Fellowship: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

March 31, 2009 Matthew Keedy Clifton Fellowship

“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner— not even to eat with such a person.” – 1 Cor. 5:9-11

Perhaps most well-known among the passages referring to withholding fellowship is 1 Cor. 5:1-13. This section tells us of the case of a man who “has his father’s wife,” and Paul says the Corinthians were proud of the sin, instead of mourning over it. If they had of been mournful of the sin, they would have put the perpetrator our of their midst. But now Paul calls for them to separate from this man. He is to be “delivered up to Satan,” so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord (1 Cor. 5:5). The reason is not only to bring the man to repentance, but also to protect the church from further corruption (1 Cor. 5:6).

Paul was greatly troubled by this case, because he had previously written them to disassociate themselves from Christians who are sexually immoral (1 Cor. 5:9). Verse 10 makes it clear Paul is talking about Christians, and not the people of the world. In addition to the sexually immoral, Paul now tells them to withdraw from extortioners, idolaters, drunkards, the covetous, and revilers (1 Cor. 5:11). We understand most of these actions, but “reviler” is a little more difficult. It means one who abuses another person with their speech.

Since Paul is not talking about social contacts with the world, he must be talking about the community and fellowship of the church. This withholding of fellowship would even preclude sharing a meal with the offender.

Bottom line: Those who are called brothers who practice sexual immorality, covetousness, idolatry, slanderous speech, extortion or drunkenness are to be withdrawn from with the hopeful purpose of leading them to repentance and to restoration and salvation of their souls.

Fellowship,