6-8 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realise that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

9-10 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:6-13 New Living Translation

One of the people in the Church at Corinth was committing adultery with his father's wife! (It may have been a second marriage, in which case she was a step mother, but the sin was still terrible). What made it worse was that the rest of the Church thought it was no big deal as they were so 'super-spiritual'. So what does Paul tell them to do? It was something they ought to have done already when the sin happened. (vs 6-8 & vs 13)

Yeast is something that quickly spreads through a lump of dough and so it was used as a picture of corruption. When Jewish people celebrated their Passover feast they were not allowed to use any yeast. Paul draws the comparison of how Christ is our 'Passover lamb' and so we also shouldn't have any corruption among us in the Church.

This brings us to an important distinction Christians need to make as we live in a world that is so full of corruption. What is this distinction? (vs 9-13)

We often hear people say 'You mustn't judge'. But Paul says that if we (as God's people) want to show those outside the Church that God is holy, then there are times we have to take steps to 'red card' a Christian who is clearly doing wrong. Verse 13 says: “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

The original language says: “You must purge the evil from you!” That's an old fashioned word which means 'get rid of'. It was used a number of times in the Old Testament for dealing with people who had brought sin into the nation of Israel. In those days it could even mean a death sentence! But the way purging is done in the Church is to stop associating with the person until he or she turns away from the wrong thing they are doing.

There's an odd twist to this. Paul's words imply that when it comes to those who are not Christians we should be willing to have contact with them! If we completely shun anyone doing wrong things we will never have a chance to tell them of God's judgement and God's mercy. But, at the same time, we need to be careful of who we hang around with. There's a verse in the Bible that says “bad company corrupts good character.”

Something to ponder. Is there anything in your life that you would not want other people to copy? If so, bring it before the Lord and ask Him to help you to 'purge' it from your life.