What does 1 Corinthians 5:5 mean?

 

“To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5:5 KJV)

 

“I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

(1 Corinthians 5:5 NASB)

 

Context: In the spirit of love but with the need for discipline in mind, Pauled turned to his letter to deal with certain disorders in the Church. Paul dealt with the Corinthians' failure to discipline their immoral brother first in chapter 5. The immoral brother was carrying on an affair with his step mother (v. 1). Paul, knowing the Corinthians' indifference to the matter, was compelled to act. By the authority vested in him as an apostle, he passed judgment on the offender which he asked the church to enact at their next meeting. 

 

“To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh”

 

The Arminian view of this part of the verse states that “destruction of the flesh” is annihilation and loss of salvation. However, this view is textually faulty. The first fault is that the Greek word for destruction (olethros) never means annihilation when used in other verses (1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Timothy 6:9). The second fault is that the same greek word (olethros) is a strong term, the noun form of which (olethreutou) occurs elsewhere in this letter (10:10) where it is translated “the destroying angel” who killed men. Meaning that within 1 Corinthians, Olethros refers to physical death. Third, Paul spoke in the same later about a discipline that leads to death (11:30). 

 

Therefore, it seems probable that Paul intended this man should be excluded from the fellowship of the congregation, thus physically expressing his exclusion from God’s protection which he formerly enjoyed (cf. Job 1:12) and thrusting him out into the arena of the world (1 John 5:19) where Satan would bring about his death. 

 

“that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 

 

What is “the day of the Lord Jesus”?

 

Two other passages in the Bible state the same “the day of the Lord Jesus” and both are located in 1 and 2 Corinthians. The two passages are:

 

“Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:8 KJV)

 

“As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our's in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (2 Corinthians 1:14 KJV)

 

Notice something about the first two passages, they both give a condition so that something may happen, “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit MAY BE saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” and “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

 

With that in mind, let's look at 2 Corinthians 1:14. Paul’s letters were like his conduct: simple, sincere, not in man-made wisdom but in God’s grace. Paul was above board and a straight forward person; and he was the same way in his letters. He felt the Corinthians must acknowledge this to a degree (in part). And he hoped that this provisional assent would one day grow into their wholehearted acceptance and endorsement (understand fully). That in fact was how Paul viewed them. He was confident of their conversions (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:1-2). He also felt they would eventually come to vindicate them and even boast of him in the day of the Lord Jesus (cf. Phil. 2:16), that is, the judgment seat of Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10-11). 

 

So in all three of these verses we have a condition leading to a result concerning the Bema Seat of Christ. This makes sense considering the words “so that” (Gr. ἵνα) plus the subjunctive in a sense of result occurs in some passages in the New Testament. For example, in Romans 11:11 Paul says of Israel, “...Have they stumbled that they should fall?...” They did not stumble beyond recovery, but that was the result of their stumbling. There are several other illustrations in the Pauline literature of hina followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood with a sense of result (For example: Romans 3:19; 11:11; 15:32; 1 Corinthians 7:29; 2 Corinthians 1:17; Galatians 5:17; and 1 Thessalonians 5:4). 

 

If this is the correct meaning then the verse would be rendered, “Hand this man over to Satan, so that his flesh may be destroyed, with the result that his spirit would be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus. This has the advantage of taking olethros in its normal sense of total ruin, “flesh” in a very common sense (physical body), and requires that nothing be read into the passage. 

 

Doesn’t this prove that you must turn from sin to be saved?

 

Not at all, this salvation isn’t salvation from the second death, instead as Bob Wilkin states, “Often in the NT the expression being saved refers to being healthy (e.g., Matt 9:22; Mark 5:34; 10:52; 8:48; 17:19; 18:42; James 5:15).” Meaning, the “salvation” here is being spiritually healthy at the judgement seat of Christ. This carnal brother would not have been spiritually healthy had he not been handed over to Satan as a form of temporal judgment.  We know this can’t be salvation from the second death because the judgement seat of Christ is only for saved believers. 

 

In conclusion, Paul knew that though his flesh needed to be destroyed under the instrumentation of Satan, the outcome would still certainly result in the wayward brothers spirit being saved during the Bema Judgment.