Chapter V.
(Vers. 1.)
(Vers. 1.) There is altogether a report of fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles. That he might show how grave this sin is, he said that it should not be allowed by those who do not know God; that likewise he might show with what punishment he should be punished, who, being established under eternal and divine justice, had committed so great a crime.
So that someone may have the wife of their father. He revealed the nature of the pre-existing crime; so that he not only openly made him guilty of murder, but also showed those who adhere to him not immune to the crime, for in that in which one sins difficultly, it makes the guilty party more so.
(Vers. 2.)
(Vers. 2.) And you were puffed up, and you did not grieve. Their pride is so greatly humiliated that it no longer makes them complain, but rather makes them supplicate. For they themselves were also participants, when they allowed the accused of such a great crime to go unpunished; so that they would all cast him out with one consent, if he refused to amend himself. But if anyone does not have the power to cast out or to prove who the accused is, he is immune, and it is not the judge's prerogative to condemn without an accuser, because even the Lord did not cast out Judas, although he was a thief, because he was not accused.
To remove from among you the one who did this deed. Recognizing this act, it was necessary to expel him from the fraternity; for everyone knew his crime, yet they did not accuse him; for he publicly regarded his stepmother as his wife. In this matter, there was no need for witnesses, nor could the crime be concealed by any evasions.
(Vers. 3-5,)
(Vs. 3-5) For I, indeed, am absent in body but present in spirit: that is, absent in appearance but present in the authority of the Spirit, who is never absent. Now, I have decided, as present in spirit, to deliver to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, the one who has committed this, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus. For every pleasure of the flesh is from the devil, and therefore, when it is yielded to this pleasure, it is given over to Satan; for the flesh has this nature, that it should perish; therefore, when the soul joins itself with its desire, it weakens its spiritual strength and suffers destruction. Therefore, if someone was caught in the act of committing a shameful act, and was ashamed and expelled themselves, they would not perish, but would be followed by repentance. This decision to cast them out of the Church was not only agreed upon by everyone and done in the presence of the Lord Jesus, whose authority the Apostle held as a representative, but also meant that they should be rejected. When they are expelled, they are handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh; both the soul and the body perish, as it happens when things contrary to the law are done. However, in this case, the destruction of the flesh is attributed to the individual. Although all sins pertain to the carnal man, this desire of the flesh in particular hands the body over to hell; for when the soul is conquered, the soul tainted by filth, it becomes flesh by the lust of the flesh; just as a well-governed body is called spiritual. However, it is the mind that either, when overcome by allurements, makes the entire man carnal, or, remaining in the strength of its nature, surpasses the flesh so as to be called spiritual.
May the holy spirit be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Deliver the aforementioned contaminated to Satan, so that the spirit may be saved in the people of the Church on the day of judgment; for if it were not expelled, the spirit of the Church would not be saved on the day of judgment. For it abandoned all for the sake of contamination, so that on the day of the Lord, they might be found naked by the Holy Spirit, and hear from the judging Lord: Depart from me, I do not know you (Matthew 7:23); as he says to the Romans: But if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. (Rom. VIII, 9); and in another epistle: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. (Ephes. IV, 30). For if He is grieved, He will depart and there will be no salvation: not surely for Himself, who is impassible, but for us to whom He has been given, that we may be proven to be the sons of God through Him. For a thing that is lost is not saved, not surely for itself, wherever it may be, it is necessary that it be; but for Him from whom it is lost.
(Vers. 6.)
(Verse 6) Is your boasting good? No, it is not good; for they were joyful when they should have been more saddened by the brother's grievous sin, just as Samuel was grieved by Saul's sin. From this wrongdoing, evil teachers either concealed it or criticized it less diligently (just as the priest Eli did with his sons, who sinned against God), so that they would be loved by men.
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? So too, one person's sin, which goes unnoticed, contaminates many. Indeed, all who are aware of it and do not avoid it, or who could expose it but choose to conceal it, are implicated. For it does not appear to be a sin to oneself when it is not censured or avoided by anyone.
(Vers. 7.)
(Verse 7.) Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. This must be understood in two ways, because there is both the leaven of human doctrine, as the Savior says: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:11), that is, of their doctrine. And in order to guard against bad doctrine, it is said for this reason, because when the fornicator is cast out, the old leaven is also cast out. But it is called old because it is the sin of ancient error. The new composition, however, is the doctrine of Christ.
As you are unleavened. Unleavened bread is so called because it is made from unfermented flour, when the children of Israel were expelled from Egypt; so that leaven would be considered old, but unleavened bread would be considered new. For they, having cast off the old errors of the Egyptians, were led to a new law; just as the Corinthians, after the errors of the pagans, were led to the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, he exhorts them to live according to the profession they had received from the Apostle under the name of Christ, and to be cultores of the new life: and this is to be unleavened.
Our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed. According to the Law, he teaches that the novelty of the Passover consists in this: Christ was killed so that a new preaching might make a new way of life. Since we observe the Passover, we should not follow the old life. Therefore, the Passover is a sacrifice, not a crossing over, as it seems to some. For the Passover came first, and thus the crossing over; for it is a model of the Savior and a sign of salvation. For not before the sign, but the cross; for in Egypt the children of Israel kept the passover in the evening, when they slew the lamb, and marked their door-posts with its blood; so that the passing Angel would not touch the places that had been sprinkled with the blood of the lamb (Exodus XII, 28).
(Vers. 8.)
(Verse 8) Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, but with the leaven of sincerity and truth. For we have the joy of renewal, let us flee from the old things, casting away all impurity, which is corruption; because just as leaven corrupts the whole lump, so does a wicked life corrupt the whole person. Therefore, in order that we may not only guard against the shamefulness of life, but also from the desire for wickedness, he added:
Not in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. This means that sincerity makes a clean life, and truth excludes all deceit.
(Vers. 9, 10)
(Vers. 9, 10) I wrote to you in the letter not to associate with fornicators. By saying 'I have written', he signifies that he had already warned them not to join themselves to evil men. And because they seemed not to have understood what he had written, he now interprets in this letter what he had written, saying: Not with the fornicators of this world, but that you should shun such brothers.
Either serving the greedy, or the rapacious, or idols; otherwise, you should have departed from this world. Therefore, it exposes their understanding, those who thought that perhaps he forbade them from the unbelievers, fornicators, or the greedy, or the rapacious, or those serving idols, not from the brothers; and therefore, they did not resent that he who had his father's wife was among them. So if you mix with these, he says, it would be better for you to die; for it is a saving for those who act wickedly, if they die sooner rather than remaining in sins longer.
(Vers. 11.)
(Verse 11.) But now I have written to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother if he is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner - with such a person do not even eat. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person" (1 Corinthians 5:11-13). Ideo ait:
(Vers. 12.)
(Verse 12.) For how can I judge those who are outside? It is true that a bishop cannot judge the unfaithful, but with regard to a brother in whom these vices are found, not only should he not receive the sacraments, but he should also not teach about common food, so that he may be ashamed and correct himself when he is avoided.
(Vers. 13.)
(Verse 13.) Do you not judge those who are inside? Let someone judge, while distinguishing to whom he should adhere as a brother, whom he should accuse, whom he should avoid. For those who are outside, God will judge. Above: Do not judge before the time, he says (I Cor. IV, 5); he does not prohibit it here. But earlier he strongly forbade judging unknown matters through suspicion, especially concerning a ruler, because it is only God's to judge hidden things; however, in this place, he also commands a brother to examine a brother (II Cor. XIII, 5), as he says elsewhere: Test yourselves if you are in the faith; prove yourselves (II Cor. XV, 5). But those who are outside will be condemned on the day of judgment; for the Lord has said: Those who do not believe are already judged (John 3:18). For where there is no hope, he should be considered as dead.
Remove evil from yourselves. Yet it remains, that good and evil deeds and people be distinguished.