Paul now deals with the terrible sexual sin of a man with his step-mother (v1). What is shocking this doesn’t seem to disturb, but Paul is very clear that this man needs to be disciplined by the church (v2-5). The handing over to Satan means excommunication, but notice it is with the purpose of restoring.

Paul uses leaven to picture this sin and its impact (v6-8). When the Passover was celebrated, there was to be no leaven present in the house of God’s people. Leaven was symbolic of sin. A little leaven impacts all the bread and likewise sin in one person permeates the whole fellowship.

We live in a world of so much sexual immorality and its impossible to avoid sexually immoral people in the world (v9-13). But the church needs to be a different place and the sexually immoral believers need to be excluded from membership and fellowship in order to protect the fellowship.

We see here the twofold purpose of church discipline, restoring the sinful and protecting the purity of the fellowship. Pray as a Christian and as a church we will be protected from the temptation of sexual sin.