The Bible — World English Bible
1 Corinthians 5
In brief
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul responds to a serious sin that the church in Corinth tolerates: a man is openly living with his father's wife, and nobody is troubled by it. Paul asks the assembly to act, using the image of leaven that makes the whole dough rise and that of Christ, our Passover. He then makes clear that he is not telling them to flee the world, but not to keep company, inside the church, with someone who calls himself a brother while persisting in wrongdoing.
The chapter in 3 parts
1It 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.
2You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.
3For 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.
4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5are 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.
6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
7Purge 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.
8Therefore 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.
9I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;
10yet 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.
11But 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.
12For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within?
13But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”
Key verses
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.
Paul asks that this man be handed over to Satan, that is, put out of the community. The stated aim is not his ruin but his salvation: that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump? 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.
A little leaven makes the whole dough rise: tolerating evil, even a limited amount, ends up affecting the whole community. Paul reminds believers that they are already a new batch of dough and must live like it.
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. 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.
Christ is presented as the Passover lamb who has been sacrificed. The feast that follows is celebrated in purity and truth, more than in a physical ritual.
For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within? But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”
The church is not asked to judge those outside, since God takes care of that. It is, however, responsible for the lives of those who claim its name, which is the basis of church discipline.
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Frequently asked questions about 1 Corinthians 5
What does 1 Corinthians 5 mean?
Paul asks the church in Corinth to stop tolerating within it a member who lives in a serious and openly accepted sin. He wants to protect the community, compared to dough that leaven can spread through, and he hopes for the salvation of the man concerned. The chapter establishes that the church is responsible for the holiness of its members, not for the conduct of the world.
What does it mean that a little leaven makes the whole dough rise?
Leaven is a small amount of fermenting dough that spreads through all the dough. Paul uses it to say that sin tolerated in a community does not stay contained: it ends up shaping the whole group. He therefore calls the church to act early, and to live as the new dough it already is in Christ.
Does 1 Corinthians 5 tell us to cut ties with unbelievers?
No. Paul explains that he did not mean the immoral people of this world, otherwise believers would have to leave the world altogether. His instruction targets the one who calls himself a brother and persists in wrongdoing: we do not keep company with such a person as if nothing were wrong. As for those outside, he leaves it to God to judge them.
Articles quoting 1 Corinthians 5
World English Bible translation — public domain.