1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 5
The Necessity of Church Discipline. 1 Cor. 5, 1–13.
The apostle's sentence: V. 3. For I verily, as absent in. body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath, so done this deed, v. 4. in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, v. 5. to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
The case was so clear that Paul, on his part, had reached a decision. The Corinthian Christians were present in the midst of the scandal every day and seemed to experience no inconvenience, whereas the apostle, although not present according to the body, but only in spirit, even so writhed under the insult which had been inflicted upon the Church of God by this flagrant trespass.
And so there was only one sentence to be given: I have already passed judgment, as though I were present, upon him that in this manner has perpetrated this.
Note how the apostle emphasizes the flagrancy, the heinousness, of the offense. It was a case in which long negotiations and discussions were superfluous; it concerned a sin which both Greek and Roman law stamped as infamy, which represented the height of unnatural vice.
And here, under these conditions, a man flouted his infamy in the sight of the entire congregation. Only one decision was possible under the circumstances. The energetic and prompt conduct on the part of the absent apostle forms a contrast all the more striking over against the slackness of those among whom the shameful scandal had occurred.
The apostle now delivers his sentence: to deliver the man of this kind to Satan for destruction of his flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. But he also shows in what way the sentence is to be spoken: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you have assembled for a formal meeting, and my spirit, together with the power of the Lord Jesus. The Corinthian Christians were, then, to call a meeting of the brethren, and in this meeting, under the directing influence of Paul's spirit, his mind in the matter now being known, they were to pronounce sentence.
And this was to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, in whom alone every church act has validity; the sin being an offense against His holy name, judgment must be passed as coming from Him.
And it must be uttered with the power of our Lord Jesus, with that peculiar church power with which every Christian congregation is vested, that of retaining the sins of the impenitent sinners, as long as they do not repent. Through His power also the content of the appalling sentence could be carried out.
The offender was to be delivered to Satan, by formal resolution deprived of his relationship to the Lord of light and thrust out into the kingdom of darkness, where the god of this world has jurisdiction, 2 Cor. 4, 4; Eph. 2, 2; 6, 12; Col. 1, 13.
For the destruction of the flesh the incestuous person was to be delivered. By indulging in such a heinous sin, the offender had yielded his body to the power of Satan. And Satan, through the effects of sin, perhaps of this very transgression, would destroy the body, would afflict it with diseases peculiar to such an unnatural vice and voluptuous behavior.
And thus the exalted Lord would use the devil himself as His instrument, in order to work in the mind of the transgressor a fear and horror of his sin and its consequences, that eventually the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. By means of the punishment which Satan carries out as a righteous judgment, the Lord hopes to effect a cure for the man and thus to snatch his soul like a brand from the burning.
Satan has nothing but the everlasting destruction of both soul and body of the sinner in mind, but the Lord, merciful even when the decrees of His holiness must be carried out, plans to use the punishment as a means to call the sinner to repentance.
In this way many a sinner, upon whom the sentence of excommunication had to be pronounced, may, according to the gracious intention of the Lord, have come to the realization of his transgression through the effects and consequences of his sin, and, like the thief on the cross, turned to his Savior even in the last hour. On the great day of the Lord, when the salvation or perdition of every human being will be pronounced, many a person may thus be placed on the right hand of the Lord, because the gracious intention of the Lord was realized in this manner.
Note: A Christian congregation must always be mindful of the fact that the purpose of excommunication is not the destruction, but the salvation of the soul.