Over the past few weeks, during the season of Epiphany, the theme of unity has developed in our sermons. Some of our passages have come from 1 Corinthians. Recently, I was asked about 1 Corinthians 5, which some have understood as being counter to Paul’s teaching on unity within the body. In light of this, I thought it would be helpful to provide some clarification on biblical unity.
In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul is addressing a specific issue within the Corinthian church. A man was having a sexual relationship with his step-mom. The church in Corinth had twisted Paul’s teaching on Christian liberty to justify sin, specifically sexual sin. This is made clear in 1 Corinthians 6:12-14. Paul states that the church had become arrogant in their sin (1 Corinthians 5:2, 6). In short, they were accepting a level of sexual sin that was not even acceptable to the pagans (vs. 1).
Paul’s response to the situation was for the church leaders to put this unrepentant man out of the church, turning him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in hopes that his soul would be saved. Initially, the idea of kicking a church member out of the body could seem to undermine the idea of unity. However, this way of thinking misunderstands biblical unity. Unity is not a pie in the sky idea that we all just get along and, if needed, ignore the presence of sin and disobedience for the sake of being unified.
In chapter 5, Paul speaks specifically to sin within the church when he calls for the church elders to take extreme action. He says not to associate with anyone who professes to be a Christian if they are guilty of sexual immorality, idolatry, greed, etc. (1 Cor 5:9-13). This command is to be applied specifically to the body of Christ, not the world. If we applied it to the world, according to Paul, we would need to leave the world and would not be able to fulfill our mission to make disciples of all nations.
How does Paul’s repeated calls to unity within the body fit with his call to put this man out of the church? There are a few helpful thoughts I can share. First, Paul is accountable to God for the wellbeing of the entire body. His loyalty to Christ and His kingdom demands that Paul prioritize the wellbeing of the body over that of a sinful individual. Your sin is not simply an individual/private issue. It impacts the body. If Paul allowed this man to continue within the church, in his unrepentant state, it would jeopardize the spiritual wellbeing of the whole body (vs. 6) and diminish the credibility of the collective witness of the church.
Second, turning a blind eye to sin and allowing this man to continue within the body as though nothing is wrong will only serve to solidify his condemnation. Biblical unity requires that we be unified in the truth. Behavior, that is antithetical to the truth must be rejected and addressed, before true unity can be realized.
Third, the command Paul gives is to turn the man over to Satan in hopes that his spirit will be saved (vs. 5). Ultimately, putting the man out of the church is for his good. The gist is that they are to stop treating this man like a brother in Christ and start treating him like an unbeliever, because his egregious and unrepentant sin is evidence that he is an unbeliever. How do we treat unbelievers? Among other things, we pray for them, preach the gospel to them, call them to repentance and ultimately, welcome them into the church when they respond in faith and repentance. That is exactly what Paul wants in this case.
Biblical unity is non-negotiable because it testifies to the reality that God’s redemptive plan to unite all things in him (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth is actually happening (Ephesians 1:9-10). Unity is an essential element of our witness. Paul makes this point further in the early portion of 1 Corinthians 6. However, unity is not uniformity nor is it to be achieved at the expense of fidelity to Christ. It requires a corporate understanding of truth and repentance when we stray from the truth.