I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 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. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
- 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
The part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church that we’re looking at today is definitely a continuation of the previous section, so make sure you go back and read that part first for the context. The short version is that there was someone claiming to be a believer in their church who was committing incest, and the other believers were allowing that to happen and perhaps even celebrating it. Paul gave them a pretty harsh rebuke for the fact that they had not properly punished this man’s sin.
Verse 9 is the verse that scholars say indicates that there was a letter that Paul wrote to them before 1 Corinthians. Paul clearly says “I wrote to you in my letter,” indicating that there was a letter written prior to this one. However, the verb in Greek could also point to something that he wrote previously in this same letter. Scholars do not have any additional evidence of this previous letter, but it is still possible that it exists but was not considered worthy of the canon of Scripture or did not pass the canon test, so it has been lost to time.
But as for the content that Paul is writing to the people, he gives them more clarity on this situation of sexual immorality in their midst. It is clear that the believers in Corinth did not fully understand what it meant to not associate with sexually immoral people. The city of Corinth was notorious for being full of immorality of all kinds, so following that command would have been exceedingly difficult!
Paul makes an important distinction here in verse 10, that he’s not referring to the worldly people who are immoral, i.e. unbelievers. He also clarifies by referring specifically to other types of immorality – the greedy, swindlers, or idolaters. If Paul had truly meant that the believers could not even associate socially with people committing all those types of immorality, then they could not have continued to function as people in their society!
The point Paul is making here is that people who are willingly and actively committing sexual or other types of immorality should not be welcomed into the church community as brothers and sisters. If unbelievers do those things, it’s because they are chasing after the things of this world, not following Jesus. If believers do those things willfully while claiming to follow Christ, that is an entirely different thing.
Paul clarifies this even more in verse 11, telling them that they must not associate with people committing those types of immorality who claim to be a brother or sister. That’s the important part – whether the person claims to be a follower of Jesus or not. While Christians are not to completely dissociate from the world, they are to make sure that such sins are not infiltrating their fellowship. If people are actively pursuing such immorality and sinfulness, that will only corrupt those who are striving to follow Jesus.
Paul further commands them to not even eat with those immoral people. This eating could be referring to sharing a meal together, which is a symbol of sharing community. Or it could be referring to the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. Taking Holy Communion together unites them in the faith, and those who are actively committing immorality should not be united with those who are striving to live lives that are pleasing to God. There need to be some boundaries so that the true followers are not being drawn away from the faith by those who choose to live in evil ways.
In verses 12-13, Paul makes another important distinction. Believers who are in the church are not to judge those outside the church. Spiritual discipline only applies to fellow believers, those who have committed to follow Jesus along with us. Through our faith, we make ourselves subject to Jesus, and we desire to be obedient to Him because of what He has done for us. Those who do not have such faith are not in that kind of position, therefore we are not to judge them as they are outside the fellowship of believers.
But that is not to say that those outside the church will not be judged. God will take care of judging them on Judgment Day. While it is our responsibility as believers to share the good news of the gospel message of Jesus Christ with them so that they, too, can join our fellowship and experience the salvation that only comes from God, it is not our responsibility to judge their actions before they become believers.
The quotation provided at the end of verse 13 (“Expel the wicked person from among you”) is an adaptation of Deuteronomy 22:24 and Deuteronomy 24:7. In both of those references, it says, “You must purge the evil from among you.” If the immoral person remains in their fellowship, the rest of the people are much more likely to be corrupted by those immoral actions.
This passage definitely seems harsh to our modern ears. We may respond with, “But how is that showing God’s love to the person who is sinning if we kick them out of the church?” If it is helping them follow God’s rules for living, then it is showing them God’s love. If we let that person remain in our fellowship, what negative consequence is there for their wrongdoing? How will they learn that they should not willfully commit those immoral acts?
Sometimes, God calls us to this tough love for the sake of other believers. If you have new believers in your fellowship and they see a more mature believer committing sexual immorality, the new believers will see the body’s acceptance of that immorality and learn that it is ok, when in fact it is not. We must strive to put evil out of our midst so that it does not corrupt those within the church. We are still called to love that person and of course we should continue to pray for them, but sometimes the most loving thing that can be done is speaking God’s truth into their life, and being ready to welcome them back into the body of believers when we see evidence of their repentance.
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