What does 1 Corinthians 5:4 mean?
Paul has passed judgment on a man in the Corinthian church. The man was sleeping with his father's wife, a form of sexual immorality even the pagan culture of the day did not tolerate. In his position as apostle, founder of their church, and spiritual father, Paul has commanded them to remove the man from among them.Now Paul tells them to do so when they meet. In doing so, he elevates the idea of "going to church" beyond a mere meeting of like-minded people to a gathering together in the name of the Lord Jesus. Physical gathering of believers is not merely an option, or a suggestion: it's a command (Hebrews 10:25).
As Paul did in the previous verse, he declares he will be present in spirit at this meeting, as well. Again, it is unclear in exactly what sense Paul means this. He will be present in the form of his letter to them, declaring this man guilty and commanding that he be removed. Paul has also said that he will be present spiritually, either in the sense that all of those who are in Christ are together or beyond that in some special supernatural sense by the power of the Lord Jesus. At minimum, Paul intends them to understand his judgment in this issue to be binding.
Paul is also claiming that it is with the power of the Lord Jesus that he will carry out the sentence for this man described in the following verse.
First Corinthians 5:1–8 contains Paul's primary example of how the Corinthian's pride and self-sufficiency is hurting their community. He has just asked if they would prefer he come in gentleness, or ''with a rod,'' symbolic of harsh judgment. Here, Paul details a grievous sin: the believers in Corinth have failed to rebuke a member who is committing incest with his father's wife. They must remove him from the church and turn him over to Satan in hopes of his ultimate salvation. This is also crucial for the health of the church—just as tiny bits of leaven eventually spread to an entire batch of dough, sin left unconfronted can poison an entire church.
Paul confronts the church in Corinth for failing to respond to a self-identified believer having a sexual affair with his father's wife. He insists they must remove the man from their community—to refuse his participation in the church—referred to here as delivering him to Satan. As the Jewish people would do during Passover, they must remove the leaven of this man and his sin from among them, to prevent it from spreading to the entire church. Christian congregations should not associate with those who claim to be believers, yet flaunt their sin.
