The Danger of Tolerating Sin in the Church
July 3
Paul says that he is aware that someone in the Corinthian church is unashamedly committing sexual immorality. He says it is worse than the immorality that is tolerated among the Gentiles. Specifically, he says that a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. Paul says, “You should be ashamed of yourselves! You should be grieved by such behavior.” (1 Corinthians 5:2)
Literally, Paul says the man has his father’s wife. This does not mean that the man is engaging in sexual relations with his mother, but rather, his stepmother. Under the Old Testament Law, this man would have been stoned to death. (Leviticus 18:8; 22:11; Deuteronomy. 22:30)
So, what specifically does Paul mean when he says that the man has his father’s wife? The Greek word is πορνεία (porneia). We get the English word pornography from this word. The word describes a wide range of sexually immoral behavior including adultery, incest, lewdness, uncleanness[1], and means to engage in sexual immorality of any kind, often with the implication of prostitution.[2] In other words, porneia covers all sexual behavior outside the context of a one-man-one-woman covenant marital relationship.
Elsewhere, Paul insisted that someone who is engaged in such behavior should be dismissed. (2 Thessalonians 3:6) He does the same here. Under his Apostolic authority, Paul says that he is with them in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, so they should hand that man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:4–5) He says this is a very dangerous situation for the church and for this man and basically says the man would be better off dead than to be allowed to continue living in this sin!
Paul is specific in saying that the believers in the church should avoid those who claim to be a believer and are involved in sexually immoral or are greedy, an idolater, or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. He says, “Do not even eat with such a person.” (1 Corinthians 5:11) Again, he specifies that they should not associate with those who claim to be a believer, and does not put such a restriction regarding avoiding unbelievers who exhibit those behaviors.
Application
Most churches do not practice church discipline. “Tolerance” seems to be the order of the day, insisting that we be “gracious” toward all sinners. Paul’s extension of grace is toward unbelievers, perhaps for the purpose of evangelism. However, for those who claim to be a believer, such behavior should be unthinkable for those within the household of faith.
It’s crucial to note that the purpose of church discipline is not to simply excommunicate or punish offending believers, but rather to lovingly restore them to the fellowship of believers. (Galatians 6:1)
[1] Mounce, William D. Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, Zondervan, 2006, p. 1251. Accessed 7/2/26.
[2] Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, Electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., vol. 1, United Bible Societies, 1996, p. 770.