What does 'destruction of the flesh' mean in 1 Corinthians 5:5?
In 1 Corinthians 5:5, destruction of the flesh means physical death, not the destruction of the soul. The instruction is to deliver such a one to Satan so then the offender's flesh may be destroyed if he will not straighten up.
Les explains that the Corinthians were tolerating gross immorality—a man having his father's wife, a stepmother—and instead of mourning, they were puffed up, doing nothing, even gloating. The instruction was that, when gathered in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, they should deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, not the soul, meaning physical death if the man would not straighten up. Les notes they were just as guilty because they gloried in it, and a little leaven permeates the whole loaf. They had to deal with it; in the second letter they did, bringing the man evidently back into fellowship, and his sin was forgiven and cleansed.
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
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.
Why is a person delivered to Satan in 1 Corinthians 5:5?
The purpose of delivering such a one to Satan in 1 Corinthians 5:5 is for the destruction of the flesh, not the soul and spirit.