What did Paul tell the Corinthian church to do about the immoral man in 1 Corinthians 5?
Paul directed the congregation to mourn the gross sin and remove the guilty man from their fellowship. When gathered in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were to deliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, not for the destruction of his soul.
Les explains that the Corinthians had a man guilty of immorality with his father’s wife, a sin so low the Gentiles did not practice it. Instead of mourning or grieving over this gross sin, the congregation had tolerated it. Paul had already judged the matter and admonished them to act when gathered together in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were to deliver such a guilty man unto Satan, not for the destruction of his soul, but for the destruction of the flesh, so that the deed-doer might be taken away from among them.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
More Questions
What did Paul mean by delivering the immoral man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh?
Paul, though absent in body but present in spirit, had already judged the offender, so that when gathered together in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, such a one would be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh — not the soul — meaning physical death if the man would not straighten up.