1It 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. 2You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you. 3For 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. 4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together with my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5you 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.
6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump? 7Purge 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. 8Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; 10yet 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. 11But 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. 12For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within? 13But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”
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 do I have 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.”
This passage seems at first glance to be the opposite of what we just read in chapter 4, but it isn’t. Paul is not telling us to judge fellow believers, but he is instructing us to make a determination about whether a brother is involved in sin, and he cautions us not to become entangled in it ourselves. It is easy to slide into sin yourself if you’re hanging out with other Christians who are engaged in a carnal lifestyle. Let me give an example. As a young man, I had all of the urges and desires that came with being a young man full of testosterone and youth. It was one of the most difficult times of my life to stay sexually pure, as the Bible instructed that I should be. I had to use great wisdom in choosing which sisters in Christ I needed to be around. Paul, of course, includes any believer, whether male or female. Some sisters in Christ helped me to stay chaste and pure. With a few others, I felt “chased” and tempted to become involved with them sexually when it wasn’t proper. I learned to avoid those who didn’t help me in my quest to be Christlike.
I’m not blaming the sisters. I was recognizing my own weakness at that time. I knew that in a moment of sexual hunger, I would be tempted beyond my own capabilities to hold myself back. They weren’t the problem. I was the problem. This goes for any of the other sins that Paul lists. You may have a brother or sister who is envious or slanderous towards others. That means they talk about other Christians behind their backs. They resent what others have. You’ll be too tempted to join in. If you have a past problem with addiction, don’t hang out with believers who exercise their freedom in Christ by having a drink. Just stay away from fellow believers who are caught up in anything that might pull you away from where you’re headed. Stay the course. Don’t lose the plot. Follow the compass. Follow Jesus. It’s not that those carnal brothers and sisters are to be avoided because you’re such a goody two-shoes kind of person. Avoid them because you are weak. You need all the help you can get, and Paul says that avoiding those kinds of fellow believers will keep you from falling into behaviors and lifestyles that are not in conformity with your identity in Christ.