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Timothy: I Corinthians 5:1-13
Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

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.

[King James Version]

Dear God, my Beloved Father, I respectfully offer You my words of praise and gratitude. You are both my God and my Father. You created me, redeemed me, and have allowed me to live in Your love and grace. You nurture me every day through the Eternal Living Word of God. I am thankful to You. I ask Christ to strengthen my physical body, and I ask the Holy Spirit to grant wisdom to my spirit. I thank Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Father, I would like to present my reflection on I Corinthians 5:1-13 as follows:

Verse 1: It is likely that the rumor was spreading everywhere, reaching all the local Churches in the Roman Empire at that time. The rumor was not only about the offender, but also implied that the Church in Corinth was tolerating sexual immorality. Such immorality seemed not to occur among non-believers, showing that the moral standard of those who claim to be God’s people is worse than that of non-believers. This is a major stumbling block that the Church in Corinth has set before non-believers. The event of a Church member having his father’s wife may have been that he married his stepmother or his father’s concubine after his father passed away.

Verse 2: The Church in Corinth was granted many gifts by the Holy Spirit, which caused them to become arrogant and boast about the gifts they received while ignoring the sins in the Church. It is possible that the sinner was someone wealthy, famous, or who made significant financial contributions to the Church, and may have even been one of the elders or deacons. Therefore, the Church ignored the sin of that person. The Church should have been sorrowful about the sin within it and publicly disciplined the sinner.

From verses 3 to 5: Paul, although physically distant from the Church in Corinth, was still spiritually united with them. He prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and used the power of Christ to discipline the sinner. The power of Christ is the authority and strength that He grants to the Church. The discipline is the severance of the relationship between the Church and the sinner, who is no longer considered a child of God and is no longer under God’s protection, allowing Satan to torment them. Paul hoped that by disciplining the sinner, who would suffer torment and even death due to the devil’s influence, they would repent before dying and be saved.

Verse 6: Boasting out of arrogance is never good. Even a small amount of arrogance can lead to many other sins, ruining a person’s entire life. Similarly, tolerating a sin in the Church will also lead to many other sins, destroying the Church.

Verses 7 and 8: Yeast is a representation of sin with a strong influence. “Old yeast” refers to all the evil things of the past that must be removed from the lives of God’s people so that their new life is like an unleavened, holy bread, worthy of being offered as a sacrifice to God. “Christ, our Passover lamb”, means that Christ died for every believer so that God forgives all their sins. Therefore, believers must live a holy life, worshiping God. “Wicked yeast” refers to the bad habits and vices that God’s people may be infected with from society.

From verse 9 to verse 11: Paul did not advise God’s people to stay away from or not communicate with non-believers who were living in sin. However, he advised them to stay away from those who claimed to be God’s people but lived in sin. He even advised them not to eat with such people. Paul listed some typical sins, such as sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, slander, drunkenness, and swindling.

Verses 12 and 13: Paul stated that he only judged those who sinned within the Church, not those who sinned outside of it, because judging those outside the Church is God’s job. Judging those within the Church is the job of God’s people. Jesus Christ said, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20:23). Therefore, the Church must expel sinners from the Church through excommunication.

Dear Father, please awaken each local Church in these last days so that every child of Yours knows how to keep themselves holy and maintain purity within the Church, without tolerating sin within it. I thank You, Father, and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

In the grace of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Timothy Christian Huynh
05/01/2023