1 Corinthians 5:13 says that God alone judges those outside the church, and it calls the congregation to remove a persistently unrepentant member from among them. Paul wrote this to the believers in Corinth, a church that had tolerated a serious sexual sin inside its fellowship and had even seemed proud of its own tolerance. The verse closes his instructions on how the church should deal with that situation.
But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”
1 Corinthians 5:13 (WEB)
What 1 Corinthians 5:13 Means
Paul divides people into two groups: those inside the church and those outside it. Judgment of outsiders belongs to God, and the church is not assigned that task. The church’s responsibility is different. It must look at its own members, hold them to the standard of the gospel, and act when someone who calls himself a believer continues in open, unrepentant wickedness.
The phrase “put away” is a command to remove, to separate, to take out of the community’s shared life. Paul is not asking the church to hunt for sin in every corner of the world, or to cut off every person who fails. He is speaking of a specific, public case where a member persists in sin that even unbelievers would condemn, and the church has the duty to make a clear decision about fellowship.
The verse does not promise that removal will fix the person or guarantee their repentance. Elsewhere in the same letter Paul makes clear the purpose is ultimately restorative, aiming at the person’s spirit being saved on the day of the Lord. The verse describes a boundary, not a final verdict on anyone’s soul.
The Context of 1 Corinthians 5:13
First Corinthians is a letter Paul wrote to a church he had founded in the Greek city of Corinth, a busy port known for its commerce and its moral looseness. The letter addresses a series of problems in the congregation, including divisions, lawsuits between believers, and confusion about marriage and worship. Chapter 5 deals with a man who was living with his stepmother, a case that scandalized even the surrounding pagan culture, while the church remained complacent.
The verses just before this one, 5:10 through 12, explain that Paul never meant believers to cut off all contact with immoral people in the world, since that would mean leaving the world altogether. What he forbids is fellowship with someone who bears the name of a brother while living in persistent sin. Verse 12 asks the church what business it has judging outsiders, and then verse 13 gives the contrast: outsiders are God’s to judge, but insiders are the church’s responsibility to address.
Key Phrases in 1 Corinthians 5:13
Matthew 18:15-17
15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
(WEB)
Jesus lays out a step-by-step process for addressing a brother who sins against you, beginning with private conversation and moving to witnesses and then to the church. It shows the same concern for restoring a fellow believer that Paul expresses, and it sets out the order in which a congregation should respond.
Galatians 6:1
Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted.
(WEB)
Paul tells spiritual believers to restore someone caught in a transgression, doing so gently and with awareness of their own vulnerability. This verse balances the firmness of 1 Corinthians 5 with a tender purpose, reminding the church that correction is meant to heal and that those who correct must also guard their own hearts.
A Short Prayer From 1 Corinthians 5:13
Lord, you are the only one who truly knows the hearts of every person in the world. Thank you that the judgment of those outside the church rests with you and not with me. Give me a humble spirit when I am tempted to condemn others, and give my church courage to speak the truth in love when someone among us is walking away from you. Keep us faithful to your holiness, and make us eager to see every wandering believer restored to you. Amen.
