GUEST
ARTICLE
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF,
“Destruction of the Flesh”?
(1 Corinthians 5:5)
Article
description: What is the meaning of the
phrase, “the destruction of the flesh,” in 1 Corinthians
5:5? Did it sanction the use of capital punishment in the church
for immoral and/or heretical people?
“In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul commanded
those Christians to deliver a sinful brother ‘unto Satan
for the destruction of the flesh’ (1 Cor. 5:5). This
sounds like a very severe requirement. Could
you comment?”
In this section of the apostle’s letter, he deals with a
gross example of immorality in the Corinthian church. A
man had become sexually intimate with his stepmother (the
language is very precise – his “father’s wife,” as opposed
to his own “mother”). The
church members were not offended by the sordid situation;
rather, they gloried in it. Such
compromise called for the sternest rebuke. Deliver
the offending brother to Satan for “the destruction of the
flesh.”
Unfortunately, many have misunderstood this text. Some have used it as a pretext for a physical purging of the
church of ungodly members (e.g., in the use of the death
penalty). Roman
Catholic history is saturated with the blood of those whom
it considered “heretics.” Some
Protestant reformers were equally ruthless on occasion.
It is amazing at the number of scholars who have advanced
the position that the “destruction of the flesh” here refers
to physical death. This
view is at variance with the very spirit of the passage,
which suggests the reclamation of the wayward brother’s soul
by means of the “destruction.” “Deliver
such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that
the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” The
destruction of the flesh is a remedial procedure, the design
of which is for the man’s salvation. There is no redemptive
value in mere death! A
man put to death hardly has the opportunity for reformation.
The expression “deliver such a one unto Satan” is the equivalent
of “put away the wicked man from among yourselves” (v. 13). It is a biblical idiom for the severing of Christian fellowship. It
represents a dramatic expression of the literal formula, “have
no company with” (v. 9), or the more specific admonition “with
such a one do not even eat” (v. 11), i.e., refrain from ordinary
social fraternization with such a one (cf. 2 Thess. 3:6).
One must note that Hymenaeus and Alexander had been “delivered
unto Satan” in order that “they might be taught not to blaspheme” (1
Tim. 1:20). If
the “deliverance” was death, how does the subsequent clause
make any sense? It
was not anticipated that these gentleman would be doing post-mortem blasphemy!
What then, is the meaning of that ambiguous phrase, “for
the destruction of the flesh”? The
sense almost certainly is this: Turn the man over to Satan
(i.e., back into the world community of debauchery), that
he may reap the consequences of his rebellion (whatever physical
and/or emotional disadvantages that might involve), along
with distressing estrangement from a warm, loving association
with the church. Under
such circumstances of distress, if there were a remnant of
conscience remaining, the rogue brother might well learn
to “destroy” his baser, “fleshly” urges, and thus be reclaimed
for the Savior’s cause.
This is a sensible approach to the text that does not thrust
scripture into the realm of the absurd or the inconsistent.
Wayne Jackson
© 2004 by Christian Courier Publications.
All rights reserved.
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