1 Corinthians 5

(1)  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
(2)  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
(3)  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
(4)  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(5)  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
(6)  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
(7)  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
(8)  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(9)  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
(10)  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
(11)  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
(12)  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
(13)  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

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Study Questions

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1. What was the nature of the sin at Corinth? How did Paul learn about it? Verse 1.

2. Since this sin was un-reproved by the church apparently, how do you think it affected the efforts of the church in preaching the gospel? Verse 1.

3. What was the attitude of the church? What should the attitude have been? Verse 2.

4. What should have happened to the guilty party? Verse 2.

5. How can we reconcile Paul’s judgment here with his statement in 1 Corinthians 4:5? Verse 3.

6. What is meant by “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”? Verse 4.

7. Where was the decree of the apostle to be made known? Verse 4

8. What could it possibly mean “to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh”? Verse 5.

9. What is the ultimate purpose and hope in such a process? Verse 5.

10. About what could the Corinthians have been glorying or boasting? Verse 6.

11. How does the metaphor about the leaven apply? Verse 6.

12. To what Old Testament practice does the leaven metaphor allude? Verse 7.

13. Since Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us, what is our obligation? Verse 7.

14. What is “the feast” that we are to keep? What is the “old leaven”? Verse 8.

15. Instead of “old leaven,” what qualities are to characterize the new creature? Verse 8.

16. What does it mean to “company with fornicators”? Verse 9.

17. How does Paul explain his original command? Verse 10.

18. What would a Christian have to do to avoid all association with sinners of this world? Verse 10.

19. What degree of social intermingling is prohibited by Paul? Verse 11.

20. Do the words “such as one” indicate that other sins not repented of could be included? Verse 11.

21. Why should the Corinthians have easily understood his first question? Verse 12.

22. Does Paul’s second question teach that the congregation has a right to sit in judgment of its members? Verse 12.

23. Who determines the fate of those out of Christ such as some heathen in Africa or Asia? Verse 13.

24. What is the church to do in obedience to the plain directions of the Holy Spirit? Verse 13.