The Necessity of Faithful Church Discipline

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul uses the situation of open incest being tolerated by the church at Corinth to emphasize the need for faithful and biblical church discipline. Following the teaching of Christ in Matthew 18, Paul outlines the procedure that should be followed in removing from the fellowship of the church one who is living as an unbeliever. Through delivering them "to Satan for the destruction of the flesh," they might be brought to restoration through repentance. The foundational principle of church discipline is that because God cares about the holiness of His church, so ought we to make it a priority as well, and church discipline is the process of removing "leaven" before it affects the entire church.