1 Cor. 6:14-20 - In the Body of Christ

14 Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”
17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

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V. 14 - “Now God has not only raised the Lord” - Jesus Christ is the first to be resurrected from death to eternal life. (See: Matt. 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-20; Luke 24:1-53; John 20:1-21:25).

“will also raise us up” - In the previous verse Paul says our bodies will be done away with, our bodies will be for the Lord. I think this implies we receive new bodies, and this is confirmed in this verse. John in his first letter says, “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2) Think on this: We will be like Him! What a wondrous thing to ponder - His perfect spiritual body, like that! His spiritual union with the Father and the Holy Spirit - like that! Being able to praise the Lord, to stand in His presence without fear and in great joy - like that!

V. 15 - “Do you not know” - Has no one told you? Or, have you forgotten what we taught you?

“your bodies are members of Christ?” - This is one of those theological miracles or mysteries - when we believe and Christ as Lord and Savior, we become part of Christ. That statement is fantastic! We get Christ’s life when we believe in Him. The eternal resurrected life is ours. It is not a life eternal separate from God’s life, but His life in us. “God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27)

“Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?” - This is distinctly different from the way our modern society views the sexual act between a man and a woman. We are told by some that sex is just an act, nothing special... We see that God intended this is to be an emotional and spiritual union in addition to the physical act.

Here, Paul takes us all the way back to Genesis. (The emphasis is mine.) “The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Gen. 2:20-25) That is the basis for Paul’s statement.

V. 16 - “the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her” - A reiteration of verse 15 above. This may seem to be a huge logical jump from settling personal disagreements about theology between believers to consorting with a prostitute. Because this section is more than disagreements over how often we should have communion; or whether communion bread should be unleavened wafers or pieces of sandwich bread; or whether we should baptize a new believer immediately, or whether the music is too loud. Did Paul really mean airing your differences is equal with committing adultery? Why, yes, I believe he did. 

We can think, “I would never ever be with a prostitute! Think of the horrible image that would provide to the non-believing world.” One aspect of this message is that we must be careful to hold to the gospel and principles taught by Jesus and the apostles. Following a teacher of a false doctrine will lead us to disobeience and rejection of Jesus as Lord. Rejecting the gospel is rejecting God and Jesus - in essence spiritual adultery. On the other hand, perhaps we would not lose a moment of sleep thinking about the image of the lack of love and forgiveness is displayed by taking another person to court in order to resolve a difference. Taking a fellow believer to court is rejecting the principle of being kind, forgiving and at peace with your brother. The non-Christian world is always watching, analyzing, judging. We claim to have a better way. They want to see ‘proof of life’.

“The two shall become one flesh.” - Quoted from Gen. 2:24. As noted above, there were no animals that were suitable to be a partner with Adam. God knew the animals would not do it (See: Gen. 2:18). It was not good for the man to be alone. This is significant. Man’s greatest need was to have someone with whom to share his life. Not one beast, not one bird, not one farm animal - not one living creature - could fill the need. No one was a perfect match. God ‘sculpted’ the woman (Gen. 2:22) - the NASB uses the word ‘fashioned’ for the creation of the woman. Whereas, God built or constructed the man (See: Gen. 2:7) from dust. (Two different verbs are used in these verses.)

I do not mean that the man was less than perfect, starting from dirt, and the woman was started with finer materials. That would imply that God is limited in some way in His creative powers. Not true. God is perfect in all His ways. Man and woman are designed by the Lord God to be the almost perfect match for each other.

The only perfect match for mankind is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

V. 17 - “the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” - This theme, when we are in Christ, He is in us. We are joined together to become one. He lives in us. We live in Him. More than man and woman becoming “one flesh’, we have the Spirit of the living God in us.
Stop. Think about this. We have the Spirit of God Almighty, the LORD of Lords, the Creator and sustainer of the universe living in us. Why would you subject the Holy Spirit of God to be one with an adulterous person. This is not strictly a male problem, nor is it a female problem. It is demeaning the Holy God by joining Him to an immoral person by an immoral act.

V. 18 - “Flee immorality” - The admonition here is to flee sexually immoral behavior. The Greek word here is where we get our word “pornography”. Illicit sexual conduct, of all kinds, of any kind - man-and-woman, man-and-man, woman-and-woman, human-and-animal, self-gratification, movies, music, television, books, magazines - sexual immorality kills.

Sexual immorality brought the judgement during Noah’s time. Sexual immorality brought the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is interesting to note that Joseph did what Paul admonishes - Joseph fled from his boss’s wife when she tried to seduce him. However, David did not flee immorality and committed adultery with the wife of one of his warriors. (Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah).

“Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body,” - Whether murder, theft, disrespect of parents, or lying, these sins are committed against others or against God. It is not as if you are a third-party observer remotely watching yourself commit these acts. You are completely and fully involved in the planning, commission, and cover-up of these sins. Sexual sin is more personal, in that you are giving yourself to another person, intimately. All sin is a corruption of the plans of the Lord for you. Sexual sin is more corrosive, and destructive.

“the immoral man sins against his own body.” - For all the reasons stated above. Sexual immorality is more personal.

V. 19 - “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” - God the Holy Spirit lives within you when you commit your life to Christ. The Temple, and before that the Tabernacle, was where God dwelt with the nation of Israel. Michael Heiser identified this beautifully in his book “Unseen Realms” in the chapter on “Realm Distinction”.

“The concept of otherness was at the core of Israelite identity. Otherness was the core of holiness. The Hebrew vocabulary for holiness means to be set apart or to be distinct. While the idea has a moral dimension related to conduct, it is not intrinsically about morality. It is about distinction... Israelites were to be set apart (‘holy’) as Yahweh was set apart (‘holy’).

Yahweh’s complete otherness was reinforced in the minds of Israelites through worship and sacrifice.Yahweh was not only the source of Israel’s life - He was life. Yahweh was not of earth, a place where there is death, disease, and imperfection. His realm is supernatural; ours is terrestrial. The space He occupies is sacred and made otherworldly by his presence. The space we occupy is ‘profane’ or ordinary.

Many laws in the Torah illustrate this worldview and its messaging. Whether priest or not, male or female, people could be disqualified from sacred space by a variety of activities or conditions. Examples include sexual activity, bodily emissions, physical handicaps, contact with a dead body, and childbirth... These laws were not considered unclean out of prudishness... These laws kept the community conscious of Yahweh’s otherness.

Even within sacred space there were gradations of holiness or sanctity. The closer one got to Yahweh’s presence, the more holy the ground or the object in his proximity. The terms that describe the layout of the structure are evidence of this progression. From the entrance inward there was the court, the holy place, and the ‘most holy place’ (‘holy of holies’). The sacred space of the tabernacle got progressively more holy from the entrance to the innermost room.” (See note 1, below)

“who is in you, whom you have from God,” - The “who” in this sentence is the Holy Spirit. The Temple, and before that the Tabernacle, was the dwelling place for God among his chosen people, the Israelites. God never needed a place to “be”, but the Israelites (and other humans) needed a place where they could say they meet God. That dwelling place was centered in the Tabernacle and then the Temple. God judged Israel/Judah for their apostasy and the Babylonians took Judah captive and destroyed the Temple. It seems that at no time in the Second Temple period (515 BC to 70 AD) that God occupied the Holy of Holies.

Christ told the disciples/apostles that the Holy Spirit would be given them. (See: John 14:16, 17; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-11; Acts 1:4-8; 2:1ff) The Temple is no longer applicable. An obsession to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem is human pride ignoring the facts on the ground. The believer is the Temple of the Almighty God, not some building in a particular city.

“and that you are not your own?” - When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior we make a decision to surrender ourselves to Him. Christ becomes part of us; He is in us. We become part of Christ; we are in Christ. We are no longer to be a rebellious independent entity. We are to be ‘bond-slaves’ of the Lord God. That means if you decide to have sexual congress with a prostitute, or any sexual immoral activity you are subjecting Christ to that act! (I don’t think that is too strong a statement.)

The equation seems to go:

You believe in Christ = Christ in you. (vs. 6:17)
You have sex with a prostitute = you and prostitute “become one”. (vs. 6:16) Therefore: Christ is one with the prostitute. (vs. 6:15)

May it never be! Never, ever defile the Lord by such behavior! (The Lord cannot be lowered or diminished. He is before and above all. We are defiling our relationship with Him when we do such things.)

V. 20 - “you have been bought with a price:” - God came to earth as a human. He lived and then was crucified for our sin. The price was paid in full by Christ’s death. He personally took the penalty of death for sin upon Himself. The price paid was acceptable to God the Father. Christ rose from death to eternal life. That eternal life is ours when we believe and commit to Him.

“therefore glorify God in your body” - We are not saved because we are good. We are not saved because we have earned it. We are saved by His grace, mercy and love. As a result we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit in us, in our bodies. We glorify God by our behavior that matches His standards and follow His directions. Nothing we do can make God greater than He already is. However, we are to be the image of God to the world. Our behavior, our actions as believers can show His glory and grace - our relationship with Him can glorify God to the world around us.

Many people go through life without thinking about God at all. Even Christians live without consciously thinking about the Lord. Jesus called us to be different than non-believers. “You shall be holy (“distinct, different”) because I am holy (“distinct, different”). (See: Lev. 19:2; 1 Pet 1:16) Why would anyone believe in Christ, based on my life and behavior, if I am not glorifying the Lord by my life and behavior?
As an example: Our son asked us how could we, as Christians, vote for Trump? (Seeing as how evil Trump was.) Wasn’t voting for Trump going against our faith in God? As it turns out, some or all of his objections to President Trump were not based on facts, but on news reports that either twisted the facts or outright lied. To him, a believer would not be able to cast a vote for such an evil person. We and he were not operating on the same set of facts (Trump lied, people died; kids in cages; etc.). That hardly matters, since he believed we were violating our Christian beliefs - further proof to him there is no value in faith in Christ.

I give this example because people are always watching us to see if the “peace that passes understanding” (Phil 4:7) is working in us; not to see if we are ‘religious’ but if we are showing Christ’s love and forgiveness. For it is not just about sex with prostitutes, but how does our lifestyle and actions glorify God to those around us. Does our love for others extend beyond our church buddies? Does our patience extend to clerks in the store; the waitress in the restaurant; the lady on the street that wants me to move so she can have six feet of space between us as she passes by (Covid-19 reference)? Are we patient, kind, and forgiving, just as the Lord was patient, kind, and forgiving with us? That is what people are looking for - they don’t care if you go to church every Sunday, carry a Bible, if you don’t treat them with Jesus’ love.

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Note 1: Michael S. Heiser; “The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible”; Lexham Press; 2015.

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End of Chapter (31-Dec-2025)

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 - Keep the House Clean

9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people;
10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.
11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

Don’t Judge Outsiders

V. 9-10 - “not to associate with immoral people” - This letter is a follow-up of the discussion of what to do about the immoral behavior of some church members. In a previous letter to the Corinthian church, Paul gave them some instructions. We do not have the previous letter so that we can study what Paul had said to them.

“I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world” - My first reaction, “Why did he have to write this admonition?”

You know that someone in the church would say, “But, Paul said not to associate with immoral people, and those outside the church are obviously immoral.” You just know there is some Pharisaical nit-picking ninny just aching to throw a penalty flag in order to call a personal foul on Paul.

V. 11 - “I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother” - See: Rom. 16:17; 2 Thess. 3:6. Watch out for people who are teaching and leading you away from the Lord. We cannot have heresy being taught in the church, either from the pulpit or in classes. Paul is expanding the DEW line. (See note 1) People who are damaging the church by their behavior needed discipline. People who are teaching tolerance of sinful behavior also needed discipline. The church could not afford to allow them to remain if they would not repent of their actions, and change their behavior. Their sinful behavior will damage the church and its witness to the world.

I think the descriptive phrase “so-called brother” is interesting. Paul is not picking on relatives, or even non-believing relatives. Paul is not thinking of non-believers at all. There are people in churches who claim Christian brotherhood, but don’t believe.
Why would anyone go through all the bother of attending a church and not accept Christ as Lord and Savior? A myriad of reasons: your wife believes and wants you to go to church with her; you have friends who believe and you go for the friendships; etc. The point here is that a person who is attending the church, may want to be known as being in the family of Christ. Yet, that person’s actions and lifestyle clearly show they are not saved. That person is a “so-called brother”. That person’s actions are leading others to think lowly of the church of Christ. The church is being harmed, in that people would rather die in their sin than be associated with the church.

V. 12 - “For what have I to do with judging outsiders?” - There are two concepts being taught here: keeping the church from the stain of sin, and keeping the church from judging non-Christians.
The first has been addressed above in 5:1-8. (Although those verses deal with one particular individual and sin, the concept can be used wherever sin in the body of the church is encountered.)
The second concept is the church (and Christians) are not the judges for the world and non-Christians. That is God’s right and responsibility. We are not the judge, we are the messengers of God to mankind so that people can come to know and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are to take the gospel into all the world.

There is an interesting concept being discussed here and in verse 13. It seems the idea is that the church is not to stand on barrel on the street corner screaming at the non-church world, “You are sinners! Your are going to hell! You can go to heaven just like me!” Wowsers. Doesn’t that make you want to join that church? Doesn’t just make you want join up and become a Christians so you can become just like that person? Our pastor told us that our gospel message is not "Accept Jesus or you are going to hell!" No, the message Christ spoke was "I have come that you might live!" (See: John 3:16; 5:40; 6:40, 63; 10:10; 13:5; 17:3; 20:31)

I do not think I am able to fully discuss this here and now. I feel as if I am surfing over the tops of a deeper more complicated subject. That being said: This is NOT saying the church (Christians) should stand by silently, or turn away and not look at the moral carnage in our society. The church (and Christians) must say when things are not right - rape, murder, stealing, lying (especially politicians), etc. I think the message from that point must be, “You can be a better person than you are acting now.” Or, “God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life.” (See note 2) Through Jesus Christ each of us can be better than we are now.

Jesus can bring you peace of soul and spirit. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mat. 28:19-20)
“Then he said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.'” (Mark 16:15-16)
“He also said to them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.’” (Luk. 24:46-48)

I think most people know and understand they are not perfect. (A few are delusional otherwise.) While they may not be perfect, they think they may be just good enough, or at least better than ‘that guy’. There is a better way, through Jesus Christ. We can have forgiveness of sin through Him. We can have newness of life in Him. We can have peace with God through Him.

When someone accepts Jesus Christ, believes in Him and turns their life over to Him they become part of His body - the church. You and I, believers also, are now on the same plain with them - we all are forgiven sinners, not by our own doing, but by the blood of Christ. Any authority we may have comes to us through Jesus, not our doing or accomplishments. The Holy Spirit can give us the words we need to say to a fellow-believer who is sinning.

But when it comes to ‘judging’ a non-believer... Way above our ‘pay-grade’. There is only One who has the authority to do that. See the following verses. (Psa 7:11, 50:6, 68:5, 75:7; Acts 10:42; Rom 2:16, 14:10; Heb 4:12, 12:23,  13:4; Rev 4:2, 5:1, 20:12)

V. 13 - “those who are outside, God judges” - God will judge  those outside the family of God, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The only one with the authority to judge - i.e., assign to heaven or condemn to hell - is Jesus, who has been given the authority by God the Father. When all has been said and done - at the final judgment - each person will have been recorded, or not recorded, in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (See: Rev. 20:11-13)

As Christians, our job is to show a better way to worship the Lord, not pour condemnation and judgment on those being lost. We can give them hope. We can present an option for them. We can warn them of the coming judgment of the Lord. It is their choice. This basic message has been given to us (the Jew first, and now the Gentile) - warn them, show them the way.

“If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn’t turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have rescued yourself.” (Eze. 33:8-9) Unfortunately (for this discussion, at least), that verse from Ezekiel says what I have just said not to do - warn them they are going to die and go to hell. I hope I have put a positive spin on a serious subject. The Christian’s job is to show the way of Salvation through Jesus Christ. We don’t need to necessarily scare people into heaven, but there is no sugar coating it. Unbelieving sinners will not be in heaven, but in eternal torment. There is a better future in Christ. Please take it.

“Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” - Quoted from “So you shall purge the evil from among you.” (Deut. 13:5 (NASB)); Deut. 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21). Paul leaps back into the dealings in the church. We do not judge non-believers, that is God’s bailiwick. We can judge church members - we can’t say whether or not they are actually saved because we cannot know if they actually believe or are just saying so. Only God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - know that. But if a fellow church member, a believer, is sinning we have the authority to call them out, to tell or urge them to repent and return to the right way. If they choose to maintain their errant ways, we can ask them to leave the church. We do not need their stain of sinful behavior to sully the church’s image or witness here on earth.

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Note 1: “DEW” = Distance Early Warning. This was an outgrowth of the nuclear arms race that ran through the last 40 years of the 1900’s. There were radar facilities in Alaska that would give warning if Russia decided to launch an atomic attack by rocket.
Note 2: From “Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?”, Campus Crusade for Christ, pg. 1.

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End of Chapter - 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 (NASB)

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 - Clean Your House.

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Sincerity and Truth - Unleavened

V. 6 - “Your boasting is not good” - What do they have to boast about? Could they be boasting about how forgiving they are to the offending man (see verses 5:1-5, above)? Could they be proud they are not being judgmental? Are they proud they have no lower limits to what they will tolerate?

“Look, see how forgiving and tolerant we are!”
Survey says, "Braaaack! Wrong!”

“A little leaven...” - It doesn’t take much evil to corrupt a spiritual life. It only takes one person committing sin in a church, and the enemies of the church paint ALL believers as hypocrites and failures.

I have started to bake bread (Yes, it is easier to buy a loaf from the store, but not as satisfying!). When measuring out the ingredients for bread, the proportions are about 800 gm of flour and 4 gm of yeast (that is about 4 cups flour and 5 tsp yeast) to make two loaves of bread. The yeast is about 1/200th the amount of flour. The admixture of yeast (that is “leaven”) and flour in bread is symbolic of something pure being tainted. This is a vivid picture because most of us love bread, doughnuts, and pastry, and do not tend to think of the bread as evil.

In the Old Covenant, “unleavened bread” - i.e., bread made without yeast - was the only bread acceptable for sacrificial offerings in the Tabernacle or Temple. Perhaps the reason God stipulated unleavened bread was as a continual reminder that purity or perfection is required to come before Him. Likewise the animals sacrificed on the altar had to be without blemish.

A little spot of sin, blackens the whole person. Only sinless perfection can stand before the Lord. Jesus Christ is the source of that sinless perfection. We can receive His nature when we accept and believe in Him as Lord and Savior. All will be judged at the final judgment. Those who have rejected Christ will be cast away. Those who have believed in Jesus, will be defended by Him - they are forgiven, and have received newness of life, the life of Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation for us, because He took it all upon Himself. There will be no spot or stain in or on us. Not because we are worthy, but because He took our sin upon Himself.

V. 7 - “Clean out the old leaven” - Paul here likens “a little sin” in the church to leaven. It only takes a little to change the nature of the body. Get rid of the offending situation. Scrape the bowl clean! Wash it. The new dough in the clean bowl will be clean and pure. Do not allow sinful behavior by church members be the definition of the Christian church the world sees.

“You are in fact unleavened” - You are Jesus’ own people, or body. You are as pure as He is pure. Believe it and live it. You are unadulterated. Demonstrate that to the whole world. A stained church allows the world to believe that Christ Himself may be stained and not worth the faith in Him. It doesn't take much to cause problems.

An example: One of our sons has decided he no longer believes in Christ (we continually pray for his return). He also hates Donald Trump. He told us that he was doubting our Christian faith because we supported Trump for President. How could a Christian support such an evil person? It made no difference to him that we were not looking to Trump as a church pastor, leader, or savior - only as the best choice for the secular job of President running in 2020. There were only two choices - both were flawed men. I realized as we talked with him that we and he were operating on different sets of information. His information painted Trump as an evil, corrupt villain. We knew he is not perfect, but the data we had showed him to be a far better )choice than the alternative. So, the conclusion I drew was he considered that my choice of political candidate meant my Christian faith was suspect.

“Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” - The lamb without blemish was sacrificed to free the Israelite families from bondage in Egypt. (Exo 12:21ff) The lambs sacrificed on the altar of the Tabernacle or Temple washed the sins that had been committed for the past year. The Israelites also brought a sacrifice to cover sins they had committed, not just at Passover. (Lev 4, 5) Christ, being the Lord’s Passover Lamb, was a perfect sinless sacrifice for all sin for all time. The Israelites had to present the sacrifice to have their sins forgiven. They could not ‘piggyback’ on their neighbor’s sacrifice - they had to do it themselves. Similarly, you and I cannot expect to receive forgiveness of sin based on Christ’s sacrifice if we do not believe and accept it into our own lives. Our parents cannot do it for us; our brothers or sisters cannot.  Eternal life and forgiveness of sin is available to all, but only efficacious for the few. (Mat 22:14)

V. 8 - “Therefore let us celebrate the feast” - Not talking about a meal here. Although there will be a big celebration when Christ returns and we are all assembled with Him and the Father. See: “Then he said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!’ He also said to me, ‘These words of God are true.’” (Rev. 19:9).

This could be a hint toward taking communion, where we celebrate or remember His death and resurrection.

Personally, I think this is an image of the joy we should be sharing because we are in Christ. We have eternal life in Him. We are free from sin in Him.

“the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” - There can be no true celebration of Christ’s wondrous gift of salvation if we are tainted by malice and wickedness. If we hold grudges with hatred and anger toward someone, how can we be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit? Not possible. If you have ill-will toward someone, and want to see them hurt or suffer - the love of God, the power of the Holy Spirit is not in you.

This verse is addressed to the church in which the offending person (see verses 6:1-5) is being chastised or removed from fellowship because of sinful behavior. The church must take this action with seriousness, reverence, and maybe a little fear of the Lord. It does no good for the church members to get angry and wish harm on the offender. The body of Christ suffers when one of the believers is mired in sinful behavior. That destroys the witness to the unsaved world. If the church does not have better morals than the world, why take on the ‘baggage’ of the church? So: the church cannot abide by immoral behavior (in the Corinthian church it was a man and his mother acting like lovers (that just kind of makes me go, “Ewwww!”). The church must remove that person, or lead them to repentance. If repentance is rejected and there is no change of heart or action, those people must be removed from fellowship in the church.

That is where is this verse begins to take on meaning. Sincerity and truth must guide the church body as it disciplines the offender. Anger has no place here, wickedness would take precedence, rather than a spirit of humility and grace. The desire to punish would overwhelm love and discipline.

Wickedness has no place in the church - whether in immoral behavior, or hard hearts and evil attitudes. Malice has no place in the church - whether between individuals or between the church body and an individual.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 - Rules For harmonious living

Introduction: In the previous chapters, Paul reprimanded them for separating themselves into factions based on who had preached the gospel to them. He also warned them away from false doctrines and teachings. Paul now begins to deal with specific problems in the Corinthian church. In some ways, the church in Corinth is pattern of the church down through the ages - not a good pattern in some cases, but one in which we can see similar problems in our own church gathering.

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Chap. 5 - Rules For harmonious living
5:1-5 - Immorality and Arrogance
5:6-8 - Clean Out
5:9-13 - Keep the House Cleanx

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1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

1 Cor 5:1-5 - Immorality and Arrogance.

V. 1 - “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you” - According to some commentaries... because the area of sex was one of the most dramatic places where the ethics of Greek culture clashed with the ethics of Jesus. Sexual immorality was an accepted fact of life for the common person in Greek culture, but it was not to be so among the followers of Jesus. (See note 1, below) Actually, in our pop culture (movies, TV, music, sports), sexual immorality has become quite prevalent, both on screen and in real life. Consider in movies or TV how many times a young man and woman meet, for the first time, and it doesn't take long for them to be ripping each other’s clothes off in order to have sex. There are no recriminations, feelings of guilt, pledges to abstain written in the script. Did you know there is a pornography ‘academy award’ (not connected directly to the ‘Oscars’) but with the same premise - an award for the best sexual performer, best sex scenes, etc?

So it is not just the Greek culture from which the church needed to distance itself. Our own culture is intensely over-sexualized. I am not sure our society has a clear picture of ‘purity’.

"immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles” - Sexual immorality which even made the Greeks uncomfortable! This person (or persons) was having sex with his Dad’s wife - that’s his mother or step-mother, I don’t know which. The implication is that this was not just a one-time thing - which would be bad in and of itself - but this was an ongoing affair, also it seems this was happening while the father was still alive. Kinda makes you shudder and say, “Ewwwww!” This was so bad, even the Greeks thought it was out-of-bounds! Look back through the major prophets, sexual sin, especially infidelity, was one of the sins God hated most. Leaving God for other gods or religions was likened to prostitution. The relationship of God to a believer is pictured as a marriage. (See Note 2, below.) God equates unfaithfulness to Him with harlotry and prostitution.

V. 2 - “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead” - There were notes on arrogance in 1 Cor 4:6, and 4:18, above. Why do they think they had license to do anything - anything - they pleased? Did they think they could act out with complete impunity? As Christians, did they misinterpret the freedoms they gained from the Law? They knew the Law no longer applied to them, if they were in Christ. They should have known the sacrifices, the holy day observances, the Sabbath rules no longer applied. Christ did away with all that. Did they think the the Ten Commandments no longer applied also? Did Christ negate the Law? A friend of mine, Gay Stavney, had a premise he often quoted, “A conclusion drawn based on illogical means cannot be refuted by logic.” A corollary is: “You cannot get back to the truth using logic, when the starting premise is faulty or illogical.”

They seemed to have started with the premise that nothing in the Law (for example: Exodus through Deuteronomy) applied to them any longer. Also, Gentile Christians appeared to think the Law had never applied to them. Their logical conclusion: they were not bound in any way to its instructions. They were free. If the truth is going to be told, that’s not quite true. Above all, God values faithfulness to Him, which includes moral purity.

“the one who had done this deed” - The Corinthian church should have been upset by the immorality of these people. Their behavior should have caused so much distress in the church community that the only thing they could have done was chastise the offenders. Warn them. Talk with them. If they do not stop this immoral behavior, they will be removed from the church.

Doing nothing about it is tacitly approving the behavior. This is not right. Not only were these people committing sin, the church was not sufficiently incensed to do anything about it.

V. 3 - “For I... have already judged him“ - I get mixed messages from this verse. One of the first things that comes to mind is: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” (Matt. 7:1) Jesus says something similar in Lk 6:37. However, Jesus also chastises the ‘spiritual leaders’ for their hypocrisy when they don’t rightly condemn sin. (See: Lk 12:57) Likewise in Jn 7:24, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” Is there a conflict in these varied verses? Most probably not. Jesus was not teaching us to stay silent in the evidence of sin. The standard you use to make moral and value judgments can also be used against you. Using scriptures, or God’s commands, as the basis for judgment is appropriate.

V. 4-5 - “In the name of our Lord Jesus... I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan” - Based on the information Paul has (he considers the information true), decided that action needs to be taken against this person. The idea of delivering someone to Satan is mind boggling. I am thinking, “What?! Condemning that person to hell?” This does not compute!

I am not sure if the church member is saved and has fallen completely carnal, or if the person is not at all saved and has infiltrated the church. For now, I will assume the offending man is a Christian, but deep into sin, thereby carnal. He is not living in the power of the Holy Spirit! (A huge understatement) This of course means that the image of the church and of Christ is being harmed by his behavior. Why would any person want to be involved with a group of people that condone such evil behavior?

I do not believe Paul was condemning this man to hell. First, Paul does not have that authority or power - that is God’s alone. Second, the rest of the sentence clarifies the ‘deliver’ statement

“so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” - I think this means the man will, somehow and I don’t know how, be allowed to be tormented by Satan. I look back to the Old Testament and the amount of turmoil and pain the Israelites went through because they would not obey. Attacked and over-run by Assyria, beset on all sides by Philistines, Edomites, Ammonites, Egypt, and exile in Babylon. Many of these trials were allowed by God in order to get their attention, to urge them to repent and fall into the loving arms of the Lord. But they refused to listen (Zech. 7:11-13), and so a great wrath fell upon them. Paul may be asking the Lord to allow the man to be persecuted by Satan, in hopes the man will repent, and be forgiven (or recognize the grace and forgiveness that are his because of Jesus’ death and sacrifice), and return to the church, to Jesus. If the man was not a believer, then perhaps the persecution by Satan will pierce his conscience, and he will realize there is a better way - the way of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Note 1: “Study Guide for 1 Corinthians 5”, David Guzik, 2013.
Note 2: I don’t understand how one man can have several wives, but one woman cannot have several husbands. This is not clearly spelled out in the OT laws and instructions. For example if a woman is divorced, and she marries another man, she cannot go back to marry the first man again. (See: Jer. 3:1)
Note 3: The ‘New American Standard Bible’ (NASB) uses ‘immorality’ here for a term that means sexual immoral behavior. (The Greek word is the source for our word ‘pornography’.) >***