1 Corinthians 5: Purge the Old Yeast
Confronted with a scandalous sin the church tolerated with pride, Paul calls for loving discipline so the whole community stays pure.
1 Corinthians 5 (WEB)
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.
2 You are puffed up, and didn’t rather mourn, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.
3 For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;
10 yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world.
11 But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.
12 For what have I to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”
1 Corinthians 5 (KJV)
1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
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,
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,
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.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
1 Corinthians 5 (ASV)
1 It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that oneof you hath his father’s wife.
2 And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3 For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing,
4 in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7 Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ:
8 wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote unto you in my epistle to have no company with fornicators;
10 not at all meaning with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world:
11 but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat.
12 For what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within?
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.
Summary
Paul has heard a shocking report: a man in the church is living with his father's wife, a sin not even tolerated among the pagans. Worse, the Corinthians are puffed up about it instead of mourning, when they should have removed the offender from their midst. Paul, though absent in body, has already passed judgment as if present, and instructs the gathered church, in the name and power of the Lord Jesus, to deliver this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Their boasting is misplaced: a little yeast leavens the whole lump, so they must purge the old yeast and be a fresh batch, for Christ, their Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for them. Therefore they should keep the feast not with the yeast of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Paul clarifies his earlier letter: he never meant they should avoid all immoral people in the world, or they would have to leave the world entirely. Rather, they must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother yet lives in unrepentant sin—not even eating with such a person. God judges those outside; the church's responsibility is to judge those within and to put away the wicked person from among themselves.
Main Characters
- Paul — The apostle who, grieved by a tolerated scandal, calls the church to act with both firmness and a redemptive purpose.
- The church at Corinth — A congregation proud rather than mourning over open sin, summoned to exercise loving, purifying discipline.
- The unrepentant man — A member living in flagrant immorality, to be removed for the sake of the church's purity and his own ultimate salvation.
- Christ our Passover — Jesus, the Passover lamb sacrificed in our place, whose work makes the church a new, unleavened lump of sincerity and truth.
Key Verse
1 Corinthians 5:7 (WEB)
Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.
Lessons Learned
- Tolerating open, unrepentant sin harms the whole church, not just the individual.
- Pride about freedom can blind a church to sin it should be mourning.
- Loving discipline aims at the sinner's restoration, not merely his removal.
- Christ our Passover frees us to live as a new, unleavened people of sincerity and truth.
- Sin should bring mourning, not pride. “You are puffed up, and didn’t rather mourn” (1 Corinthians 5:2, WEB). A healthy church grieves over sin instead of excusing it.
- A little yeast spreads. “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6, WEB). Unaddressed sin quietly corrupts the whole community.
- Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. “For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place” (1 Corinthians 5:7, WEB). His death is the ground of our new, holy life.
- Discipline is the church's own task. “Don’t you judge those who are within?” (1 Corinthians 5:12, WEB). The church is responsible for the holiness of its own members.
- Why is Paul more disturbed by the church's pride than by the sin of one man?
- What does the image of yeast teach about how sin affects a community?
- How does the goal of discipline—that the spirit may be saved—shape the way it should be done?
- What is the difference between Paul's instruction toward outsiders and toward an unrepentant member?
- How can we hold together both holiness and grace when responding to sin in the church or in our own lives?
- The man's sin is grave, but the church's smug tolerance of it is what most alarms Paul (5:1-2). When a community grows proud of its broad-mindedness, it loses the grief that leads to repentance and protects others from harm.
- Like yeast working silently through dough, unaddressed sin spreads its influence and normalizes wrongdoing (5:6-7). Discipline is not cruelty but protection of the whole body and a call back to the purity Christ has secured.
- The aim is redemptive—“that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (5:5). Discipline rightly done is an act of love that seeks the sinner's repentance and restoration, not his destruction.
- Paul does not ask believers to withdraw from sinners in the world, whom they are sent to reach, but to refuse to bless unrepentant sin within the family (5:9-13). The distinction guards both mission and holiness.
- This is a personal-application question. Encourage the group to see that grace and holiness meet at the cross, where sin is taken seriously and sinners are loved (5:7). As leader, foster humility, remembering that discipline always begins with examining ourselves.