Paul had received reports of flagrant immorality in the Corinthian church. Apparently, the believers there had tolerated this and had not confronted it. Paul tells them they must remove this man from their fellowship, not out of vengeance but out of love. The hope is that once he feels the separation from and loss of support from God's people, he will repent of his sin and return. vv. 1-5
Beginning in v. 6 Paul teaches that public sin such as mentioned here affects the whole church. Remember the "body" analogy. We are the Body of Christ. If one part of the body is diseased, it affects the whole body. We in the church have a responsibility to the other believers.
In the paragraph beginning with v. 9, Paul reminds them not to associate with believers (or those who claim to be believers) who practice sin. We know from other scripture that no believer is perfect. We all struggle with sin every day. Paul is talking here about people who deliberately indulge in sins strictly forbidden in the Bible, who feel no guilt, and who refuse to repent. Such people can hardly be expected to be a light in a dark world.
1 Corinthians 5 is a rather dark look at the church. It surely was not meant to discourage the Corinthian believers nor us. But I didn't want to leave my devotion on that note so I took a look at the Psalms! That's always a good place to go for encouragement!
Psalm 16 lists several of the benefits we enjoy when we live in harmony with our Heavenly Father.
- Safety, v. 1, 8
- Good gifts, v. 2
- Blessing, v. 5
- Guidance, v. 7
- God's presence, v. 8
- Joy, v. 8
- Eternal life, v. 11
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