Failure to Discipline an Immoral Brother
5: 1-13
Failure to discipline the immoral brother DIG: If you were a Corinthian church member, how would you explain to your pagan neighbor why this man had been disfellowshipped? In what ways is church discipline similar to discipling children? In what ways is it different? What harm is there in not dealing with known sin? Why was it important for the Corinthians to mourn over this sin? Why is disfellowshipping important in restoring unrepentant sinning believers? What would happen if the church continued to ignore it?
REFLECT: When faced with a potential conflict with someone, are you more likely to fight? Or flee? Or ignore the problem and hope it goes away? In matters of discipline, are you overly judgmental? Too permissive? Inconsistent? Helpful? Explain. Does your church “celebrate the Seder?” If not, why not? Why do you think the Ruach inspired Paul to instruct believers in the B’rit Chadashah to “celebrate the Seder?” Why do Christian churches today fail to do so? How do you think God views their disobedience?
Church discipline. Not a pleasant topic. But a necessary one.
The situation in the church at Corinth had deteriorated to the point where extreme church discipline needed to be exercised. But as we will soon see, the leadership refused to fulfill their God-given, Messiah-commanded duty to remove the unrepentant sinning member. Paul’s response to their unwillingness increased the seriousness of this unpleasant responsibility. The leaders of every church must exercise vigilance in protecting their flock from ongoing, unrepentant, willfully defiant sin among its members.136
The need for discipline (5:1-2b): It is actually being reported that there is sexual immorality (Greek: porneia) among you. Porneia in the Greek culture at the time simply meant prostitution. The Greeks were generally ambivalent on that matter, depending in part, whether one went openly to the brothels or was more discreet and simply had an escort. The word, however, had been picked up in Hellenistic Judaism, always disapprovingly, to cover every kind of extramarital sexual sin, including incest and homosexuality. It could refer to any of these sins, as it does here with incest. And it is sexual immorality of a kind that is condemned even by pagans – a man is sleeping with his stepmother (5:1)! The testimony of the church in Corinth was thereby severely damaged.
Sin always takes you further than you wanted to go, costs you more than you wanted to pay, and makes you stay longer than you wanted to stay. Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, committed incest with his father’s concubine Bilhah (Genesis 35:22); Therefore, although he had some good characteristics, was deprived of significant blessing in Jacob’s final prophecies (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Le – Reuben, You are My Firstborn, Turbulent as the Waters, You Will No Longer Excel).137
Three things about that particular sin seem obvious. First, the present tense: there is sexual immorality, indicates that the incest had been going on for some time and was still going on. It was not a one-time or short-term affair, but was continuous and open. They may have been living together as husband and wife. Second, since adultery is not charged, the relationship between the son and his stepmother probably caused her to be divorced from the father. At the time, neither of them were legally married. Third, because Paul calls for no discipline of the woman, it seems likely that she was not a believer. Thus, the man, being a believer, was not only immoral, but unequally yoked as well (Second Corinthians 6:14).138
One of the major problems in the church at Corinth was that the baby believers were dragging their worldly behaviors into the church. As has been said many times, the problem was not that the church was Corinth, the problem was that Corinth was in the church! Sexual immorality was merely one of several examples.
More shocking to Paul than the sin itself was the church’s toleration of it. The scandal rested squarely on the shoulders of the false apostles (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) who regarded the situation with an appalling indifference. Worse than that, the church was proud that they were so progressive in their thinking.139 Paul was really quite incensed over what he had heard. And you are proud (5:2a)! It was as if he was saying, “And in spite of this incest in your midst, you continue to hold your heads high toward me as you have been doing? What right do you have to be proud with this kind of thing going on and no one doing anything about it?140
Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning (5:2b NIV)? A church that does not mourn over sin, especially sin within its own fellowship, is on the edge of spiritual disaster because whenever sin is not repented of and cleansed, it spreads through the body like an infection. When Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Af – A Chronology of Paul’s Relationship with the Believers of Corinth), he was still deeply concerned about its spiritual and moral condition, saying: I am afraid that when I come again, my God may humiliate me in your presence, and that I will be grieved over many of those who sinned in the past and have not repented of the impurity, fornication and debauchery that they have engaged in (Second Corinthians 12:21). She arrogantly followed her own feelings and rationalizations rather than God’s Word, and found herself ignoring, and perhaps even justifying, flagrant sin in her own midst.141
The method of discipline (5:2c-5): That would have led you to remove from your company the man who has done this thing (5:2b)? There are always some who see disfellowshipping as harsh and unloving; but such criticism comes from those who do not appreciate the biblical view of God’s holiness, and a deep hatred of sin that holiness demands. When Isaiah saw ADONAI sitting on a high and lofty throne, he heard the seraphim cry out, “Holy, holy, holy, is ADONAI-Tzva’ot” (Isaiah 6:1-3), he bowed in deep personal and national repentance. In such moments, the removal of sin is the natural consequence.142
Paul makes clear the action that should have been taken to discipline the man who refused to repent of his blatant immorality. He should have been disfellowshipped. If a brazen, unrepentant sinner does not meet some consequences for his actions, he has no need to change his ways. Previous figures in biblical history had mourned over the sinful conduct of others, knowing that it would have consequences for the whole community (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah Bo – Ezra’s Prayer about Intermarriage). Individual sins can lead to corporate problems. Achan’s sin caused defeat for Isra’el (Josh 7), sexual offenders had to be cut off (disfellowshipped) from Ancient Isra’el (Lev 18:24-30 and 22:22-24), and one can also consider the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28. Not removing unrepentant sinners from the congregation of God can be seen by others as accepting the act and condoning such behavior. Apparently, the incest was not something that had happened secretly, and was apparently well known among the Corinthian believers.143
In view of the Corinthian indifference to the matter, Paul himself was compelled to act. Discipline is not inconsistent with love. It is lack of discipline, in fact, that is inconsistent with love. ADONAI corrects the people He loves and disciplines those He calls His own (see the commentary on Hebrews Cz – God Disciplines His Children). God disciplines His children because He loves us, and we should discipline our brothers and sisters in the Lord if we truly love them.
For I myself, even though I am absent physically, am with you spiritually; and I have already judged the man who has done this as if I were present. Paul called on the Corinthian church to acknowledge, with him, the seriousness of the offense, to recognize the need for discipline, and to take appropriate action – as Paul would have done if he were actually there. He was saying that, in his inner spirit, he had already passed judgment on the sinning man, and had declared the mandatory consequence of disfellowshipping him. So when you are assembled, and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Yeshua among us (5:3-4). When a local congregation acts in Yeshua’s name, that is, according to His Word, they can be sure they are acting in His power.144
Hand this man over (5:5a). This has to be a believer because the issue here is church discipline and the church doesn’t discipline unbelievers. Hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be preserved (Greek: from sos, meaning safe, preserved, or well) on the Day of the Lord (5:5 BSB). Satan is the ruler of this world, and handing over a believer to Satan, therefore, thrusts him back into the world on his own, apart from any support of the church. He would have forfeited his right to participate in the church of Yeshua Messiah, which He intends to keep pure at all costs. To hand over (Greek: paradidomi) is a strong term indicating the judiciary act of sentencing, or handing over for punishment. The sentence would be to be handed over to Satan (First Timothy 1:20).
The result of such discipline is the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be preserved. Physical weakness, sickness and even death can result from persistent sinning. In fact, death is frequently used in connection with divine judgment on sin. If you trace the Scriptures through the various Dispensations, divine punishment has to be more severe at the beginning of a new Dispensation, and First Corinthians was one of the earliest books written (see the commentary on Galatians Ae – The Dates of the Books in the B’rit Chadashah). This was a crucial time for the early Church, and such impurity, sin, scandal and satanic infiltration could have corrupted the entire church at its root.145
Take, for example, Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron in Leviticus 10:1-2 at the beginning of the Dispensation of Torah (see the commentary on Exodus Da – The Dispensation of Torah). They burned the incense in an improper manner and God killed them right in the holy place. Later, worse sins were done in the Temple (Ezeki’el 8-10), but the punishment was not as severe because Ha’Shem is always harsher at the beginning of a new Dispensation.146 It is certainly true that the account of Ananias and Sapphira introduces us to a different world of thought from that of today. It is a world in which sin was taken seriously.147
The destruction of the flesh indicates that the immoral brother, who had dragged the Lord’s name through the mud, would eventually die unless he repented of his sin. We are not told of the specific affliction, disease, or circumstances, but his body was on the way to destruction in a special disciplinary way. If he kept sinning, his life would end before he otherwise would have died. He would go to heaven; but he would lose rewards (1 Corinthians 10b-15). To protect His Church, ADONAI would have to take him early. We must remember that a disciplined brother is still a brother, and is never to be despised, even when unrepentant: If anyone does not obey what we are saying . . . take note of him and have nothing to do with him, so that he will be ashamed. But don’t consider him an enemy; on the contrary, confront him as a brother and try to help him change (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15). And if he repents, he is to be forgiven and restored in love (Gal 6:1-2).148
That day (Second Timothy 4:6-8), or the Day of the Lord (5:5c), is when this brother will stand before the bema seat of Messiah (see Au – God is the Master Builder), and his life will be tested. All the wood, hay and straw will be burned up, and only the gold, silver and precious stones will remain. Believers are never judged for there is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who are in union with the Messiah (Rom 8:1).
The reason for discipline (5:6-7): Discipline must sometimes be severe because the consequences of not disciplining are much worse. Sin is a spiritual cancer that will not stay isolated. Unless removed, it will spread until the whole church will suffer its ravaging effects. Your boasting is not good. It’s as if Paul is saying, “Look where your arrogance and your boasting has gotten you. Because you love human “wisdom” and human recognition, you are completely blinded to the brazen sin that will destroy your church if you don’t remove it.” Don’t you know the saying, “It takes only a little hametz (sin) to leaven a whole batch of dough (the church)?” Get rid of the old hametz, so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened (sinless). For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed (5:6-7). As pictured in the Passover in Egypt, the sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah, ADONAI’s perfect Pesach lamb, and the placing of His blood over us, completely separates us from the power of sin and penalty of judgment.149
So let us celebrate the Seder (which included the Festival of Unleavened Bread) not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth (5:8). This is undeniably one of the most important verses for today’s Messianic movement. The key verb is heortazo, which means to celebrate the Seder. When today’s Messianic believers see First Corinthians 5:8, they read it as a clear mandate from Paul that the Corinthians were to keep the Passover, which is an important observance for all believers, remembering both the Exodus and the sacrifice of Isra’el’s Messiah.150
This does not point back to practices in the Dispensation of Torah, but is a present tense, active verb. Although primarily Gentile, the Corinthian congregation nevertheless observed the Passover without supposing that, as many of today’s Christians might think, they were “going back under the Law.”151 So, I ask, how can Gentile Christians and churches say that they do not need to celebrate the Passover when Paul instructs a primarily Gentile church to do so? This passage also proves that even in Gentile communities such as Corinth, it was common practice to observe the feasts of ADONAI. If this were not so, Paul’s imagery here would have been meaningless to his readers. This is not merely a metaphor. Since the context in these verses is holy living, and moral purity in general, would there not be something lost if the reference to Pesach was entirely metaphorical?152 Without the practice, actual practice, there would be no metaphor!
The sphere of discipline (5:9-13): The Corinthians had misunderstood what Paul wrote on this subject in his earlier letter (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Af – A Chronology of Paul’s Relationship with the Believers of Corinth). They thought Paul was talking only about those outside the church. When he said not to associate with people who engage in sexual immorality, he didn’t mean the sexually immoral people outside the church, or the greedy, or the thieves or the idol-worshippers – for then you would have to leave the world altogether!
No, what he wrote you was not to associate with anyone inside the church, members, who do not act like a believer, but who also engage in unrepentant sexual immorality, is greedy, worships idols, is abusive, gets drunk or steals continually. If they repent, of course, try to help them. But if they don’t, with such a person you shouldn’t even eat! Their sin has to cost them something. Still correcting their misunderstanding, Paul asked: For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Isn’t it those who are part of the church that you should be disciplining? God will judge those who are outside. But it was his business to discipline those within the church if the Corinthians would not. They had a responsibility to keep their own house in order. Just expel the unrepentant, sinning, evildoer from among yourselves (First Corinthians 5:9-13; Deuteronomy 13:5 17:7 and 12, 19:19, 21:21, 22:21 and 24; 24:7).
This passage presents more than its share of difficulties for believers in the twenty-first century: How does one reconcile these last words with the teaching of Yeshua (Matthew 7:1-5)? or with Paul earlier in this letter (4:3)? And how does one reconcile it with what follows immediately (6:2)? Yes, the application of all this to the modern scene is not easy. Our different circumstances must be taken into account. But Paul’s main point, that the church must not tolerate the presence of evil in its midst, is clearly permanently relevant.153
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