Single lesson
1 Corinthians 5: Immorality Rebuked
1 Corinthians 5:1–8; 1 Corinthians 5:9–13
In this passage, Paul addresses a serious sin inside the church and explains how the church should respond. Students will trace his argument, notice his warnings, and discuss how holiness and clear boundaries matter in a Christian community.
Before you teach
1 Corinthians 5:1–13 deals with a reported case of sexual immorality among people in the church. Paul rebukes their arrogance, calls for action when the church gathers in the name of the Lord Jesus, uses the picture of yeast, and then clarifies that his instruction concerns those called a brother within the church, not outsiders.
Students will be able to explain that 1 Corinthians 5 teaches the church to deal seriously with open sin among its own members and to value sincerity and truth.
Welcome: Naming the main issue
5 minBegin by explaining that this passage addresses serious wrongdoing within the church, so we will read it respectfully and carefully. Ask students to listen for two big ideas: what Paul says about the reported sin, and how he says the church should respond. Keep the focus on what the passage says, not on personal disclosures.
1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:11
Read and explain: Serious sin and the church’s response
10 minRead verses 1–5 aloud. Point out that Paul says the sin is actually reported, and he rebukes the church for being arrogant rather than mourning. He says the man should be removed from among them. Note that Paul speaks about gathered church action in the name of the Lord Jesus, showing this is a serious community matter, not private gossip.
1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:4, 1 Corinthians 5:5
Discuss: The yeast picture and Christ our Passover
8 minRead verses 6–8. Explain that yeast here pictures how something small can spread through the whole group. Paul says their boasting is not good and urges them to purge out the old yeast. Then notice the contrast between malice and wickedness, and sincerity and truth. Paul also connects this call to holiness with Christ, our Passover, having been sacrificed.
1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Corinthians 5:8
Make and respond: Inside the church and outside the church
10 minRead verses 9–13. Help students observe Paul’s clarification: he is not telling believers to avoid all sinful people in the world, because that would mean leaving the world. His instruction is about someone called a brother who openly lives in these sins. Students then make a reminder card with a key phrase from the passage and one sentence about what it teaches.
1 Corinthians 5:9, 1 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 5:12, 1 Corinthians 5:13
Closing: Careful application
7 minSummarise the flow of the passage. Paul addresses open sin in the church, warns that sin spreads like yeast, and tells the church to make wise distinctions between those inside and outside. Close by asking students to write one careful application for a Christian community, using the passage’s own words such as sincerity, truth, mourning, or put away.
1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 5:8, 1 Corinthians 5:13
Questions to explore
Why does Paul rebuke the church in verse 2 before he gives further instructions?
Look at the contrast in the verse: they are arrogant, but Paul says they should have mourned and removed the man from among them.
1 Corinthians 5:2
How does the image of yeast help explain Paul’s concern?
Use Paul’s own comparison in verses 6–8 and notice how he moves from a small amount of yeast to the whole lump, then to malice, wickedness, sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Corinthians 5:8
What distinction does Paul make between people outside the church and someone called a brother?
Read verses 10–13 carefully and compare ‘those who are outside’ with ‘anyone who is called a brother’.
1 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 5:12, 1 Corinthians 5:13
Make, think or respond
Yeast and Truth Reminder Card
What you’ll need
- Bible
- blank cards or paper
- pens or markers
- envelopes or small pieces of folded paper
Try it together
- Write several short phrases from the passage on the board, such as ‘a little yeast leavens the whole lump’ or ‘sincerity and truth’.
- Ask each student to choose one phrase and copy it onto a card.
- Inside the card, have them write one sentence explaining what that phrase teaches in this passage about the church.
- If appropriate, students can place the card in an envelope labelled ‘Remember’ and share their sentence with the group.
This activity helps students remember Paul’s own language for the main teaching of the passage about sin, holiness and sincere church life.
Adapt for your group
- For younger or less confident readers, pre-select two short key phrases from 1 Corinthians 5:6–8 and let them explain one with a partner before sharing.
- For older or more advanced students, ask them to compare the commands in 1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Corinthians 5:11 and 1 Corinthians 5:13 and describe how Paul builds his argument.
An optional closing prayer
‘Lord Jesus, please help us take sin seriously, love what is sincere and true, and act with wisdom in our communities. Help us listen carefully to your word. Amen.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
1 Corinthians 5
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.
2 You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.
3 For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together with my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 you 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.
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’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;
10 yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.
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.
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.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.