Verses 1-2: A Scandal Within the Church and the Call to Godly Grief

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 one has his father’s wife. ² You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.

• The church must face sin truthfully rather than normalize it:

  The report of sexual immorality “among you” shows that serious sin can exist within the visible community of believers and must not be denied or minimized. The fact that it was scandalous even by wider societal standards underscores that the church’s calling is not to mirror the moral drift of its surrounding culture, but to live in a way that honors God.

• Pride is a spiritual danger that can numb the conscience:

  Paul rebukes arrogance because spiritual pride can make a congregation resistant to correction, more concerned with reputation or self-satisfaction than holiness. This warns believers that pride can coexist with—even enable—serious disobedience if humility and repentance are absent.

• Godly sorrow is a proper response to public, destructive sin:

  “Didn’t mourn instead” teaches that the church’s emotional posture matters: there should be grief over sin because it dishonors God, harms people, and threatens the spiritual health of the community. Such mourning is not mere outrage; it is a sober recognition that sin must be dealt with for the good of all.

• Removal from fellowship can be a necessary act of love and protection:

  The goal “that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you” indicates that in certain cases the church must decisively separate from ongoing, unrepentant wrongdoing within its membership. This is not vengeance but a serious spiritual boundary meant to uphold the integrity of the church and to confront the offender with the reality of his condition.

Verses 3-5: Apostolic Judgment and Restorative Discipline in the Name of Jesus

³ For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

• Church discipline is a real exercise of spiritual discernment, not personal retaliation:

  Paul’s “judged him who has done this thing” shows that the church is not forbidden from moral evaluation within the covenant community; rather, it is responsible to discern and act when serious sin is present. This judgment is not about condemning someone’s worth as a human being, but about rendering a faithful assessment of conduct that contradicts the life of Christ.

• Discipline is exercised by the gathered church under Christ’s authority:

  “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together… with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” teaches that the church’s action is neither private nor casual. It is corporate, ordered, and explicitly submitted to the authority of Jesus, implying reverence, due process, and the seriousness of acting as Christ’s people in his name.

• Severe discipline aims at ultimate rescue, not final ruin:

  “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” describes a sobering form of exclusion from the church’s protective fellowship, exposing the person to the harsh consequences of sin. Yet the purpose statement is explicit: “that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” This holds together both warning and hope—discipline can be an instrument God uses to awaken repentance and bring a sinner back, and it entrusts the final outcome to the Lord’s saving judgment.

• Salvation is oriented toward the future “day of the Lord Jesus” and calls for present seriousness:

  The reference to “the day of the Lord Jesus” places the church’s life in an eternal frame: present choices have future significance. The church’s discipline, then, is not merely about maintaining order now, but about living in light of Christ’s coming assessment and the believer’s ultimate destiny before him.

Verses 6-8: The Yeast of Sin and the Unleavened Life Grounded in Christ Our Passover

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. ⁸ Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

• Unchecked sin spreads and reshapes a community:

  “A little yeast leavens the whole lump” teaches that tolerated wrongdoing is not contained; it influences norms, weakens conscience, and multiplies harm. This is why boasting is “not good”—celebrating freedom or sophistication while sin remains unaddressed is spiritually dangerous for the whole body.

• The church is called to become what it is in Christ:

  “Purge out the old yeast… even as you are unleavened” holds together identity and responsibility. The community already has a new status (“you are unleavened”) and is therefore called to live consistently with it (“purge out the old yeast”). This preserves both God’s gracious work in making a people holy and the real summons to cooperate with that holiness through repentance and obedience.

• Christ’s sacrificial work is the foundation of the church’s purity:

  “For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place” roots ethical transformation in redemption. The motivation to reject sin is not self-improvement, but gratitude and reverence flowing from Christ’s saving sacrifice, which both cleanses and claims a people for God.

• Christian holiness is not merely avoidance but a practiced life of sincerity and truth:

  “Let’s keep the feast… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” presents holiness as a positive, communal way of life—ongoing worship expressed through integrity. The contrast with “malice and wickedness” shows that moral evil is not only sexual sin but also heart-level corruption that must be put away so the church’s life matches the gospel it confesses.

Verses 9-13: Boundaries for Fellowship—Inside the Church, Mercy Toward Outsiders

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; ¹⁰ yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. ¹¹ But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person. ¹² For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within? ¹³ But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”

• Separation is not withdrawal from the world but integrity within the church:

  Paul clarifies that refusing close association is not aimed at “the sexual sinners of this world… for then you would have to leave the world.” Believers are called to live among their neighbors with witness and compassion. The church’s discipline, therefore, is not a mandate for social isolation but for covenant faithfulness within the believing community.

• Public Christian identity carries accountability for conduct:

  The focus is “anyone who is called a brother” who persists in serious, recognized patterns of sin. This teaches that claiming the name of Christ and belonging to his people involves responsibility; persistent, unrepentant behavior that contradicts that confession must not be treated as compatible with ordinary fellowship, because it misrepresents Christ and harms others.

• Table fellowship signifies communion and cannot be indifferent to blatant, unrepentant evil:

  “Don’t even eat with such a person” highlights that shared meals represent acceptance and relational unity. In a church context, continuing normal fellowship while a professing believer persists in destructive sin blurs the meaning of communion, discipleship, and repentance, so loving restraint becomes necessary.

• The church judges within its own household; God remains Judge of those outside:

  “Don’t you judge those who are within? But those who are outside, God judges” distinguishes the church’s responsibility from God’s universal authority. The church does not presume to control the world; it does take responsibility for its own life and witness, while entrusting ultimate judgment of outsiders to God.

• Removing the wicked protects the body and upholds the church’s witness:

  “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves” concludes the chapter with a clear directive: when persistent, serious sin is unaddressed by repentance, the church must act decisively. This protects vulnerable believers, guards the congregation from corruption, and maintains a credible testimony that Christ truly delivers people from sin into a new way of life.

Conclusion: 1 Corinthians 5 teaches that the church must respond to serious, unrepentant sin with humble grief, faithful corporate action under Christ’s authority, and a commitment to holiness grounded in Christ’s sacrifice. The chapter holds together mercy and seriousness: discipline is meant to protect the church and seek the offender’s ultimate good, while believers continue living in the world without presuming to judge those outside, trusting God as the final Judge.