What was the purpose of delivering the sinful man to Satan according to 1 Corinthians 5?
The purpose was that the spirit of this guilty but saved individual, a member of the congregation, might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. The flesh could be afflicted with sickness or even death, but he was not put lost again; the church's action aimed to get him to straighten up.
Les explains that Paul did not put this man lost again. The man was a saved individual, a member of the congregation, yet he was living in gross immorality. The church was just as guilty as he was because they were not doing anything about it. So the church took corporate action, and the majority voted to deal with him, to get him to straighten up his act. The goal was that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, even though his flesh could be inflicted with sickness or even taken out with death. Later, in II Corinthians 2:6-7, Paul says that this punishment inflicted by the majority was sufficient, and they ought rather to forgive him and confirm their love toward him, lest he be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
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.
More Questions
Did Paul consider the man in 1 Corinthians 5 lost again after delivering him to Satan?
Paul does not put the immoral man of 1 Corinthians 5 back into a lost condition — he is simply in dire straits because he is living in gross immorality.
Why was the guilty man in 1 Corinthians 5 delivered to Satan?
The purpose of delivering the guilty man unto Satan was not for the destruction of his soul, but for the destruction of the flesh.
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.
Did delivering a sinner to Satan for the destruction of the flesh destroy his salvation?
When Paul told the Corinthians to deliver the grossly sinful man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that did not touch the man's spiritual relationship with Christ — he was still a believer.