1 Corinthians 5:13

My Notes

What Does 1 Corinthians 5:13 Mean?

Paul draws a jurisdictional boundary: those outside the church, God judges. Those inside the church, the community judges. And the instruction: put away the wicked person from among yourselves. The church has responsibility for its own membership. God handles the outside.

"Them that are without" means non-believers, non-members, people outside the faith community. The church doesn't police the world. The church polices itself. The moral standard that applies within the community isn't imposed on those outside it. God judges the outsiders. The church judges the insiders.

"Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person" — the instruction is an Old Testament formula (Deuteronomy 13:5, 17:7, 19:19 — "thou shalt put the evil away from among you"). Paul applies the Deuteronomy community-purification command to the church: the wicked person within the community must be removed. Not punished. Not counseled indefinitely. Removed. The purity of the community requires the separation.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Are you spending energy judging 'those without' (outsiders) when your responsibility is 'those within' (the community)?
• 2.Does the Deuteronomy formula ('put away the wicked person') feel harsh — and does understanding it as community health change that?
• 3.How do you balance welcoming sinners and removing the unrepentant — and where's the line?
• 4.Does the jurisdictional clarity (God judges outside, you judge inside) free you from the burden of policing the world?

Devotional

God judges the outsiders. You judge the insiders. And the wicked person inside: put them away.

Paul draws the clearest jurisdictional line in the New Testament: the church's job is to police the church. Not the world. The world belongs to God's jurisdiction. The church belongs to yours. Your responsibility is what happens inside the community, not what happens outside it.

"Them that are without God judgeth" — the church doesn't need to fix the world's morality. The world's morality is God's department. The outrage directed at non-believers' behavior is energy misdirected: they're not under your authority. They're under God's. Let God handle the outside.

"Put away from among yourselves that wicked person" — the inside is your department. And the instruction is clear: when someone within the community is living in unrepentant wickedness, they're removed. Not endlessly counseled. Not indefinitely tolerated. Not kept in membership while the behavior continues. Put away. The Deuteronomy formula — used for purifying Israel from internal corruption — is applied to the church.

The tension modern churches feel: we want to be welcoming. We want to be gracious. We want to give people time. And Paul says: yes to all of that — until the wickedness becomes persistent, public, and unrepentant. At that point, the community's purity requires the removal. Not because the person is beyond hope. Because the community can't absorb the corruption without being corrupted.

The jurisdictional clarity is freeing: you don't have to fix the world. You have to maintain the church. The energy spent policing outsiders' behavior could be redirected to ensuring the insiders' behavior reflects the gospel.

God judges the outside. You judge the inside. And when the inside contains someone wicked: put them away. Not cruelty. Community health.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture