When I read Paul’s description of the Corinthian church, it’s similar to what we see in the Western church today. The Corinthians boasted about their spirituality, but lacked a demonstration of what it meant to be consecrated—set apart to God. The leadership had abdicated their responsibility to shepherd and care for the people by failing to address sin in the Church – in this case, sexual sin.

Sexual sin includes all forms of its impurity, including adultery in a marriage, people who live together without committing to the covenant of marriage, homosexuality, and transgenderism. Paul wrote, “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

Paul said, “I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship” (see I Corinthians 5:1-13).

Paul was not able to be there in person, but he told the Corinthians: Call a meeting of the church. I am with you in the Spirit, and so will be the power of our Lord Jesus. I have already passed judgment on this man in the name of the Lord Jesus. Remove this man from your fellowship and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

Paul went on to say it wasn’t his responsibility to judge outsiders. But it certainly was your responsibility to judge those inside the church who were sinning. God will judge those on the outside, but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

Why make such a severe choice? Because Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. And because sin left unchallenged becomes like yeast in bread, that spreads and infests the entire Body. This intervention is an act of God’s mercy.

It is a serious breach to not judge sin. Paul is saying that someone who blatantly and openly lives in sin, yet is allowed to fellowship with us in worship, prayer, and Communion, is mocking the sacrifice of Jesus. It also gives an inroad to demonic powers and deludes our thinking.

This heavy Scripture messes with our idea of what love looks like. Paul is not saying we don’t engage with our prodigals. In fact, we want to be in their lives as far as possible, we need to pray for them and love them.

God demonstrates His mercy by judging sin. It is His mercy to also bring deliverance and restoration. If we want to receive that kind mercy, we can’t compromise His word and His ways.

It might have been a different story for this man if the church had intervened early on. It would have been an act of mercy. Paul would later remind the church that if a believer was overcome by sin, “You who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path” (Galatians 6:1).

God’s merciful judgment of sin will always include a path back into fellowship and communion.