1 corinthians 5

Read 1 Corinthians 5 at Bible Gateway.

From 1 Cor 4:

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” 1 Cor 4:3-5

From 1 Cor 5:

“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.” 1 Cor 5:3

The deed was immorality. So is Paul contradicting himself? No - we have to understand what we are to not judge before the time, and what we are to judge as a matter of course in our everyday lives.

What we are not to judge, I believe Paul is saying, is the counsels of the heart (1 Cor 4:5). Motivations, intentions, hindrances, state of faith, and all that concerns the heart, which is hidden to us, but not to the Lord.

What we are to judge, I believe Paul is saying, is the actions of the body (1 Cor 5:3). Behavior, deeds. Not the heart, not thoughts, but deeds. And not just the deeds of everyone. The unbelievers are outside, and not only are we not to judge them, but we (adults) are to associate with them, so that the world might be saved by our witness!

But the deeds of believers, we are to judge (1 Cor 5:11). Jesus says the same, when He says,

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” Mat 18:15-17

He is talking, as Paul is, about those who are brothers. Paul defines some sins and Jesus does not, but the things that Paul mentions are violations of the commandments found in Torah. Both Jesus and Paul and all the apostles used the Torah as a dictionary to define what was righteous behavior and what was sinful behavior. Jesus tells us the process we go through if a brother sins, before we refuse to even eat with such a one. But if the brother refuses all correction, then Jesus agrees that we should avoid that brother and not eat with him. Paul just left out the process of bringing the brother to correction, but it is implied of the brother in Corinth whom Paul had judged, that he had been corrected already.

What does Paul mean when he says he delivers that brother to Satan for the destruction of the flesh? (vs. 5). I have no idea. I assume this is something he taught the churches that he established. But see how serious a thing it was in the church, to allow sin to grow unchecked! Ananias and Sapphira died before the Lord for lying to Peter (Act 5:1-11)! This man was expelled from the church for not heeding correction and repenting! And not only was he expelled, but his flesh was delivered to Satan for destruction, whatever that means! We just take sin so lightly in our churches these days, and this is not what the Scripture teaches, either Old Testament or New! Would that we had the heart of the Lord on these matters, and saw these things as vitally important as Jesus and the apostles did!

Now just why is it so important for the unrepentant brother to be expelled from the church? Because, Paul says, a little leaven leavens the whole lump (vs. 6). Leave a little bit of sin in the church, and it spreads until the entire church is leavened with sin. This is a spiritual principle that cannot be wished away just because it is un-pc in our day to judge anyone for anything!

When Paul says, let us keep the feast (vs. 8), he is referring to the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The New Testament church kept the Feasts of the Lord! Keeping them teaches, in a tangible visual aid way, to a society and a people who did not have books, the history of Israel; the nature and ministry of the Messiah; prophecy; and theological and spiritual principles, in a way that even five- year- olds could understand.

So now, some might ask, that we all have Bibles, cane we ignore the Feasts? Well, leaving out the fact that in this chapter Paul specifically told the church to keep the Feast with sincerity, I have not found that position anywhere in Scripture, Old or New. I am not smarter than God, so I would not presume to make that leap. In fact, Paul admonishes the Gentile church to imitate him as he imitates Messiah (1 Cor 11:1), and both Paul and Messiah kept the Feasts.

On a bit different track, some parents use this Scripture:

“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 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.” 1 Cor 5:9-10

As an injunction to send their children to public school, so that they are not out of the world, so that their children can be salt and light in the public schools. I know a lot of parents do that - 90%, I read in one Barna research survey, of the children of evangelical parents are educated in the public schools. But I believe Paul is addressing his admonition to adults, not children. In Scripture, the unit of child rearing and teaching is the home, under the direction of mothers and fathers. Children are weak, spiritually, and are foolish by reason of their age and immaturity. You do not put the weak or the foolish in with the ungodly, because the weak follow, they do not lead. This principle is found throughout Proverbs and the Scripture!