1 Corinthians 5:1 Meaning and Explanation
“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Paul confronts a notorious case of sexual sin in the church: a man living with his father's wife, a thing so shameful that even the surrounding pagan world condemned it.
What Does 1 Corinthians 5:1 Mean?
Paul turns from the divisions of the earlier chapters to a scandal he has heard reported about the Corinthian church. A member is in a sexual relationship with his stepmother, a union so far outside accepted bounds that even people with no knowledge of God's law recoiled from it.
The gospel does not lower the church's holiness; it raises it. Believers are called to a purity that, far from trailing behind the conscience of the world around them, shines above it. Sin named openly can be answered; sin tolerated quietly festers. Paul names it so that grace and truth can do their healing work.
1 Corinthians 5:1 in the Original Language
porneia (πορνεία), 'fornication' -- a broad word for sexual immorality outside the bond of marriage.
Frequently Asked Questions About 1 Corinthians 5:1
What does 1 Corinthians 5:1 mean?
Paul confronts a notorious case of sexual sin in the church: a man living with his father's wife, a thing so shameful that even the surrounding pagan world condemned it.