1 Corinthians 5: 1-5

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James_Sorrells

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Completely new to the forum…avid listener to Catholic Answers Live Podcast. I am turning here for guidance on
specifically verse 5 in this passage. I think about the book that is offered in the shop…Something about difficult sayings. I don’t understand why Paul suggests handing over this man to Satan. I read about his sin…sleeping with his father’s wife. (Stepmom). I don’t debate that this is a mortal sin. My question lies within Paul’s lack of repentance suggested at this moment in scripture. His suggestion seems quite harsh. I would like to know what background information I may be missing. I would never debate that Paul is at fault for his guidance either. I am just curious about this verse.

5 you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
 
To answer your question, this is a case of the Church exercising discipline over its members in order to bring the member to repentance. In this passage, Paul is indignant for two reasons. First, a member of the Church is committing an egregious sexual sin against his father by sleeping with his father’s wife. Even in the day and age of first century Greece, which was extremely sexually open, this was considered a grievous scandal that even pagans would take notice of. In this sense, not only is the man committing adultery, but the very public nature of this sin brings public shame upon the Church and upon the name of Christ, which this man bears. In essence he is blaspheming the name of Christ. The other reason he is extremely upset is that the Church, rather than being grieved over the sinful behavior that is publicly bringing shame to the Church, they are actually approving of it in the name of Christian freedom. We were not saved so that we could live licentiously, we were saved so that through Christ we can do the works that God has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:8-10). This is an issue both for the individual and corporately for the Church body. If we believe that Jesus is Lord, and we believe that Christian lives should reflect that fact that Jesus is our Lord, then this is a serious issue.

Paul is urging the Church body to exercise its rightful authority to impose Church discipline. Essentially he is imposing excommunication. However, this isn’t done simply for the sake of punishment. The goal of excommunication is always rehabilitative. The goal is to demonstrate to the unrepentant heart the seriousness of their sin, and the consequences they could have if they continue in that sin. The hope is that the sinner will come to repentance and be restored to fellowship with the community of faith. And in this respect, it appears to have been effective. It seems that in Paul’s follow-up letter he speaks of this man specifically who has come to repent and urges the Corinthian Church to forgive him and readmit him back into the community of faith (2 Corinthians 2:5-11).

Keep in mind, that this isn’t something that Paul invented. In Israel, people who rejected the Sinai covenant were put out of the assembly. Even Jesus speaks of the practice in Matthew 18. But always, this is discussed in the context of bringing the sinner to repentance and reconciliation (Matthew 18:15-20; Matthew 18:21-35).

This isn’t harsh. It is actually the loving thing to do if you care about that man’s salvation. This should also give us pause to think about what would Paul say regarding the current sexual scandals in the Church today, and whether the Church’s response has been faithful.
 
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