Disgrace and Spiritual Impotence: When the Church Fails to Confront Its Sins (1 Corinthians 5)

Scripture reading – 1 Corinthians 5

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* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.

We continue our chronological reading of Scripture, focusing today on the 5th chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the believers in Corinth. We learn that Paul received word from “the house of Chloe” about dissension and conflicts threatening to split the congregation (1 Corinthians 1:11).

1 Corinthians 1-4 shows that some believers had become divided over the leadership personalities in the first-century church. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas [i.e., Peter] each had a following, and their affection for these leaders became a source of conflict and division (1 Corinthians 1:11-13; 3:3-4). After confronting the carnality of the believers in the Corinthian church, Paul reminded them to glory only in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).

Paul continued the theme of servant leadership in 1 Corinthians 4. He stated that the essential requirement for ministers is faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:2). However, Paul’s concern was not men’s judgment but God’s judgment and approval (1 Corinthians 4:3-4). The apostle had become so burdened for the congregation in Corinth that he had sent Timothy to encourage and instruct them (1 Corinthians 4:17).

The apostle then asked, “What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?” (1 Corinthians 4:21). With that question, Paul turned to address a gross immorality that the Corinthian believers tolerated under the guise of love. 

1 Corinthians 5

A Tolerance of Gross Immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Paul wrote: “It is reported commonly that there is fornication [sexual immorality; adultery] among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife [i.e., the sin of incest]” (1 Corinthians 5:1). The phrase “his father’s wife” (1 Corinthians 5:1) indicates that the sin of incest was committed between a man and his stepmother (not his mother). Although the heathen of Corinth practiced idol worship and tolerated all manner of sexual perversity in the name of religion, a son lying with his father’s wife was loathed even by Corinthian society.

Rather than mourning, the Corinthian church boasted of its tolerance, “being puffed up” (1 Corinthians 5:2). Exercising the authority of Christ and his apostolic office, Paul commanded that the immoral son be “taken away from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:2). Though he could not address the sin in person, Paul left no doubt about what he expected to be done (1 Corinthians 5:3). Such wickedness must not be tolerated in the church (1 Corinthians 5:4). The perpetrator of evil was to be cast out and delivered “unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5).

What was the purpose of removing or casting out (i.e., excommunicating) the perpetrator of such evil deeds? (1 Corinthians 5:5)

Only by withdrawing fellowship would the sinner feel and bear the weight of his sin (its moral shame, sorrow, and the potential for physical sickness, disease, and death). The spiritual goal was for the man to repent of his sin before he faced “the day of the Lord Jesus” (i.e., God’s judgment) (1 Corinthians 5:5).

A Call for Purity (1 Corinthians 5:6-8) 

Paul confronted the pseudo-piety of the Corinthian believers, who thought that tolerating sin was evidence of love and compassion. He admonished them, “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6).

The mention of leaven harkened back to the first Passover (Exodus 12:12-14) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:15, 19-20). Because leaven (as we use yeast) needs time to permeate the dough and make bread rise, Paul warned that sin (like leaven in dough) will eventually spread through a congregation until the whole church is infected.

Since leaven symbolized the sins and idolatry of Egypt (a type of the world in the Scriptures), Paul commanded the believers: “Purge out [clean out] therefore the old leaven [sin, in this case, incest], that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The hypocrisy of the Corinthian church was tragic, and Paul reminded them that Christ was sacrificed for our sins (1 Corinthians 5:7). Sadly, the believers had tolerated “malice and wickedness” in their midst (1 Corinthians 5:8). Nevertheless, they were promised the joy of the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” if they purged the sin from their midst (1 Corinthians 5:8). There is one answer to gross immorality in the church: it must be purged (1 Corinthians 5:7). After all, sin is like a “little leaven”; it will infect the whole (1 Corinthians 5:6).

A Command to Shun Those Who Continue in Sin (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

Paul admonished the Corinthian congregation not to tolerate sin within its fellowship (1 Corinthians 5:9-13; Matthew 18:15-17) and warned the believers not to trifle with God’s judgment. Among those to be shunned were fornicators, the covetous, idolaters, railers, drunkards, and extortioners (1 Corinthians 5:11). Paul commanded, “with such an one not to eat” (1 Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:3, 11). 

In our future study of 2 Corinthians, we will see that God blessed the church’s obedience. I believe the man whom Paul urged to be cast out of the congregation repented and was restored to the church’s fellowship (2 Corinthians 2:5-11).

Closing Thoughts

Once again, we are reminded that the world and sin have not changed. The sins of the 21st-century church are no different from those of the 1st-century church. Fornication (sexual immorality outside the covenant of marriage) is an epidemic within the church. Pornography is rampant as men and women, inflamed by wanton sexual desire, commit adultery with their eyes (Matthew 5:28). The sanctity of marriage has been sacrificed, and infidelity and divorce are present in the pews and the pulpit. The church that tolerates sin will lose its moral authority and influence in the world (1 Corinthians 5:9-13).

Finally, although confession and repentance are the answer to sin (1 John 1:9), believers should remember that sexual immorality disqualifies individuals in positions of spiritual leadership. Pastors and deacons must be “blameless, the husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2, 10, 12).

Copyright © 2026 – Travis D. Smith 

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