Paul once again comes out swinging against the Corinthians for their immorality and tolerance. Interestingly, his clarification toward the end of this chapter contains a lot of insight. Paul, just like Jesus, had high expectations for those who professed to be believers.
Now I did not mean pagans who are immoral or greedy or are thieves, or who worship idols. To avoid them you would have to get out of the world completely. 11 What I meant was that you should not associate with a person who calls himself a believer but is immoral or greedy or worships idols or is a slanderer or a drunkard or a thief. Don’t even sit down to eat with such a person.
1 Corinthians 5:10-11 GNB
Many Christians apply Paul’s words to nonbelievers. They want nothing to do with the “immoral world.” The problem with this type of thinking is that it goes completely against the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations. His strongest words are for those who profess to follow Jesus but are continuing to justify their sin. In fact, he writes that we shouldn’t even sit down with such a person.
Paul’s emphasis is purity within the church, not judgment outside the church. We can expect that unbelievers will act like unbelievers. On the other hand, we can expect that believers will act like believers. When they don’t, we are told we can judge their fruit to determine if accountability is needed.
“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:18-20 NASB
You can certainly expect that when you confront someone who is deceived, they will make a lot of noise and refuse to listen. It is just another sign that they lack fruit in their life. A true follower of Jesus will be able to accept correction shared in love and take it into prayer. There are so many today who profess to follow Jesus but want nothing to do with accountability. I genuinely wonder how they reconcile the strong words Paul has for those who resist correction.