First Corinthians 5:9 means that Paul had already written to the Corinthian church instructing them not to keep close fellowship with people who persist in sexual sin inside the church. Paul is referring to an earlier letter that has not survived, and he is writing to a congregation that was tolerating a serious moral problem among its own members.
I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners…
1 Corinthians 5:9 (WEB)
What 1 Corinthians 5:9 Means
The phrase “I wrote to you in my letter” tells you that this is not Paul’s first word on the subject. He is reminding the Corinthians of an instruction they should already have acted on. The verse is less a fresh command than a recollection of a standing expectation, which suggests the church had either misunderstood it or simply ignored it.
The phrase “have no company with” describes the kind of association Paul has in mind. The Greek idea is of mixing together or keeping company, the way you would share a table or a daily life with someone. Paul is not calling for a cold, hostile shunning of people who sin. He is describing a decision about close fellowship within the church, where a believer who keeps living in unrepentant sexual sin is no longer treated as a partner in the shared life of the community.
The verse does not tell you to cut off contact with every unbeliever you meet. The verses that follow make that explicit, and the rest of this article will show why that distinction matters.
The Context of 1 Corinthians 5:9
First Corinthians is a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church he founded in Corinth, a busy port city in Greece with a reputation for commerce and moral looseness. The Corinthians were a divided, proud congregation, and this chapter deals with a man in the church who was living with his father’s wife, a case that had caused scandal even among outsiders. Paul rebukes the church for boasting about its tolerance rather than mourning the sin.
Verses 6 through 8 use the image of leaven, or yeast, to argue that a little sin spreads through the whole community, and they tie this to the Passover, with Christ as the sacrificed lamb. Verses 10 through 12 then clarify the instruction: Paul never meant that believers should withdraw from the wider world full of greedy and immoral people, since that would require leaving the world altogether. His concern is with those who claim the name of brother while living in known, unrepentant sin, and he clarifies that the church’s discipline is directed inward, toward its own members.
Key Phrases in 1 Corinthians 5:9
1 Corinthians 5:11
But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.
(WEB)
This verse finishes Paul’s clarification, making clear that the instruction applies to someone who is called a brother yet lives in sin, and that the church should not even share a meal with such a person. It shows that the concern is about the witness and integrity of the community itself.
Matthew 18:15-17
15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
(WEB)
Jesus lays out a patient process for addressing a fellow believer who sins, beginning with a private conversation and moving toward the church’s involvement. It gives the pastoral method behind the kind of discipline Paul describes, showing that the goal is restoration.
A Short Prayer From 1 Corinthians 5:9
Lord, you are holy, and you want your church to reflect your holiness in the way we love one another and in the way we tell the truth about sin. Give us courage to speak honestly when someone we care about is living in ways that harm them and dishonor you. Give us wisdom to tell the difference between staying faithful within your family and withdrawing from the people you have called us to reach. Keep our hearts gentle and our motives pure, so that our community stays clean and our witness stays warm. Amen.
