We close chapter 5 where Sundays message closed it — not with a removal, but with a destination. Everything Paul has said about facing sin, restoring the fallen, and cleaning out the leaven has been pointed at one outcome. Listen to Ephesians 4:

“We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.” (Ephesians 4:14–16, CEV)

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We come to chapter 5, and I will tell you plainly: this is the chapter most churches would rather skip. Here is the question Paul answers in it, and it is as delicate as it is important: what should a church do when a believer chooses to persist in a life of sin?

Not stumbles. Not struggles. Not falls and repents. Persists — settles in, decides, and stays. Chapter 5 is Pauls answer, and it is not comfortable. But I want you to hear the heart behind it before we hear a word of it: Paul is not trying to punish anybody. He is trying to save a man and protect a church.

So let us walk through it in four movements, and then land where Paul lands — on a church grown up.

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Friends, welcome back. Todays passage corrects a misunderstanding so old that Paul was already correcting it in the first century — and we still get it wrong. Listen:

“In my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people. But I wasnt talking about the people of this world. You would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols. I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat. Dont even eat with them! Why should I judge outsiders? Arent we supposed to judge only church members? God judges everyone else. The Scriptures say, ‘Chase away any of your own people who are evil.” (1 Corinthians 5:9–13, CEV)

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