1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Remove the Leaven
1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?
3Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus,
5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.
6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
7Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.
Berean Standard Bible
Paul addresses a shocking case of sexual immorality in Corinth: a man has his father's wife. The conduct is condemned even among the surrounding pagans, yet the church is proud instead of grieving. Their pride may have come from treating grace as permission, or from boasting that their freedom made them too advanced for ordinary moral boundaries.
Paul says the church should have mourned and removed the person doing this from among them. The church's response is public accountability, not private revenge. “Delivering such a man to Satan” is severe language about removing him from the church's protected fellowship so that his sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
This passage must not be used to justify abuse, vigilante punishment, or the silencing of someone who reports harm. A church that disciplines must establish facts carefully, protect the vulnerable, involve appropriate authorities when a crime is involved, and leave room for repentance and restoration. The later appeal to forgive and comfort a repentant person shows that exclusion is not meant to be permanent humiliation.
Paul says the Corinthians' boasting is not good. A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough, so they should clear out the old leaven and live as a new batch. Christ, their Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. The image connects holiness to rescue: because God has delivered them, they should not celebrate the corruption from which He is calling them.
The Christian feast is to be kept not with old leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Truthful discipline and sincere repentance belong together. The church must take sin seriously without turning correction into a performance of superiority.
How We Know
Leviticus 18:6-8 names the sexual boundary that the Corinthian case violates. Exodus 12:14-20 supplies the Passover and unleavened-bread image Paul uses to explain a cleansed community. Second Corinthians 2:5-8 shows that discipline must eventually make room for forgiveness and comfort when repentance is present.
Questions
1 What problem did Paul say the Corinthian church was tolerating?
AnswerThey were tolerating a case of sexual immorality in which a man had his father's wife.
2 How should the church have responded?
AnswerIt should have grieved, established accountability, and removed the unrepentant person from its fellowship rather than boasting.
3 What does the leaven picture communicate?
AnswerIt communicates that tolerated corruption can spread through a community and must be addressed honestly.
4 Why should the church live as a new batch?
AnswerChrist, the Passover lamb, has been sacrificed, so His people should live with sincerity and truth rather than malice and wickedness.
What This Means for Us
Do not confuse grace with pretending that serious harm is harmless. Seek truth, protect people at risk, and involve wise pastoral and civil authorities when the situation requires them.
If repentance becomes real, make room for restoration without erasing accountability. Holiness is neither permissiveness nor permanent humiliation.
Prayer
Holy God, give Your church courage to confront serious sin and wisdom to protect the vulnerable. Make our correction truthful, our repentance sincere, and our restoration full of grace and accountability. Amen.