1
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
2
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3
For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5
To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
10
Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
11
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13
But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
1 Corinthians 5 Study & Commentary
Overview & Chapter Summary
1 Corinthians 5 addresses a specific case of gross immorality within the church. Paul commands the church to exercise discipline by removing the unrepentant member, comparing sin to "leaven" that can infect the entire lump.
Theological Context & Insights
CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS
1. The Necessity of Church Discipline: Ignoring sin in the community is not "grace" but a danger to the whole body (v. 6). Discipline is meant for the restoration of the soul and the purity of the church.
2. Purging the Leaven: We are called to keep the feast with the "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (v. 8). This requires a commitment to personal and communal integrity.
3. Separation from Compromise: While we live in the world, we must not associate with those who claim to be brothers but live in blatant disobedience (v. 11), to preserve the testimony of Christ.
Practical Lessons & Daily Application
FORMAL PRAYER
O Holy God, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity: grant us the courage to maintain the purity of Thy Church. Help us to walk in sincerity and truth, putting away the leaven of malice and wickedness from among us. Amen.
