God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
1 Corinthians 5:13
The first issue to be dealt with in this verse is what Scriptures are being referred to here.
Leviticus 18:6-18 are the verses that spell out the prohibitions of sexual relations with close relatives but none of them include the repeated refrain seen in Deuteronomy.
Deut 22:22-24 refers to matters of sexual sin and “putting the evil doer” away. “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil. “Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town, you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.”
There are many other verses in Deuteronomy which include this element. It is most likely the Scriptures referred to are found in Deuteronomy.
But as you can see, in this context the “purging of evil” or “putting away” was permanent. i.e. death
The second issue is who or what is being referred to as needing to be put away.
The Septuagint reads :-
τον πονερον εξ υμων αυτων
the {evil thing/one} from you yours
Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person / thing – Calvin saw this as the devil himself. But not many hold that view. Some see “wicked person” meaning the incestuous person, whom Paul would have removed from among them by excommunication. Others see “wicked thing” as the sin of incest rather than the person. There is variation involved. You decide for yourself.
Finally what does the verb “εξαρειτε” really mean?
ἐξαίρω – to remove, put (take) away, to lift up or take out of a place.
In the Old Testament context the word was בּער [bâ‛ar] to kindle, burn, to consume, remove (figuratively)
In the Septuagint the word is ἐξαρεῖς from the verb ἐξαίρω.
Put away from among yourselves – Excommunicate him; expel him from among you. The force of the word has lessened by the New Testament time and the sense clearly is a removal but not as permanent as in the Old Testament context – death.
The seriousness of the sin is still severe. But Paul makes it clear in 1 Cor 5:5 that this man must thrown out and handed over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and that he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. Paul’s heart is still ultimately the salvation of the man, but don’t ruin the congregation in the process.
You can’t keep trouble from coming, but you don’t have to give it a chair to sit on.
Anon
You think it’s hot here?
God