SERMON: “Immorality and Church Discipline, Part 2” (1 Cor. 5:6–13)
“Immorality
and Church Discipline, Part 2”
(1 Cor. 5:6–13)
Series: “1 Cor: Holiness from Messes” #18 Text: 1
Corinthians 5:1–5
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: February
1, 2026
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
Introduction
It’s amazing how something small can turn into something so
very big. James talks about this in his
letter; in James 3, he notes that the tongue can change the whole course of the
body. He uses examples like how bits can
move the large frames of horses, a rudder can shift direction of ship, and a flame
can set the world ablaze. The small muscles
of the tongue can construct or tear down a local church.
Of course, it’s not just our words that can affect others. Actions likewise influence fellow believers
within these walls. It saddens me to
know that the ungodly behavior of Christians, whether it be self-justified anger
or unforgiveness, disillusions watchful young people and the other Christians,
driving them away from the church. Such
activities don’t happen in a vacuum, and neither does tolerance of sin — it communicates
a lack of conviction, which can cause some to leave and others to view sin
permissively.
This is why purity in the church is so important. Remember that last time, we noted that there
was a Christian who crossed a moral line that even unbelievers rarely crossed —
he was in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother. And, surprisingly, Paul condemns the church
as a whole for allowing this sin to stand.
They tolerated sin rather than calling it out, refusing to practice
church discipline. So, Paul told them
that, for the good of the sinner, they should do the hard thing and excommunicate
him.
Today, we are looking at the rest of this chapter, and we’ll
see that church discipline benefits the whole church. Some might falsely think that church
discipline hurts the church or is against God’s will, but Paul corrects that
here. First, the church should
excommunicate for the sake of purity (vv. 6–8).
Second, the church should excommunicate for the sake of obedience (vv.
9–13).
Let’s consider our collective need for discipline together
with the first point:
First, the Church Should Excommunicate for the Sake of Purity (vv. 6–8)
Your boasting is
not good. Do you not know that a little
leaven leavens the whole lump? Clean out
the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact
unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed. 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.
Paul rebukes the church for its pride. They perhaps thought that it was better that
they were allowing this man to stay in their congregation. It may be that he was an influential man in Corinth,
which also might be why the authorities hadn’t punished him in a civil sense,
and this made the Corinthian Christians feel like they had a powerful person in
their midst. It may also be that they
thought they had a more sophisticated view on the matter than the Apostle
Paul.
Whatever the case, they were even boasting in themselves
over this issue rather than mourning the sin in their midst. What would have been good for them is to have
removed him (v. 2). Yet, they trumpeted
their pride in ignorance. They might
have even said that it’s just one case of sin, a small part of the congregation.[1]
Paul asks a rhetorical question: “Do you not know…?” He then gives them an illustration that the
Jewish converts in Corinth should know instinctively. He talks to them about leaven.
Leaven was a substance that caused bread to rise. We often think of leaven and yeast as being
synonymous, then, and some translations even render this as “yeast.” However, there is a subtle difference between
them. Leaven was dough that people
allowed to ferment; they would then take a small amount to mixed with another
lump of dough to cause it to rise.[2] It was similar to how people use sourdough
starters today.
Incidentally, understanding this difference might clear up
another point of confusion. Those who
think of leaven like yeast wonder why Jews were allowed to drink wine during
Passover, which contained yeast from fermentation. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the
Jews were only looking to rid their houses of chametz, of old leaven,
not yeast, which they didn’t use in baking.[3] They could then make new leaven, which might
have also had some sanitation benefits.[4]
Because only a little leaven can cause bread to rise, it’s a
picture of influence. When there is sin,
it can spread as people are puffed up with pride. Jesus had also warned of the leaven of the teaching
of Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt 16:6, 12).
Corruption can permeate everything.
That brings us to a different way of thinking about
this. Unchecked sin also works like a
spiritual infection.[5]
It might be a small sickness, but if it’s
left untreated, eventually kills the body.[6] It can spread through the whole local body of
believers.
It is vital, then, that churches practice discipline. As the Second London Baptist Confession
reminds us, “The purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and
error,” and some so degenerate that they cease to be true churches at all. Paul tells us this isn’t optional.
So, in the next verse, he commands, “Clean out the old
leaven.” This strong verb calls believers
to urgent, immediate action.[7]
He’s telling “believers to stop
tolerating immoral behavior.”[8] They need to sweep the local house of “leaven”
as Jews would before the feast (Exod. 12:15), thus removing the unrepentant
immorality in their midst.
Interestingly, Paul reminds them that they are already
unleavened. Of course, he’s not now saying
it doesn’t matter if the man stays or goes.
Rather, the apostle is reminding them of the gospel reality of their
spiritual cleansing. Paul does not
say, “Become holy so that you may belong to Christ;” he says, “You belong to
Christ — therefore live holy.”[9] In other words, this is motivation to live
out who they are in Christ.
Even in Paul’s rebukes and commands, there is a pastoral tenderness. They are sanctified in Christ (1 Cor. 1:2) and
positionally clean. They are living
practically in an inconsistent manner, but they can live differently because of
who Christ is to them.
Paul grounds everything in Christ, writing, “For Christ, our
Passover, also was sacrificed.” This is
one of the clearest statements in the New Testament identifying Jesus as the
fulfillment of Passover. Just as the
lamb’s blood shielded Israel from judgment, Christ’s blood shields us from
wrath.
And when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, the house had to
be cleansed of leaven! So, because
Christ is specifically our Passover lamb who we worship every Sunday, our churches
should always be free of leaven.[10] This isn’t a goal for just one week of the
year, but every week.[11] Sin has no right place among God’s redeemed
people.
It’s a blessed reality when the church is living according
to God’s ways. It’s embracing all that the
gospel says, and it does so in sincerity and truth. That brings us to the next verse as Paul
concludes this image.
He says in v. 8 that we should “celebrate the feast.” Some might take this as a literal command to
celebrate the Passover, but Christ has already fulfilled it. Moreover, in context, this is talking about a
new normal for the Christian life, one that is always free of leaven. Paul is speaking metaphorically here.
Under the new covenant, much of the ceremonial has passed
away, though the moral pattern remains.[12] Thus, Paul gives a negative and a positive
application of this command that doesn’t rest in ceremony. As one commentary notes, negatively, we are
not to live our lives with “the old leaven” of “malice and evil,” but instead
with “the unleavened bread” of “sincerity and truth.”[13] God’s people celebrates redemption not with
literal unleavened bread but with holy lives.[14]
And this celebration is nowhere more visible than at the
Lord’s Table. Paul states clearly in 11:27–28,
“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must test himself, and in so doing
he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” Just as celebrating communion while clinging
to sin is a contradiction, so is allowing sin in worship in general, either within
the heart or within the congregation.
Throughout our study in this book, we’ve said that God can
make holiness from our messes. Church
discipline is an important component of that, both personally and corporately. But, if practicing it to protect our purity
isn’t enough, then we should do it because we we’re commanded to do so, which brings
us to the next point:
Second, the Church Should Excommunicate for the Sake of Obedience (vv. 9–13)
I wrote you in my
letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; I did not at all mean
with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and
swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate
with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or greedy, or an
idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with
such a one. For what have I to do with
judging outsiders? Are you not to judge
those who are within the church? But
those who are outside, God will judge. Remove
the wicked man from among yourselves.
Beginning in verse 9, Paul addresses a misunderstanding from
a previous letter he wrote. This letter
doesn’t exist anymore. This is just one
of those interesting places where we see that the people in Scripture had
access to more than we do, but that doesn’t mean that we lack. God preserved what we need to know, and in
this case, we can see that the Corinthians mistakenly (or purposefully)
misapplied Paul’s previous instructions to them.[15]
So, Paul immediately qualifies his instructions here. One study notes, “In Paul’s time, Jews
regarded Gentiles as sexually immoral (1 Thess 4:5; Eph 4:17–19).”[16] Paul says that Christians aren’t to be
isolationists or monks hiding in a cave, though. This was a mistake that some Christians made
a few hundred years later, and they discovered that they can just as easily bring
the immorality of the world with them in their hearts to their secluded desert
places.
In fact, Christians are called to live in the world as
witnesses. Jesus prayed not that we be
taken out of the world, but protected from the evil one (John 17:15). We can eat with unbelievers (cf. 10:27), work
alongside them, and even build relationships with them for the sake of the
gospel. We can fellowship with outsiders
even though they are in sin because our Lord did, as long as we have the same
heart for their conversion as He did (cf. Mark 2:16–17). Of course, Paul gives qualifications later
when he says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be unequally yoked with
unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what
fellowship has light with darkness?” Still,
Paul’s concern isn’t primarily outsiders, and we should have an evangelistic
heart for the lost.
He’s more concerned about the “so-called” brothers living
like the world, as he states in v. 11. He
says, “But now I am writing to you not to associate with any so-called brother
if he is a sexually immoral person, or greedy, or an idolater, or a reviler, or
a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.” (v. 11). Again, Paul is not talking about occasional
sin, where you may struggle but with repentance. He is talking about a settled, defiant pattern
of sin or any kind of immorality that defines a person’s life. That’s why he uses the phrase “so-called
brother.”
If a person bears the name of brother, yet refuses to repent
of such sins, the church must act. He
says to not “even to eat with such a one.”
In the ancient world, meals signified fellowship and acceptance. In Ephesians 5:11, he says, “And do not
participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead even expose them.” Here, Paul is saying not to affirm their
profession.
This is the core of church discipline. At minimum, this includes exclusion from the
Lord’s Supper. But it extends to social
meals that would imply spiritual unity.[17] In 2 Thessalonians 3:6, Paul says, “Now we
command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away
from every brother who walks in an unruly manner and not according to the
tradition which they received from us.” In v. 14, he says, “And if anyone does not
obey our word in this letter, take special note of that person to not associate
with him, so that he will be put to shame.”
He says it just as clearly here: do not associate with such a one.[18]
Again, as we noted last time, this is not hatred. Paul said in v. 5 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.” The goal is (as
surprising as this might seem) shame that leads to repentance (again,
cf. 2 Thess. 3:14) and purity for the rest of the church. It is not rejection for its own sake, nor is
it an announcement that we don’t love someone anymore.
Yet, the so-called Christian in question may not initially perceive
this as love. He or she may come back with
a misapplied quote of Mattew 7:1. Many in
sin state the commandment, “Thou shalt not judge!” However, in v. 12 here, Paul says that’s
exactly what we should do inside the church.
In fact, Paul again repeats in v. 13 that judgment of
outsiders is for God. That’s a different
sphere of authority, anyway. While
Christians should not be undiscerning about what they see in the world, the
implication here is that we must avoid becoming too judgmental of those who
lack the Spirit of truth. As for those
outside, we understand that unbelievers will live like unbelievers, and we must
leave such judgment to God.
But, that means that the judged Christian might feel as
though we are treating unbelievers with more deference and tolerance than him,
and that would be true — a believer who lives in the open, immoral lifestyle of
an unbeliever is a danger to the health of the church.
Paul drives that home by saying, “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” We might think that Paul is continuing his
leaven analogy by saying that the leaven must be removed from the spiritual
house. That’s not exactly correct, as
this is a much stronger image. This
command cites Deuteronomy 17:7, among other five other passages in the Law, and
it refers to the practice of taking a guilty party outside of the walls of a
city for capital punishment.
Now, it’s important
to note that Paul does not refer to literal execution here, nor does anyone in the
early church every interpret him as saying this. We are not Israel under the Old Covenant, and
the church does not have the power to carry out civil penalties. He’s obviously been talking about church
discipline here, so, again, we’re not take this as a literal command.[19]
Rather, Paul is
saying that the judgment against this so-called brother means complete
expulsion. Some churches are satisfied
with partial discipline, like just taking the Lord’s Supper from the
person. However, Paul says that the unrepentant
individual is removed from everything, the life of the church. The offending party has been presumably
receiving gospel preaching his entire time there, but it has made no impression,
and it is time for him to remember what life is outside of the church. Yes, the goal is repentance, but that can be
called for outside the church, where other outsiders are called to repent. While some unbelievers may sometimes visit the
church (cf. 14:24–25), their purpose is presumably not to flout sin before the
congregation in direct violation to biblical commands. The church should condone sin in its walls.
Conclusion
This is certainly a
call for each of us to strive for the lives of purity that God has given us in
Christ. We are pure, so we should live
lives that are unleavened by sin. While
we may have battles, we should not embrace any kind of immorality so that we
are known by it. We must walk in the
holiness of God through the power of the Spirit. We also cannot allow others to “leaven” our
hearts with their sin.
Moreover, we should understand that God calls His local
churches to strive for that same purity.
No church should become known by the sin it allows. That’s why church membership is important,
and that’s why we engage in church discipline.
If it is found that there is an evildoer among us that bears the name
brother, and he will not repent when confronted, then there is biblically no
other option but to remove him from our midst.
[1] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament,
(Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), 1 Co 5:6.
[2] J. I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Ajith Fernando, Eds., ESV Global Study
Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 1612.
[3] Andrew David Naselli, Romans–Galatians, 2020, X, 256.
[4] Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter
to the Corinthians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Grand
Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010),
213.
[5] Naselli.
[6] David K. Lowery, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 514.
[7] Robertson, 1 Co 5:7.
[8] John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael
S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R.
Grigoni, and David Bomar, Faithlife Study Bible, (Bellingham, WA:
Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), 1 Co 5:7.
[9] Naselli, 257.
[10] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible,
electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1735.
[11] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and
Unabridged in One Volume, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2253.
[12] J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 101.
[13] Naselli.
[14] MacArthur.
[15] Ciampa and Rosner, 216.
[16] Barry, et. al., 1 Co 5:10.
[17] F. Alan Tomlinson, CSB
Study Bible: Notes, 2017, 1819.
[18] Naselli, 258.
[19] Naselli, 258–259.