The Severe Mercy: Understanding The "Handing Over" Of 1 Corinthians 5:5

In the contemporary church, pastoral softness has often mutated into pastoral cruelty. When a church refuses to address open, scandalous sin, it is not being gracious—it is being faithless to Christ, to the flock, and to the very soul of the sinner. Paul will not tolerate that kind of “kindness.” He calls it pride.

And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you

(1 Cor. 5:2 KJV)

What follows in 1 Corinthians 5:5 is one of the most severe sentences in the New Testament—and one of the most merciful: “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” (KJV). This is not a tantrum. It is a weapon of love—because sometimes love must wound in order to heal.

1. The Context: Corruption Plus Conceit

The sin in Corinth is not ambiguous. It is public, ongoing, and scandalous: “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you… that one should have his father’s wife” (1 Cor. 5:1 KJV). The horror is doubled: not only the man’s sin, but the church’s posture. They are “puffed up,” having learned to celebrate what should make them weep.

Paul’s first demand is not “dialogue.” It is mourning—then removal. Christ does not save sinners to leave them comfortable in rebellion. Holiness is not an optional decoration of the Christian life; it is the very shape of the gospel. Paul grounds this holiness in redemption itself: “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7–8 KJV).

2. Paul’s Action: A Judicial Mandate

Paul speaks like a judge, not a counselor: “For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already” (1 Cor. 5:3 KJV). He commands corporate action under Christ’s authority: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together… with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 5:4 KJV).

This matters: church discipline is not personal vengeance. It is an act done in the name of Jesus, by the gathered church, exercising the “keys” of the kingdom (Matt. 18:15–20). Refusing discipline is not neutrality; it is disobedience.

3. “To Deliver Unto Satan”: The Judicial Transfer

The Greek verb is παραδοῦναι [paradounai]—to “hand over” or “deliver up.” It carries a judicial flavor: one party is transferred into another’s custody.

By removing the man from the recognized communion of Christ’s people, the church ceases to affirm his profession of faith. He is put “outside”: “Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (1 Cor. 5:13 KJV). Practically, the fellowship posture changes: “With such an one no not to eat” (1 Cor. 5:11 KJV).

Removal does not pronounce final damnation; it withdraws the church’s recognition and fellowship so that the sinner’s false peace may collapse. John Calvin’s basic point in the Institutes remains sound: this is a severe temporal judgment meant to drive the sinner to a sober awareness of his peril (Calvin 1559). Matthew Henry likewise underscores that Christ and Satan divide the world; to be put out of the church is to be stripped of the ordinary comforts and ordinances of Christ’s visible kingdom—not as spite, but as mercy that interrupts self-deception (Henry 1710).

4. The Apostolic Edge: Distinguishing Authority

We must distinguish between ordinary discipline and the unique authority present in the apostolic era (cf. 1 Tim. 1:20). While some interpreters (such as Gill) understand Paul’s wording to include the possibility of severe temporal chastisement in God’s providence, the church today must not pretend to wield apostolic power to guarantee specific bodily outcomes.

Modern churches do not “cast spells”; they obey Christ by carrying out the plain duty of removal to expose sin, protect the flock, and call the offender to repentance.

5. “For the Destruction of the Flesh”: What Is Being Destroyed?

The goal is the “destruction of the flesh” (τὸν ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκός [ton olethron tēs sarkos]).

The Ethical Sense: Many, including Charles Hodge, interpret “flesh” as the corrupt, self-governed human nature (Hodge 1857, 85). Discipline aims at the ruin of the man’s fleshly reign by stripping away the status, false peace, and religious camouflage that fed his pride.
The Physical Sense: Others, including John Wesley in his Explanatory Notes, allow that God may use severe providences—even affliction—to crush a sinner into repentance (Wesley 1755).

Whether the destruction is social, psychological, or physical, the target is the same: the ruling pattern of sin must be killed so that the man does not die in his rebellion. As Herman Bavinck reminds us, God’s providence is so absolute that even the malice of darkness cannot outrun His saving purposes (Bavinck 2008). If you want a sin killed, you do not pet it; you starve it.

6. The End-Game: Salvation, Not Annihilation

The purpose of the handing over is explicit: “that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5 KJV). Discipline is designed to rescue a man from false peace. God remains sovereign even over Satan’s malice, and the sinner remains responsible to repent.

Biblical discipline has two hands:

The Sword: It cuts off false peace and confronts the sinner with the seriousness of his rebellion.
The Balm: It restores the truly broken.

It is commonly understood that Paul likely addresses this same offender in 2 Corinthians, commanding the church: “Forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow” (2 Cor. 2:7 KJV). Matthew Poole’s warning is vital: discipline is meant to hurt—but when repentance is evident, the church must quickly confirm love, lest severity become Satan’s advantage (Poole 1685).

7. A Word to the Modern Reader

To Church Leaders: You will answer to Christ, not to donors or the culture. Stop calling cowardice “love.” A church that refuses discipline is poisoning the body: “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Cor. 5:6 KJV).
To the Sinner: Do not hide behind a profession of faith while you practice rebellion. If you are sleeping with sin while singing hymns, you are in mortal danger. Repent—now.
To the Discipliners: If you can cast someone out without grief, you are not spiritual—you are hard. The aim is salvation. The posture must be tears.

Bibliography

Bavinck, H. 2008. Reformed Dogmatics: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation. Vol. 4. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Calvin, J. 1559. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by J. Allen. London: Walker.

Carson, D.A. 1996. The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Gill, J. 1809. An Exposition of the New Testament. Vol. 2. London: Mathews and Leigh.

Henry, M. 1710. Commentary on the Whole Bible. Vol. 6. London: Parkhurst.

Hodge, C. 1857. An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. New York: Carter & Brothers.

Poole, M. 1685. Annotations Upon the Holy Bible. Vol. 2. London: Parkhurst.

Wesley, J. 1755. Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament. London: Bowyer.