“Questions from Corinth”

DELIVERING TO SATAN: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

“ 5  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 Cor. 5:5.
~Paul’s instruction to “deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” sounds harsh. Yet, it was a profound act of pastoral love and theological precision, aimed at redemption and the preservation of the church’s purity, while hoping for the restoration of the backslidden brother.

~To understand “deliver such an one to Satan,” we first need to see the world as the Bible describes it: two spiritual kingdoms. There’s the kingdom of God, and there’s Satan’s kingdom. When someone chooses to follow Christ, they move from Satan’s kingdom and enter God’s kingdom. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col. 1:13).The church, then, is a sanctuary, a place of spiritual protection and nourishment under Christ’s direct headship.