[to deliver,] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (ye and my spirit being gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ), him that has so wrought this
The church at Corinth had a man living in gross sin among them, and they were doing nothing about it. Paul tells them how to deal with him. Verse 4 names three things that stand behind their action: a name, an assembly gathered, and a power.
Paul had already judged the case before his letter arrived. Working from an older translation, one writer weighs the small word "as":
"For I, absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged as present concerning him who so did this." The best authorities give the sense this way. The word "as" belongs with the second "present," not the first. The first needs no such word, since "in spirit" already qualifies it, in contrast with "absent in body." The second means the opposite. There "as" is essential, for he means as if he were really there.
That name is not a label on a meeting. It is what gives the meeting any right to act.
The assembly was to act, and it acted "with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ." It met in His name, and His presence gave it this authority. Suppose it had been only a voluntary society of believers, who agree on certain principles of church government or doctrine and stand apart from others because of that. Then it could not have used the power spoken of here, for it could not have had Christ's presence. Such an assembly would have no more scriptural authority to bind and loose — to receive into fellowship or to put out — than a group of members of Parliament, meeting by their own choice in a public hall, has to pass laws.
The Lord Himself gave this principle, and one writer hears its echo in this verse:
Here the Lord teaches that His being "in the midst of them" is the power behind all authority in disciplining those who go wrong. It is also the secret of success in united prayer. "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Matt. 18:15-20.) These words appear only here. Yet note the striking echo of them in a case of assembly discipline at Corinth.
The verse calls the whole church together. That rules out a decision made by a few on everyone else's behalf.
But it is the assembly that must act. It acts not merely to comply with Paul's word, but "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" — that is, as representing Him. This is their solemn responsibility, and His authority stands behind it. No assembly has an excuse for failing to judge evil that is plainly there. And all the saints share the responsibility: they must not leave the matter to just a few in the assembly.
The power named here is not the assembly's own. One writer names it, and shows how far the assembly's act reaches:
Here we have the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, which rests on the whole Church (1 Cor. 1:2, 10), and His power, which is the Holy Spirit, who lives in the whole Body. So this is no act of a small body, for some larger and more authoritative body to review. It is the act of the Holy Spirit through this assembly — an act for the whole Body of Christ throughout the world, and binding on it.
An apostle could have leaned on his own rank. Notice which power he names:
Though he speaks as an apostle, he fully identifies himself with the church at Corinth, simply as a member of the body of Christ. He says, "when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ" — not "with my apostolic power." He wants to bring the consciences of the Corinthians into the presence of Christ, not into his own apostolic presence. Then they would act in the fear of Christ, and not in the fear of the apostle — that is, in the fear of men.
Verse 5 goes on to speak of handing this man over to Satan. One writer sets that act apart from ordinary excommunication:
Many, especially since Calvin's time, have confused this with excommunication. But delivering to Satan is a power tied here to the assembly, just as the giving of a gift in 1 Timothy 4:14 is tied to the laying on of the hands of the elders. In both cases the result hinges on apostolic power. Yet the lack of that power in no way weakens the duty of putting away the guilty person who professes to be a Christian, as verse 13 carefully lays down.
- Name — The assembly acts in the name of the Lord Jesus. That name, not the group's own agreement, gives its decision any authority.
- Presence — The Lord promised to be among two or three gathered in His name. That same promise stands behind discipline.
- Power — The power is His, and the Holy Spirit carries it out. So the act is not a small group's opinion. It binds the whole Body of Christ.
- Participation — All the saints are to be gathered for it. They cannot hand the responsibility to a few.
- Persistence — Delivering to Satan rested on apostolic power. The plain duty of verse 13, to put away the guilty person, still stands.
to deliver him, [I say,] [being] such, to Satan for destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
This verse hands a sinning believer in the Corinthian assembly over to Satan, which sounds like abandonment. Yet its aim is rescue, not ruin — and that raises three questions: what "the flesh" means here, who could pass such a sentence, and how a man given to Satan can still be saved.
In that day, excommunication cost far more than a place in a group. One writer sets out what each side of the line meant.
Excommunication was a fearful thing in those days. The "within" was the sphere where God was known, and from which the light of His truth shone out. The "without" meant the world of paganism and Judaism — Satan's sphere. One might have thought the excommunication of this sinning believer would have been for his destruction. But no, it was for the destruction of the flesh. It was so that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Does this mean the man's body? One writer says no.
If anyone asks what the "destruction of the flesh" in 1 Corinthians 5:5 means, it does not refer to the body. It refers to the evil moral principle that is tied to the body in us all… The evil persons in question, having failed to learn their lessons in God's gracious school, had to be broken and humbled by Satan's cruel means. Divine discipline in all its forms is a deeply serious matter, but always with ultimate blessing in view.
Commentators differ here. One reads the delivering as the apostle's own act, resting on a power no longer available.
The first thing we may note is the apostolic power of delivering to Satan… Properly there is no such thing now. If a person is now put out of fellowship, he is not delivered to Satan, though he might come under Satan as a result… Throwing a man out into Satan's world is not delivering him or committing him to it. I know of nobody but the apostle who had the power… The church is not commanded to do it here. He says, I have judged already — to deliver such a one to Satan. This was his own act; he did not tell them to do so. He does tell them to put such a one out.
Another writer lays this act on the assembly, and draws a personal warning from it.
In 1 Corinthians 5 the assembly at Corinth is commanded to deliver the evildoer to Satan for the destruction of the flesh… A person put out of the assembly where the Holy Spirit ruled was handed over to the power of Satan. The aim was that his flesh might be thoroughly judged and crushed — serious but needed work! May we learn, dear friend, to judge ourselves in secret before our God, so the assembly may not have to deal with us. If the roots of evil are judged in private, the fruit will not appear above the surface of our practical life.
The enemy receives the man, but not what he wants.
Here we see a remarkable sample of God's power over the evil — indeed, of His use of it to fulfil His own holy purposes… The man is put into the hands of the adversary, who can now show himself plainly as the adversary he always is. He can serve himself no longer by the sin of one who has been expelled from the Christian assembly. So he has nothing left to do but show his hatred against one who has borne the name of Christ… God uses him, on the other hand, so that in the destruction of the flesh the spirit may yet be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
The severity has a destination.
Verse 5 shows that the ultimate end of discipline should be restoration. You deal with him as a member of Christ, and discipline him as such while he is within, and you put him outside so that he might be broken down and brought in again.
And the outcome named in the verse is not a hope that might fail.
If flesh had been indulged without shame, flesh must be galled and broken to pieces under the adversary's hand. But it was for good in the end — "so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." In fact, as the second epistle shows, the discipline blessed him in this world too. Yet the end named here cannot fail for anyone born of God, whatever the hindrances, or the shape of God's dealing with the soul.
- Sphere — Handing the man to Satan meant putting him outside, into Satan's world. Inside was the one place where God was known.
- Target — Not the body, but the evil principle in us — broken by the enemy's own cruel means.
- Overruled — Satan gets the man but not the outcome; God uses his hatred to fulfil His own holy purpose.
- Aim — The whole severe act aims at recovery: broken down outside, then brought in again.
- Certainty — For anyone born of God this end cannot fail: the spirit saved in the day of the Lord. So judge the roots in secret, and the assembly never has to deal with the fruit.