calls "the flesh" – the flesh, Satan, and the world around us is what tempts us to sin and though we do sin, it is no longer our "nature" to do so. Thus, Paul is instructing to put this man out so that he will learn to crucify the sinful desires of the flesh

Note: this man is born again, thus, as he continues to fulfill the desires of his flesh he is going to reap destruction in his life (Gal.5) – and since the man is unrepentant, Paul figures that this is the only thing that might bring him to repentance. As if to say that he is going to continue to hurt himself so badly that he will eventually be broken and turn from his sin

Note: in 2 Corinthians Paul talks about this guy again and exhorts the Church to receive him back into the fellowship because he had repented

Would this same solution be as affective today? Why or why not?

Maybe, but it would be easy for the man to just transfer to another church where the people don't know his situation. At that time this was not possible because there was only one Body of Believers in Corinth

6 Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?

7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

What illustration did Paul used?

He's talking about yeast, Passover, and a Festival. Jesus is the Passover Lamb, He was sacrificed for us so that we could escape the judgment of God

What comes after Passover?

The Feast (Festival) of Unleavened Bread (no yeast) – the absence of yeast represents the absence of sin

How does Paul apply this illustration to the Corinthians?

In v.7 he says, "get rid of the old yeast (old sinful ways) because you are a new batch of bread that has no yeast (a new creation that has all sins removed)". V.8 he says that Christ is their Passover lamb because they all believe in Him – then he tells them to put their faith in action by "keeping the Festival"

How can they keep the festival?

By staying away from all wickedness and by practicing truth and sincerity. In other words, he is saying, "our sin has been removed by Jesus, so let us live that way"

9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--

10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.

11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?

13 God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

Paul makes it clear that they need to "expel" this man until he is willing to repent – but what about those who are not Christians? Should they avoid them as well?

No – of course the world is going to sin, they don't believe the same thing – thus, they probably don't think they are doing wrong and, we are supposed to be light in the darkness – we should not avoid sinners – think of Jesus

Notice: who should they judge?

Those inside the church not those outside of the church because God will judge them. Meaning, God is not going to judge anyone inside the Church (the Body of Christ), and this sinning man is considered inside the Church.

I thought that we were not supposed to judge others?

Christians should not judge the motives of others (remember ch.4 – Paul said that is God's job) Also, we should never judge a person or a situation based on appearance. But there is a time when Christians should judge the immoral behavior of other Christians. Never to condemn, but always to correct.