Scripture

Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

Observation

Paul is shocked by the reports of sexual immorality that the church in Corinth is tolerating in their midst. In particular, there is a man in a sexual relationship with his own stepmother. Such behaviour is unheard of even among pagans.

The church should remove this man from the fellowship. They must call a meeting of the church and throw him out, handing him over to satan.

This sin is like a little yeast that spreads throughout the whole lump of dough. We are to be like the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Application

Paul was shocked that the Corinthian church boasted about their open-mindedness in tolerating a man sleeping with his stepmother. How much more would he be enraged by churches celebrating homosexual and transgender pastors and bishops?

The church in the West has really lost its way in terms of expecting certain lifestyle choices of its followers. We cannot expect the world to adopt our standards of morality, but we can certainly expect people who claim to be disciples of Jesus to conform to a level of holiness.

Paul says that people who engage in this kind of wilful sin and scandalous conduct should be thrown out of the church and handed over to satan. This is not a harsh judgement. The hope is that he will repent and escape the judgement that will certainly come on the day of the Lord.

Churches need to have methods of discipline which encourage people to walk in the ways of the Lord, but which avoid legalism.

Prayer

Lord, we fear being accused of unfairly judging people whose behaviour shows they are far from you. Help us, your followers, always walk in integrity and grace. Amen