1 Corinthians Chapter 5

Paul commands the church to confront open sexual sin, preserve its holiness, and practice accountable fellowship.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

Confronting Open Sin

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Remove the Old Leaven

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

Holiness Within the Church

1 Corinthians 5:1

Paul turns from party spirit to a case of public sexual wrongdoing: a man is living with “his father’s wife,” most naturally his stepmother. The phrasing echoes the biblical prohibition against uncovering a father’s nakedness. Roman law also prohibited such unions, so Paul’s claim that the case exceeded ordinary Gentile tolerance is not mere religious insulation. The relationship was scandalous even by the city’s public standards.

The present-tense expression “that one should have” suggests an ongoing union, not a single past incident. The term translated “fornication” (porneia) is broad sexual-immorality language; its content is defined here by the prohibited family relationship.

It is possible the man’s father was dead, divorced, or still living; the text does not say. Calling the woman “his father’s wife” rather than his mother makes a stepmother likely but does not remove the betrayal of family order.

Paul’s comparison with Gentiles is rhetorical but grounded. Greco-Roman sexual practice could be permissive in several areas, yet incest laws and moralists rejected this relationship. The church’s claim to holiness had been publicly contradicted on terms even neighbors could recognize.

“Reported commonly” indicates that this was no private suspicion. The church was dealing with known, continuing conduct, not an accusation that had yet to be established. Paul names the man but says nothing about disciplining the woman, which may indicate that she was outside the congregation.

The verse should not be generalized into permission to police private lives through rumor. Its setting includes clear covenant standards, an identifiable member, and conduct already public enough to damage both people and the church’s witness.