1 Corinthians 5:1-5 (NIV)
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
As a concrete example of how far the Corinthians have slid in their relationship with God, Paul points to another item that had been reported to him: a blatant example of sexual immorality that was being tolerated in the Church, that wouldn’t even be accepted in pagan society. A man was having sexual relations with his stepmother while his father was still living and still married to her.
Not only were there several places in the Old Testament (the only Scriptures the Christians possessed) where this is directly condemned (Leviticus 20:11 for example), there is also the terrible example of Ruben having relations with his stepmother, Bilhah, under his father’s nose (Genesis 35:22). This act of profound betrayal cost Reuben both his status as first born, and the blessing of being the branch from which the Messiah was to come (Genesis 49:3-4).
The people of Corinth had been taught by some that they no longer had to obey the moral standards of the Old Testament; that they had been done away with by Jesus (contrary to Jesus own words in Matthew 5:17-22). So, they were not only tolerant of this kind of abhorrent sin, they were proud that they had someone so “forward thinking” and “enlightened” in their midst!
Paul knew that not confronting even minor sins under the guise of love or tolerance would encourage the spread of that sin throughout the body. How much more if this kind of sin was actually accepted! So, his solution, which would have been immediately enacted if he had been there in person, was to expel the person from the Church until they fully repented.
Some might think that harsh, but Paul understood that it was the most loving action that could be taken under the circumstances. The party in question must be made to see the depth of their sin, so that they could repent and be restored. Otherwise, they would be eternally lost. This is what Paul means when he says that the man must be handed over to Satan (expelled from the Church) so that his flesh, that is to say his sinful nature, could be destroyed, so that his spirit could ultimately be saved and not lost.
Father, there are many today who blink at sin, or even openly accept it, under the banner of love and tolerance. But they have no biblical model for their tolerance. Even though Jesus did not shy away from sinners, He associated with them in order to call them to repentance so that they could find true life in Him. Even the woman caught in adultery was told pointedly to go and sin no more (John 8:10-11). And the man who was healed at the pool was told by Jesus to stop sinning, or there would be consequences (John 5:14). Sin kills the soul and robs us of eternal life. So, it must be dealt with directly and biblically – though not harshly or rudely. Jesus’ own model is to confront the person directly, take more witnesses if that is not effective, and finally do as Paul suggests: expel him or her from fellowship in the church (though continuing to try to convince them to repent and receive Salvation, Matthew 18:15-17). To allow someone to continue in sin is not love, but indifference to what happens to them eternally. Such “tolerance” works out to be an absolute evil. Keep us, Lord, from such tolerance of things that will ultimately kill someone that we are commanded to love as ourselves. Amen.