In yesterday’s study we concluded by saying that Paul instructs the church to turn the sinning member over to Satan for the salvation of his spirit.
There is some difference of interpretation among commentators as to what that means. The word which is translated as “sinful nature” is the word for “flesh.” Therefore, some have held that Paul means to say that if some kind of judgment comes upon the man’s physical body, it will be beneficial for his spirit. Certainly, this could be the case, although had Paul chosen the word for “body,” that meaning would have been clearer. I think the New International Version has chosen the right translation of “sinful nature.” I think that is what Paul has in mind. He is not talking about inflicting some kind of physical judgment on the man, but rather the kind of handing over to the outworking of sin in his life that, by the grace of God, he might discover what sin does, turn from it and be saved.
That is a hard thing to want to see in the life of someone else: to have someone so turned over to sin, disobedience, and rebellion that they might actually experience the results of their transgressions, so that they might turn away from sin and back to Jesus Christ once again. And yet, that is what Paul is saying must be done for the person’s eternal good. If you overlook sin and suggest that it is alright to be a Christian and do those things, one lives the kind of life which is such a denial of the Gospel that when they perish in sin at the end, there is grave question whether they were really born again in the first place. Perhaps it is right to say they never were. Paul is urging them, “Don’t cover up the sin. Don’t pretend that it’s alright to profess the name of Christ and live sinfully, because it is not. And the good of the person demands it.”
The second reason why the offender has to be treated in this way is for the good of the church. He does not want this church in Corinth to go on in the ways of the world. They already have the mentality of the world so far as wisdom is concerned. They think the way to get ahead is to be smart in the philosophical sense and not to seek out the wisdom of the Gospel found in Christ. But just as they are in danger of being worldly in terms of wisdom, so they are in danger of doing the same thing morally. Paul says you have to be purified unto God, which means being separated unto Christ. This is why he refers to the leaven and Christ. The leaven, or yeast, which symbolizes sin, was put out of the house during Passover. Paul is using that to make his point: If you are going to serve Christ, you must make every effort to get rid of the sin that contaminates. Of course, as you do this, you begin to grow in grace.
At this point he makes two qualifications here. One qualification is that his point about disassociating from a believer who is living in open sin does not apply to the people of the world in general, because you would have no place to go. He is not talking about that kind of separatism. It is not a question of avoiding everyone who is a sinner. What he is concerned about is the purity of the Gospel and the reputation of the church. Both are harmed when either a believer or an alleged believer lives sinfully.
The second qualification is that Paul’s instruction about how to properly deal with sin in the church is not only for this particular sin at issue. It is to be applied in other areas as well. He then goes on to list a number of things that must not be tolerated. Anyone who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a swindler must be disciplined because what they are doing are open sins that are contrary to the Gospel.
