This page offers ready-to-use study questions for 1 Corinthians 5, Paul’s direct response to a shocking case of sexual sin in the Corinthian congregation. It is built for a small group leader, a Sunday class teacher, or a person studying alone who wants to move from reading the chapter to discussing it honestly.
1 Corinthians 5 at a Glance
Paul opens by naming a scandal that even the surrounding pagan culture would not tolerate: a man living with his father’s wife. Instead of grieving, the church has become proud of its tolerance. Paul says that although he is physically absent, he has already judged the matter, and he instructs the gathered congregation to act in the name of Jesus.
From there Paul shifts to the wider principle that a little yeast spreads through the whole batch, and urges the believers to clear out the old corruption so they can live as the unleavened people they already are. He then clarifies an earlier letter, explains which kinds of association he means to cut off, and closes by distinguishing between judging those inside the church and leaving outsiders to God.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first, before anyone offers an opinion. Ask the group to point to specific words and phrases in the text, and resist the urge to explain until the facts are on the table.
1 Corinthians 5:2
You are puffed up, and didn’t rather mourn, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.
(WEB)
Read this verse first to name the core rebuke. Ask the group what it reveals about the difference between tolerance and genuine concern for holiness.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump? 7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(WEB)
This passage gives the yeast image and the Passover connection. Reading it aloud helps the group see that Paul grounds the call to purity in what Christ has already done.
1 Corinthians 5:11
But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.
(WEB)
Reading the full list of vices here clarifies exactly what kind of association Paul is limiting. It is a useful passage for discussing accountability within the community.
1 Corinthians 5:12-13
12 For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”
(WEB)
This closing passage draws the boundary between judging insiders and leaving outsiders to God. Reading it aloud at the end of the study helps the group leave with a clear sense of responsibility.
1 Corinthians 5:4-5
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
(WEB)
These verses describe the gathered church acting in Jesus’ name, which makes them a good passage for reflecting on how the community makes decisions together. Allow time for honest questions about the meaning of the discipline described.
Memory Verse for 1 Corinthians 5
1 Corinthians 5:7
Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.
(WEB)
This verse captures the whole chapter’s call: remove the old corruption because you already are a new community in Christ. Encourage group members to repeat it together and carry it into their week as a reminder of their new identity.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as a community that longs to be holy and honest. Thank you that Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us, and that we are called to live as the unleavened people you have made us to be. Give us the grief over sin that Paul wanted the Corinthians to feel, and the courage to speak truth in love when someone among us is walking away from you. Help us remove the old yeast of pride, bitterness and compromise from our own hearts. Keep us faithful to one another and humble before you, that our church may reflect your holiness and your mercy. Amen.
