New Testament · Letter

1 Corinthians 5

Removing the Leaven

A man is sleeping with his father's wife, and the church is proud of its tolerance. Paul is appalled. Some boundaries must be enforced.

King James Version BSB KJV

1It 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.

2And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

3For 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,

4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5To 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.

6Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7Purge 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:

8Therefore 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.

9I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

10Yet 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.

11But 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.

12For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?

13But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Understand This

1 Corinthians 5, explained

What 1 Corinthians 5 is saying

Paul confronts a case of porneia so extreme that even pagans would find it scandalous—a man living with his father's wife. More shocking than the sin itself is the congregation's arrogance about it. Paul commands excommunication, delivering the offender to Satan 'for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved.' He invokes Passover imagery: Christ our Paschal lamb has been sacrificed, so purge the old leaven.

The background behind it

The sexual relationship described likely violated both Roman law (lex Iulia) and Levitical prohibitions (Lev 18:8). The phrase 'deliver to Satan' may reflect Jewish ban formulas and suggests removal from the protective sphere of the covenant community into the domain of the adversary.

Themes running underneath

Corporate holiness and communal responsibility are paramount—individual sin tolerated becomes corporate contamination. The Passover-leaven metaphor transforms church discipline from punitive action into paschal identity: the community must live as the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Why it still matters

This passage insists that grace without accountability distorts the gospel. The church's calling to holiness requires the courage to address sin within its own household, always with the ultimate aim of restoration.

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Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.