1 Corinthian 5:4-6 - Hand this man over to Satan

5:4,5

So Paul instructs the church when they meet together to “hand this man over to Satan”. Note that Paul says the “power of the Lord Jesus” will be present. There are times to take firm action. It is also important that the action is taken by the church as a whole. Few of us like taking this sort of action, and those that do are likely to be all too willing to take firm action. We need to do this as a church so that firm action is taken when needed, but only when justified by the Bible.  Being “handed over to Satan” means the man would be put out into the world, removed from the covering of the church. “For the destruction of the flesh”. His actions were the result of his human nature and its sinful desires dominating, this needed to be destroyed. “So that his spirit may be saved”. While the action was firm, the purpose was not hateful, but for the salvation of the man. Paul was looking for him to repent and be restored.

5:6

As well as the sin of the man involved, there is the problem of the church’s failure to address the matter properly. Before we look at this, it is worth noting that it is the man who is the focus of attention, rather than the woman involved. He is seen as the primary guilty party. On the latter issue, it is worth remembering that the church in Thyatira is rebuked for tolerating sexual immorality (Rev 2:20), so many of our churches today are open to the same rebuke. Paul tells them why they need to take action, “a little yeast leavens the whole batch”. Sin that is not dealt with grows and contaminates.