Bible Question: What does 1 Cor.5:5 mean? ("hand this man over to satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.") |
Bible Answer: The one who is excommunicated is delivered to the power of Satan, in that he is cast out of the house of God. (c) What it is to be delivered to Satan the Lord himself declares when he says, "Let him be unto thee as a heathen and publican"; Mt 18:17. That is to say, to be disfranchised and put out of the right and privileges of the city of Christ, which is the Church, outside of which Satan is lord and master. (6) The goal of excommunication is not to cast away the excommunicate that he should utterly perish, but that he may be saved, that is, that by this means his flesh may be tamed, that he may learn to live to the Spirit. |