When word of problems in Corinth reaches Paul, he does
not allow his absence to keep him from doing the right
thing. He is with these saints in spirit, and so while the
Corinthians have not yet done anything to correct the
situation, Paul informs them that he has taken action. He
has already acted as though he were present. He has done
what he would do if he were present, and what those who are
present should do. In following Paul’s example, they will
carry out the kind of discipline that the Scriptures
require.
Matthew 18:5-20 spells out the full process of church
discipline, from the private rebuke of a single saint, to
the collective expulsion from the congregation by the whole
church. The reason Paul deals only with the last step of
this process in 1 Corinthians 5 is that the willful
rebellion of the sinner is evident, and his sin has already
become public knowledge. Discipline must be as public as the
sin. The final step of discipline spelled out in Matthew
18:5-20 involves the entire church, when they have
assembled. This is a difficult assignment, because of the
divisions in the Corinthian church.
In our day of great mobility and many churches to attend,
someone who is under discipline usually finds it easy to
attend elsewhere. Paul implies that word of discipline needs
to be communicated to other churches, and that other
churches have an obligation to honor that act of discipline
if the wayward party attempts to move his membership to that
church. It also suggests the interviewing of newcomers to
any church to be certain that they are not under discipline
elsewhere.
In verse 4, Paul describes the act of church discipline.
Church discipline is to be done in the name and power of our
Lord Jesus. In carrying out discipline, the church acts on
behalf of the Lord in carrying out discipline. This is why
the Lord promises His presence in discipline. This is why
Paul speaks of acting “in the name of the Lord” and in “the
power of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:4). We act on
God’s behalf, and thus when we act, God acts as well
(Matthew 18:18-19). Church discipline expels the wayward and
unrepentant member from the church, from participating in
the Lord’s Table, and from fellowship with individuals or
small groups of believers. In so doing, the sinning member
not only loses the positive benefits of being a part of the
church body, he becomes vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. In
Paul’s words, the one who is disciplined is “delivered to
Satan.” The apostle Peter tells us Satan is a destroyer, a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Expelling a wayward member is something any church should
not take lightly. When we deliver one over to Satan, we are
simply giving the unrepentant Christian what he has chosen.
To remain in sin is to be in the bondage of Satan (2 Timothy
2:24-26).
In verses 12 and 13, Paul makes it very clear that church
discipline is for those who are inside the church, and not
for those who are outside. The Lord makes the same point in
Matthew 18:15, where He begins, “If your brother sins.” The
outcome of church discipline is that a believer who
willfully remains in sin is treated as a Gentile and a
tax-gatherer (18:17). He is not be regarded as an enemy
because church discipline is to be exercised for the highest
good of the sinning church member. Consequently, Paul makes
it very clear that “turning one over to Satan” in church
discipline is not a final act of condemnation, but an action
taken with a view to the wayward church member’s repentance
from sin in this life.
In verse 2, Paul indicates that the response of the
Corinthians to this great sin is just the opposite of what
it should be. They should mourn and then remove this one
from their midst. Instead, they are puffed up with pride and
do nothing about this evil. Paul wants it understood that
the arrogance of the Corinthians is not good, because it is
destructive. We surely know it is harmful to the man living
in sin. Now Paul seeks to show us how destructive failing to
deal with sin is to the church. He does so by an Old
Testament ritual fulfilled in Christ. Paul turns his readers
to imagery of leaven, and the way a little bit of leaven can
change the whole lump of dough. The sinner whom the
Corinthians fail to discipline Paul likened to a little
leaven placed in a lump of dough. If left there for long, it
changes the whole batch of dough. If the church allows this
sinner to remain in the fellowship of the Christians at
Corinth, he will contaminate the entire church. By removing
this man from their midst, the church at Corinth not only
seeks the sinner’s restoration, they also promote their own
purity.
Next, Paul reminds his readers of the feast of unleavened
bread, which was to begin immediately after the sacrificing
of the Passover lamb. After the celebration of the Passover
the Feast of Unleavened Bread commenced. The Israelites were
to go throughout their dwellings, seeking to find any leaven
and remove it. They were to eat unleavened bread. Leaven is
a symbol of sin, and the Passover lamb was a prophetic
foreshadowing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul calls Him
“Christ our Passover” (v 7) and reminds us that He has been
sacrificed. If Christ is our Passover and sacrificed, we are
not to harbor sin in our lives, but to seek to identify sin
and remove it. When we celebrate the Lord’s Table, we are
commemorating the fulfillment of Passover. This is no mere
ritual; it is a reminder of what should follow the sacrifice
of the Lamb, cleansing in the camp! The leaven in the
Corinthian church, the camp, is this sinner. He must be
removed.
In verse 8, Paul broadens the application, indicating other
forms of leaven that are evident in the church. The “old
leaven,” this sinner who needs to be removed, and the “new
leaven,” that of malice and wickedness, must be put away.
Malice and wickedness refers to that whole spectrum of sins
harbored and even nurtured in the church. They must go, and
in their place there should be the “unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth” (v 8). We are to put off the hypocrisy
and the false wisdom we have embraced and return to purity
of motivation and of doctrine.
Paul indicates in verse 9 that he has previously written to
the Corinthians on the subject of separation. In that first
letter, he instructs them not to associate with immoral
people. Paul’s previous instructions include unbelieving
sinners of all kinds, those who are immoral, those who are
covetous, those who swindle, and those who are idolaters.
The Corinthians either misunderstood or twisted Paul’s words
to mean something other than what Paul intends. They, like
the Jews of Jesus’ day, equate holiness with separation from
unbelievers. When he writes to the Corinthians, Paul is not
instructing them to avoid contact with unbelievers. There is
no way to avoid contact with unsaved sinners, other than by
means of death. The only way to avoid “the world” is not to
live in the world. Our duty in this world is not to avoid
sinners, but to live among them in such a way as to reveal
Christ to them. We must live in the world and rub shoulders
with it in order to be a witness to the lost. What we cannot
do is participate with the world in sin. We are to be in the
world but we are to be unlike the world, living out the life
of Christ as lights in a dark place.
We need to remember immorality is not the only basis for
church discipline; there is also covetousness, idolatry,
slanderous speech, drunkenness, and swindling. Fellowship
with someone who falls into this category is forbidden. This
does not simply mean that this person is excommunicated from
the meeting of the church; it also means that individual
believers must withdraw any manifestations of fellowship.
This includes the sharing of a meal, which in biblical times
was an intimate act of fellowship.
Church discipline is a form of judging, a form that is not
only permitted but also required. Outsiders are not a proper
sphere of judgment, but those who profess Christ are to be
examined as far as their conduct is concerned. God will
judge unbelievers at the proper time. Some unbelievers will
be saved by the grace of God and escape the wrath of God
through faith in Christ. Others will be judged of God, but
this is not our responsibility. The bottom line for the
Corinthians is that they must put this immoral man out of
their church.
This last expression, “Remove the wicked man from among
yourselves” is a quotation of Deuteronomy 17:2-7.
What Paul calls for in the New Testament church is not
different from what Moses communicated to the nation Israel.
After all, in the Old Testament, God dwelt in the midst of
His people, and thus the Israelites were required to remove
sin and sinners from their midst. In the New Testament, Paul
informs the Corinthians that God now indwells His temple,
the church. They too must remove sin from their midst,
because a holy God indwells them. In both cases, it is
recognized that removing the sinner may include death. This
is a most serious step, one that we will take only when we
take sin and God’s commandments seriously.
Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 5 are sobering. He has already
written, “If any man destroys the temple of God, God will
destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what
you are” (1 Corinthians 4:17). Now, the Corinthians are
reminded of their duty to play a part in this process by
removing the wayward and willful sinner from their midst.
