1 Corinthians 5:1-13 - No Sanctuary for Sexual Immorality

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Immorality Defiles the Church

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Immorality Must Be Judged

9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

There is no sanctuary for sexual immorality in God’s house and in His people for God is holy and calls us out of the world into His righteousness as set apart from sin to follow and honor Him.  In Corinth we find the same immoral actions of disobedience in the church as we are shocked to find to this day among we who are called to be like the Lord and not like the first Adam pursuing the passing pleasures of sin in our flesh.  Our pursuit of feeling good should be inwardly and outwardly in the presence and pleasing of the one who bought us out of sin’s punishment into the grace of willful obedience in conforming to Christ.  In Corinth we see a man having sexual relations with his stepmother, an abominable act even in today’s lust-driven society.  The worst sin was the response of the church in not dealing with the unspeakable act but rather arrogantly responded by allowing the offender to continue in fellowship as they likely considered themselves proudly tolerant of such sin without holding the man to account for it.  Paul directed the leaders of that church to excommunicate the offender instead so that the sin did not spread to others who may be emboldened to repeat the same error by the bad example of tolerance.  This is the main reason church discipline is necessary for the health of the entire body of the local and universal church.  By barring such offenders from fellowship they are faced with the devil (1 Timothy 1:20) who influences the whole world under his sway until that unrepentant sinner eventually turns back in godly remorse (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) and is restored to fellowship in a right stand with God and man as the fleshy desires are put to death (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5).  This also allows those who are among us in the local church who may not know the Lord to come to full repentance and faith as they turn from sin to Him and follow in willing obedience tot the truth.  Since Christ is our Passover who suffered bitterly and ascribed Himself as the Lamb of God to cover the sin on our doorsteps that we may be saved from destruction in judgment, so we also eat the bread of unleavened purity by not allowing sin to permeate the body as we remind ourselves each time we celebrate and consider while sharing in the Lord’s Supper in communion with Him.  Sincerity and truth are to be in our unleavened bread of these bodies as He is holy and we imitate Him.  We are further warned of undue close association with such immoral people, not as close friends in the world who do not know Christ and would attempt to corrupt us by this association, but with those within the body who claim Christ but are unrepentant and continuing in sins such as sexual immorality, covetous greed, idolatrous worship of other things than God, reviling in hateful response to others (as in political zeal we see today), drunken behavior, and extortioners who use lies and deception for personal gain.  We are not here to judge those outside of Christ and His church (His word does that - John 12:48), but are to judge those within the church by church discipline (Matthew 18:15-17) when repentance is rejected until it comes and restoration is accomplished.  There is not to be sanctuary offered for sexual or other continuing unrepentant sin, but correction and discipline offered with tough love to restore the sinner into right fellowship with God and man.  May we not be like those in Corinth who looked the other way and needed to be reminded to not accept immorality in our midst, but have the courage to love others enough in the church to deal with such sin.  May we not become judgmental of the lost around us and point out their sins with accusations and condemnation, but judge those within our walls instead as good householders of His church.