1Corinthians 5

^4:14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. ¹⁵ For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, imitate me. ¹⁷ For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

¹⁸ Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. ²¹ What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

I feel like 4:14 -20 are the ‘pre’ of 5 as well as the post of before 4;14. Paul has been telling the Corinthians of their pride, their arrogance, their being immature. He says he is not telling them all of this to embarass or hurt them, but toI help as a father giving instruction to a child would. This whole letter is reprimand. I think Paul is working up to  5.

5 It is actually reported The puffed up may not of expected the news to reach Paul of this.   that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named^[a]among the Gentiles Jewish peoples thought themselves better than the Gentiles, so this is a bit of an insult—that a man has his father’s wife! My assumption is this is a step mother, or I think Paul would have said ‘his mother‘.  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. This person must be Jewish, probably of high standing, because of the previous pride talk. It seems because of prestige this person is above reproach.  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. Paul judged this person wrong. Paul judged. We CAN judge wrong, and the person who does wrong and still be ‘Christian’. 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. Do not allow one to be in sin and condone it, tell a brother he is in sin, so he can repent. How many times do we over look a sin, an abomination in God’s eyes, because it easier, to be kind to the sinner, to be compassionate? Have you thought that that ‘turning a blind eye’ could actually condemn a person? That lying to someone about  The Truth could keep them from eternity with Christ?

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.  I see this as for an individual and as a group of believers. We can not have a ‘little’ sin in our lives, in our congregation. A little yeast makes the bread rise. A little wheat makes a gluten intolerant sick.  For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us I⁸ 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. Paul is not just talking about adultery here, he is talking about any sin, all sin. He started this with their arrogance, their pride, their beleiving of something other than the one and only truth. This group of believers, this group of leaders and teachers have corrupt principles, Spiritual pride and teaching false doctrines. Their sin is opening the door for Satan and closing it on Christ. They are involving the whole church, ruining the whole batch with the bad yeast.

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. Paul is explaining that he was not referring to the ‘bad’ people of the world to not associate with, because that is a given. Paul is telling them they must break fellowship with those doing ‘bad’ within their church. 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.  Dont even eat with this person. Satan has come into our churches and our lives and has given us liberal concience when it comes to sinners within the church. If we call a sinning person a sinner we are condemning we are not being ‘Christian’ we are not having mercy, not showing grace, being too ‘black and white’, judging. Satan tricks us into thinking we are being ‘bad’ and accepting the sin. We ARE to judge sin, and those in sin, We are to confront those in sin. We are to remove ourselves from sin and those ‘practicing’ sin.Even with in the church.

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. God judges the world, we don’t need to concern ourselves with keeping unbelievers in line, God will Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” The evil person IS on the inside, in the church, a believer, or wanting to be.  Paul is explaining the responsibility of believers to other believers is to hold them accountable for their sin. Believers know God, and know what God expects of us. We should.