1 Corinthians 5:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

NIV: And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?

NASB: You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

CSB: And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this?

NLT: You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

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

NKJV: And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Visitors to Corinth have reported to Paul that a man in the church is having an affair with his father's wife. This sexual immorality was a violation of both Jewish law and even the decadent Roman standards of decency. Obviously, it is also deeply sinful for Christians. Despite this, the Corinthian Christians apparently tolerated it and allowed the man to continue to meet with them.

Paul now seems to say, "How can you continue to be arrogant about your spirituality and social status when you are allowing this to continue?" He confronted their arrogance in the previous chapter (1 Corinthians 4:6, 18-19). With this flagrant sin going on among them, Paul declares that they should be sorrowful instead of prideful. Their pride just doesn't make sense given their circumstances.

Some Bible teachers suggest that the Corinthians were proud because of their wrong belief that freedom in Christ allows Christians to participate in any kind of formerly sinful practice without guilt or fear of consequence. In that sense, they would see this man as an open demonstration of God's grace. It's not clear this was the source of their pride, however. If it was, Paul will quickly correct their distorted thinking.

Paul urges them to do two things in response to this sin. First, he says that they should mourn. He will make clear that this man is harming himself and others. Later in this letter, he will teach that when one member of the church suffers, all suffer together (1 Corinthians 12:26). Every Christian in the church should be sad about this man's ongoing sinful practice.

Second, Paul tells them to remove the man from among them. They must not allow him to continue to meet with them. He will explain his reasons for commanding this in the following verses.

Notably, Paul makes no reference to discipline or action against the woman involved in this relationship. Most Bible scholars assume she was not a Christian or an attender of their meetings (1 Corinthians 5:9–13). Therefore, it was not the church's responsibility to discipline her (1 Corinthians 5:13).

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.

First Corinthians 5 continues Paul's confrontational tone from the previous chapter. There, he warned the arrogant that he might return to them with a rod of correction. Now he points to a specific result of their pride: They have failed to respond to one among them who is openly committing incest. Paul commands them to remove the man from their community by turning him over to Satan for destruction of his flesh, in hopes that his spirit would be saved. They must not even share a meal with a Christian continuing in unrepentant sin. Paul will distinguish between the judgment of believers with that of non-believers. In the next chapter, this will include more details on how to handle conflict, as well as the ability of God to forgive any and all sin.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.