1 Corinthians 5:1–2: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.”
Sin can enter the church. The church is made up of redeemed people who are still being sanctified, so we should not be surprised when believers struggle with sin. But when sin enters the church, it is never a small matter to be taken lightly.
The situation in Corinth was particularly grievous. Paul had received a report that a man in the church was involved sexually with his father’s wife. The sin was public, scandalous, and apparently ongoing. Yet as serious as the man’s behavior was, Paul’s concern was not limited to his sin. There was also something terribly wrong within the church.
Paul says, “And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned.” The man was sinning through his immorality, but the church was sinning through its toleration of that immorality. Instead of confronting what God had clearly condemned, they were “puffed up.” They apparently thought their response was appropriate, but they were following their own judgment rather than submitting to the Word of God.
That is an important warning for us. We can convince ourselves that ignoring sin is the loving thing to do, but God says that confronting sin is the necessary thing to do. If we are not careful, we can call something compassion that God calls disobedience. Love does not require us to pretend sin is insignificant. Biblical love desires holiness, restoration, and obedience to Christ.
Perhaps the most searching phrase in this passage is this: “have not rather mourned.” Paul says that instead of being arrogant, they should have mourned. That word is striking. Paul doesn’t merely tell them to disagree with the man’s behavior. He says they should grieve over it. Sin in the body of Christ should break our hearts.
There are three ways they should have mourned. First, they should have mourned because God had been dishonored. Sin is first and foremost against God. When Christ’s people openly practice what Christ condemns, His name is dishonored.
Second, they should have mourned because of the man’s spiritual condition. Church discipline was not intended simply to punish him or get rid of a problem. His willingness to remain in serious, unrepentant sin should have caused the church to fear for his soul. Genuine love does not watch someone walk toward destruction and say nothing.
Third, they should have mourned because his sin was harming the church. Paul will shortly warn that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (v. 6). Tolerated sin does not remain isolated. Like cancer in the body, it spreads its destructive influence. When a church knowingly permits unrepentant sin, it gradually changes what that church considers normal and acceptable.
Therefore, Paul says the man must be removed from their fellowship. That sounds severe to modern ears, but Paul’s concern is ultimately redemptive. The church must take sin seriously because it takes God seriously, and it must confront the sinner because it loves the sinner too much to affirm him on a path of destruction.
When was the last time we mourned over sin? When was the last time our own sin genuinely grieved us—not merely because we were embarrassed or suffered consequences, but because we had sinned against the God who loves us? When was the last time the spiritual condition of another believer caused us to grieve and pray for that person’s restoration? And when was the last time sin within the church broke our hearts because we understood what it does to the holiness, testimony, and spiritual health of Christ’s body?
There is a sobering warning here: when we knowingly ignore unrepentant sin in the body of Christ, we become participants in the church’s disobedience. There is a difference between patiently helping someone who is struggling against sin and tolerating someone who has settled comfortably into it. The Corinthian church was doing the latter.
Our culture teaches us to minimize sin. Our flesh teaches us to excuse it. Sometimes even churches learn to tolerate it. But Scripture teaches us to mourn it, confront it, repent of it, and seek restoration from it.
The church should be a place where sinners find grace—but grace never teaches us that sin does not matter. Grace teaches us just how serious sin is, because nothing less than the blood of Jesus Christ could cleanse us from it.
Prayer: Father, give us hearts that see sin as You see it. Keep us from becoming comfortable with what dishonors You. Teach us first to mourn our own sin and quickly repent of it. Give us courage and love to care about holiness within Your church, not with pride or self-righteousness, but with humility, grief, and a genuine desire for restoration. May we never become so accustomed to sin that it no longer breaks our hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.
