1 Coríntios 5
John MacArthur · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Coríntios 5
MacArthur - The unrepentant person may suffer greatly under God’s judgment, but will not be an evil influence in the church; and he will more likely be saved under that judgment than if tolerated and accepted in the church (Study Bible)
1 Coríntios 5
MacArthur - A large congregation, an impressive Sunday school, active witnessing and visitation and counseling, and every other sort of good program give no protection or justification to a church that is not faithful in cleansing itself. When sin is willingly, or even neglectfully, allowed to go unchallenged and undisciplined, a larger church will be in danger of a larger malignancy. Boasting (glorying) (2745) kauchema akin to aucheo = boast + euchomai = pray to God <> auchen = neck which vain persons are apt to carry in proud manner) strictly speaking describes either a boast (the act) or the ground or the matter of glorying or boasting (the object). The boast can be either proper or improper (sinful, as in 1Co 5:6), and whether it is a good or bad sense is determined by the context. Used 11x in NT - Rom. 4:2; 1 Co. 5:6; 1 Co. 9:15; 1 Co. 9:16; 2 Co. 1:14; 2 Co. 5:12; 2 Co. 9:3; Gal. 6:4; Phil. 1:26; Phil. 2:16; Heb. 3:6 Good (2570) kalos describes that which is inherently excellent or intrinsically good, providing some special or superior benefit. Kalos is good with emphasis (as discussed below) on that which is beautiful, handsome, excellent, surpassing, precious, commendable, admirable. Do you not know that a little (mikros - small piece of) leaven (present tense -continually, progressively) leavens the whole lump of dough? Paul used this phrase Do you not know to bring to mind truth that his readers knew but either forgot or in this case more likely disregarded. Paul asks a question which expects an affirmative answer. Paul uses this phrase Do you not know (found repeatedly in this first letter) to remind them what they should have known because they had been previously taught by him and then by Apollos, two of the greatest teachers in the history of the church! The point is that this basic baking principle about leaven is one they should know for it was known by everyone who made bread. Paul is trying to get them to see the situation clearly for their boasting had blinded their spiritual vision. To neglect the sin would result in spread of the sin just like leaven spreads through the dough. A little leaven is thought by many commentators to be the sin of incest. While there is some truth in that, from the immediate context, there was also another dangerous leaven in the congregation, the leaven of the sin of boasting. which he is says is not good. Then he mentions leaven, so clearly in context the leaven is boasting. Of course the whole lump is the Corinthian church. And of course the man in incest is also "leaven." THOUGHT - If you’re not dealing with sin in your own individual life, you don’t realize right now the damage it’s doing to your home. It’s like that leaven. It’s in there and it’s beginning to fester, and if you don’t deal with it, it’s going to destroy. It can destroy relationships of any kind. (Wayne Barber) Jack Arnold on a little leaven leavens the whole lump - The first principle is from the nature of sin. Paul uses yeast (leaven) which speaks of evil, for his illustration. He reached back into the kitchen and brought out something which would be familiar to every woman in New Testament days. A little leaven (yeast) permeates the whole dough and causes it to rise. Paul’s point is obvious: a little evil, by its very nature, defuses itself, spreading its corrupting influence so that which it contacts is corrupted also. A little sin contaminates the whole assembly. Sin can wreck the purity of the church. One spoiled apple can cause the whole barrel to rot. By keeping this incestuous adulterer in the local church, the whole body could be infested with sexual immorality and other breaches of God’s law. Sin spreads like wildfire. It must be stopped to protect the congregation. Or to put this whole thought in perspective we might use the illustration of cancer. One cancer cell inside a healthy body can spread the disease to the other cells. Only radical surgery on the bad cells can save the body from dying. To discipline an offender is painful but it does have a sobering effect upon the whole church. Christians might think twice before they get involved in premarital sex, or have an extramarital affair, or file for divorce, or fall into homosexuality or lesbianism or any other gross sin if they knew that the local church would discipline them. (ED: I KNOW OF A LOCAL CHURCH WHERE THE MARRIED WORSHIP LEADER DIED OF AIDS AT A YOUNG AGE. UNFORTUNATELY THE PASTOR CHOOSE NOT TO DISCLOSE THIS SIN TO THE CONGREGATION. ONE CAN ONLY WONDER IF HE HAD DONE SO, WOULD OTHERS TRAPPED IN VARIOUS SEXUAL SINS HAVE COME TO EXPERIENCE THE FEAR OF THE LORD AND CEASED THEIR DALLIANCES? ONLY GOD KNOWS!) Krell on leaven - Leaven is a little lump of bread dough that is saved out of the batch. It is allowed to ferment or sour, and then it’s used in the next batch of bread so that it will rise. A little bit of yeast can make a whole loaf rise. The Jews associated fermenting with rotting, so leaven became a symbol of corrosive evil. Phrase - Do you not know Gen. 44:15; Jdg. 15:11; 2 Sam. 2:26; 2 Sam. 3:38; 2 Chr. 13:5; 2 Chr. 32:13; Isa. 40:21; Isa. 40:28; Ezek. 17:12; Zech. 4:5; Zech. 4:13; Jn. 19:10; Rom. 6:3; Rom. 6:16; Rom. 7:1; Rom. 11:2; 1 Co. 3:16; 1 Co. 5:6; 1 Co. 6:2; 1 Co. 6:3; 1 Co. 6:9; 1 Co. 6:15; 1 Co. 6:16; 1 Co. 6:19; 1 Co. 9:13; 1 Co. 9:24; Jas. 4:4
1 Coríntios 5
MacArthur has an excellent explanation of leaven in light of the OT teaching in Exodus 12+ - For the Jews, leaven historically had also represented something bad from the past brought over into the present. When God was preparing Israel to leave Egypt He instructed His people to sprinkle lamb’s blood on their doorposts and lintels so that, in the last of the ten plagues on Egypt, the angel of death would pass over and not slay their firstborn (Ex. 12:23+). And when they baked bread in preparation for the trek out of Egypt, the Israelites were not allowed to add leaven. For one thing, they did not have time to knead the leaven into the dough and wait for it to rise, since “they could not delay” (Ex 12:39+). For another, bread represented sustenance of life, and the Passover and Exodus represented deliverance from the old life (in Egypt) and entrance into the new life (in the Promised Land). The leaven represented the old life—the way of Egypt, the way of the world—which was to be left entirely behind. Consequently, while they were traveling out of Egypt and during every subsequent Passover celebration, the Lord commanded that “nothing leavened shall be seen among you” (Ex 13:3, 7+). Every bit of leaven was to be thrown out. Christians likewise are to be separated from the old life. We are to bring none of it into the new life. (MNTC-1 Cor) Know (1492)(eido) means to know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Leaven (yeast)(2219) zume probably from zeo = to heat, as occurs in fermentation of dough when leaven is mixed in) was literally a small portion of dough that was retained in order to start a new batch of dough (literal uses - Mt 16:12; Lk 13:21; 1 Cor 5:6; Gal 5:9). In ancient times, when bread was about to be baked, a small piece of dough was pulled off and saved. That leaven or yeast would then be allowed to ferment in water, and later kneaded into the next batch of fresh dough to make it rise. Leaven throughout Scripture was used figuratively to describe permeating power or influence, usually the influence of evil, but also of good in Mt 13:33 and Lk 13:21 referring to the growth or expansion of the Kingdom of God. Zume was used proverbially to demonstrate great effect from little causes (Gal 5:9). Zume is used figuratively to depict corruption of thought and conduct, which Jesus termed hypocrisy here in Lk 12:1. Zume was used figuratively to describe teachings based on unspiritual value systems (Mt 16.12). Finally, zume was a metaphor for sin within a believing community, and was identified as wicked ways (1Cor 5.8). The first use of zume in the Septuagint (Ex. 12:15; 12:19) is associated with the Passover, where the Jews were instructed to eat bread without leaven for seven days. (See What is the significance of unleavened bread?) Zume in 11v in NT - Matt. 13:33; Matt. 16:6; Matt. 16:11; Matt. 16:12; Mk. 8:15; Lk. 12:1; Lk. 13:21; 1 Co. 5:6; 1 Co. 5:7; 1 Co. 5:8; Gal. 5:9 Zume - 10x in 10v in the Septuagint - Ex. 12:15; Ex. 12:19; Ex. 13:3; Ex. 13:7; Ex. 23:18; Exod. 34:25; Lev. 2:11; Deut. 16:3; Deut. 16:4 Related Resources: Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology Torrey Topical Textbook Leaven American Tract Society Leaven Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Leaven Easton's Bible Dictionary Leaven Fausset Bible Dictionary Leaven Holman Bible Dictionary Leaven Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Leaven Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Leaven Leaven 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Leaven International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Leaven Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Leaven and ferment The Jewish Encyclopedia Leaven Leavens (2220)(zumoo) ferments, causes to ferment, use yeast or leaven to cause bread dough to rise. To cause a substance to undergo fermentation using leaven, usually in bread or a liquid. 4x in the NT - Matt. 13:33; Lk. 13:21; 1 Co. 5:6; Gal. 5:9. 5x in the Septuagint - Ex 12:34; Ex 12:39; Lev. 6:17; Lev. 23:17; Hos. 7:4; Lump (5445)(phurama from phurao = to mix) refers a compact, kneaded mass of some mixture, especially dough or clay. Any substance that has been mixed and kneaded together; (1) of bread dough, lump, batch (1Co 5.6); literally fresh dough, i.e. without yeast; used metaphorically of a morally clean community of believers (1Co 5.7); (2) of potter's clay lump ( Ro 9.21). NIDNTT- In the classical and Hellenistic periods phyrama describes something mixed or kneaded, like dough (Mnesimachus 4, 11; Aristotle, Problems 929 a 25; Plutarch, Moralia 693 e). The cognate verb is almost restricted to the sense of mixing flour or some similar substance. Only rarely is there reference to the mixing of soil with water to form a clay paste (cf. Plato, Timaeus 73 e; Theaetetus 147 c). Not until Plutarch is there a clear instance of the use of phyrama for the dough-like mixture from which the potter moulds his ware (Moralia 811 c). Phurama - 5x in Septuagint - Ro 9:21; Ro 11:16; 1 Co. 5:6; 1 Co. 5:7; Gal. 5:9 Phurama - 4x in Septuagint - Ex. 8:3; Ex. 12:34; Nu 15:20; Nu 15:21; 1 Corinthians 5:7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Amplified - Purge (clean out) the old leaven that you may be fresh (new) dough, still uncontaminated [as you are], for Christ, our Passover [Lamb], has been sacrificed. Wuest Paraphrase - Cleanse out completely, at once and once for all, the old yeast which is part of a world which has passed away for you and out from which you were saved, in order that you may be a fresh aggregation of individuals, even as you are without yeast. For, indeed, our Passover was slain, Christ. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) Clean out the old leaven: 1Co 5:13 Ex 12:15 13:6,7 Eph 4:22 Col 3:5-9 so that you may be a new lump 1Co 10:17 Christ our Passover 1Co 15:3,4 Ex 12:5,6 Isa 53:7-10 Joh 1:29,36 19:14 Ac 8:32-35 1Pe 1:19,20 Rev 5:6-9,12 1 Corinthians 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries . Related Passages: Exodus 12:15+ ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. Exodus 12:19+; ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. Exodus 13:7+ “Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders. PURGE THE PERNICIOUS PUTREFACTION Paul now appeals to an OT illustration to make his point that a thorough purging was absolutely necessary. Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump - Paul is giving a command to with the aorist imperative (see need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) signifying that this calls for urgent action on the part of the church at Corinth. To delay is to risk the danger of the "leaven" of sin spreading throughout the congregation. Wayne
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MacArthur - We are called to celebrate our Passover in Christ not with an annual feast but with constant life devotion to purity and rejection of sin. Discipline in the church assists in this celebration by removing impurities that will contaminate and corrupt it. It preserves Christ’s Body from the permeation of evil. Old (3820) palaios rom pálai = in the past, long ago) antique, not recent, not new, old in the sense of worn out and decrepit. (see old self = old man) Palaios means in existence for a long time, and in a number of contexts conveys the sense of being obsolete, antiquated or outworn. Worn out from use is the idea in (Mt 9:16, 17 Mk 2:21, Lk 5:36) Palaios is the antonym of kainos which means brand new. Palaios - 19x in 15v - Matt. 9:16; Matt. 9:17; Matt. 13:52; Mk. 2:21; Mk. 2:22; Lk. 5:36; Lk. 5:37; Lk. 5:39; Rom. 6:6; 1 Co. 5:7; 1 Co. 5:8; 2 Co. 3:14; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9; 1 Jn. 2:7 Old garment = Mt. 9:16, 17 What is old out of treasure = Mt 13:52 Old garment (twice) = Mk. 2:21 Old wineskins = Mk 2:22 Old wineskins… old wine = Lk. 5:36, 37, 39+ Old self = Ro 6:6 Old leaven = 1 Co. 5:7, 8 Old covenant = 2 Co. 3:14 Old man (figuratively of prior unregenerate behavior "in Adam") = Eph. 4:22+ Old man = Col. 3:9+ Old commandment (twice)= 1 Jn. 2:7+ Regarding 1Jn 2:7, Hiebert writes that "It is not a recent innovation, yet it is qualitatively new as experienced in Christ.” Leaven (yeast)(2219) see zume Malice (2549) kakia refers to the quality of wickedness and thus in a moral sense means depravity, vice or baseness (James 1:21, 1 Peter 2:16, Acts 8:22). It is the opposite of arete and all virtue and therefore lacks social value. It denotes a vicious disposition, evilness, ill-will, spitefulness. Malice is not only a moral deficiency but destroys fellowship. To varying degrees, the unsaved spend their life maliciously. In reference to behavior kakia conveys the idea of a mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition as indicated by words such as malice, ill-will, hatefulness, and dislike. It is an attitude of wickedness as an evil habit of one's mind. Kakia is used in NT to describe the wickedness which comes from within a person. Malice describes a vicious intention and expresses the desire to hurt another and rejoices in it! Aristotle defines malice as “taking all things in the evil part” Trench says that kakia is "that peculiar form of evil which manifests itself in a malignant interpretation of the actions of others, an attributing of them all to the worst motive." Webster says that "malice" is a desire to cause pain, injury, or distress to another and implies a deep-seated often unexplainable desire to see another suffer or experience pain, injury, or distress! One Greek scholar terms malice “the vicious character generally.”
1 Coríntios 5
MacArthur adds that "These verses indicate some types of offenses that require discipline and give further explanation as to how the discipline is to be carried out." I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people - This letter has been lost, but here Paul repeats what he had instructed the church in that letter. He had in fact given a clear warning regarding the danger of immoral people in the church not in the world (see 1 Cor 5:10). Either they disregarded his warning or forgot it because they did exactly what he had told them NOT to do. Truth not "truly" heard will obviously not be heeded and when it is not heeded it often becomes "hidden" in the recesses of our mind (if it was ever there in the first place). The best truth is that which is (1) from God and (2) is put into practice in the power of the Spirit. Immoral is pornos, a slightly different word than porneia, which he used earlier in this chapter, but the meaning is virtually identical -- one who is sexually immoral. Paul uses a rare verb for associate (sunanamignumi) which speaks of keeping intimate or close company with the immoral person, the present tense picturing this as continually mingling with fellow believers who practice these sins. Don't do this he says! They are not to be mixed up together with them. (cf 2 Th 3:14). MacArthur adds "If the offenders will not listen to the counsel and warning of two or three other believers and not even of the whole church, they are to be put out of the fellowship. They should not be allowed to participate in any activities of the church—worship services, Sunday school, Bible studies, or even social events. Obviously, and most importantly, they should not be allowed to have any leadership role. They should be totally cut off both from individual and corporate fellowship with other Christians, including that of eating together (v. 11; cf. 2 Thess. 3:6–15). No exceptions are made. Even if the unrepentant person is a close friend or family member, he is to be put out. If he is a true believer he will not lose his salvation because of the sin (v. 5), but he is to lose contact with fellow believers, in order not to corrupt them with his wickedness and to suffer the consequences of his sin. The pain of such isolation may drive the person to repentance....No church is healthy enough to resist contamination from persistent sin in its midst, any more than the healthiest and most nutritious bushel of apples can withstand contamination from even a single bad one. J D Watson - The application is again inescapable. The Christian is not to intermingle or have a close relationship with those who practice such serious sin. This very passage (1 Cor 5:9-13), in fact, deals with church discipline. If a Christian persists in such sin, he is to be put out of the church, and other Christians are to have nothing to do with him. Why? Because sin "rubs off." It's a communicable disease. Yes, we will have contact with the world, as Paul implies in 1 Cor 5:10, but we are not to company with it. Abraham is a perfect example of this principle. Hebrews 11:9 says of him, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." What is most significant here is that he didn't live with the natives of that land, but rather, with "Isaac and Jacob." While he certainly had contact with them, he still remained a stranger to the pagans around him and lived instead with his godly family. In stark contrast, Lot "pitched his tent toward Sodom" (Gen. 13:12) and ended up in Sodom. Let us be challenged each day to be careful of our company. Wrote (1125) grapho from root graph- = primarily means to scratch on or engrave as on an ornament, reports, letters, etc; English = graph, graphic, etc) means to engrave or inscribe with a pen or stylus characters or letters on a surface which can be wood, wax, metal, leather, stone, parchment, dirt (John ), paper, etc. Associate with (4874) (sunanamignumi from sun/syn = with in an intimate sense + ana = on, upon + mignumi = to mix) means to mingle, to get involved or mixed up with or together. This compound is more intense and means “to keep intimate, close company with. Louw-Nida - to associate with one another, normally involving spacial proximity and/or joint activity, and usually implying some kind of reciprocal relation or involvement Friberg - active mix, mingle together, as when mixing ingredients for medicine; figuratively and only middle or passive in the NT mingle oneself with, intermingle, associate with (1Co 5.9) 1 Co. 5:9; 1 Co. 5:11; 2 Th. 3:14 (One use in the Lxx = Hos. 7:8 = "Ephraim mixes himself with the nations"). Zodhiates - This verb sunanamígnusthai implies a closer connection than the synonymous preposition metá, "with." It implies not just a casual encounter but a joining together. The second word which helps form this verb is aná, "on" or "upon," which in composition as a prefix implies repetition, increase, intensity. And the basic verb is mígnumi, "to mix, mingle." The meaning then of this triple compound verb is to be conjoined repeatedly to prostitutes. We can easily see that the Greek word has a stronger and more intense and intimate meaning than simply "to company." The active voice indicates a personal initiative to have repeated relationships with prostitutes. This is not company; it is throwing oneself into the fire. The advice is valid, and each one of us, no matter how good his standing in Christ, needs to take it seriously. Let us remember that the same apostle wrote to these Corinthian believers, "Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). Keep Company (Company With) sunanamignumi <4874> Again in the matter of fellowship, let's consider another related NT word. So important is right company that Paul repeats in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10 what he had already written to those believers in another letter that no longer exists....The words "to company with" (1 Cor 5:9) and "to keep company" (1 Cor 5:11) translate a single Greek word, sunanamignumi <4874>, a compound from the root anamignumi (not in the NT), "to mix together," and sun (sun/syn), which means "together" and intensifies the root. The full idea, then, is "to mix together." Hippocrates, the famous fifth-century BC founder of scientific medicine, used it in the sense of mixing various ingredients together for medication. The fourth-century BC scholar Theophrastus uses it of different weeds that spring up and intermingle with the grain. (J D Watson) Immoral (4205)(pornos from pernáo = sell [as those who sell their bodies for lust] in turn from peráō = to pass thru, as a merchant would do, passing thru and then coming to mean to sell) (see also study of related word porneia) means a fornicator, one who is sexually immoral or who commits sexual immorality. Pornos originally meant a "male prostitute" but came to be used in the universal meaning of "fornicator" or one who engages in sexual immorality, whether a man or a woman. A pornos in secular Greece was a person who prostituted themselves for gain. The KJV translates pornos as “whoremonger”, which describes one who consorts with whores (a lecher). One can carry on the life of a "whoremonger" in "private" on the internet's plethora of sleazy porn sites, in filthy magazines at the newsstand (or even at the checkout stand at the grocery store!), or at the movies (unfortunately even PG Rated can be contaminated with pornos). In our local cable listings in Austin, Texas (Summer, 2008) there are some 5-10 channels devoted solely to pornography (I don't subscribe to any of them by the way). America is in very serious trouble beloved. Let us pray for revival (2Chr 7:13,14, 6:37, 38, 39) Here are the 10 uses of pornos in the NT - 1Cor 5:9, 10, 11; 6:9; Eph. 5:5-note; 1Ti 1:10; describing Esau = Heb 12:16-note; describing those who defile the marriage bed = Heb 13:4-note; describing those who will not be in heaven = Rev 21:8-note; Re 22:15-note. The NAS translates pornos as fornicators(2), immoral(2), immoral men(1), immoral people(2), immoral person(1), immoral persons(2). 1 Co. 5:9; 1 Co. 5:10; 1 Co. 5:11; 1 Co. 6:9; Eph. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:10; Heb. 12:16; Heb. 13:4; Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15 The KJV as noted translates pornos with the word whoremonger (5 times). Pornos is not found in the non-apocryphal Septuagint. 1 Corinthians 5:10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. Amplified - Not [meaning of course that you must] altogether shun the immoral people of this world, or the greedy graspers and cheats and thieves or idolaters, since otherwise you would need to get out of the world and human society altogether! Wuest Paraphrase -. I did not altogether forbid you having dealings with the fornicators who are members of this world system [of evil] or with those who are covetous and rapacious, or with idolaters, since then you would be obliged to go out of the world of mankind. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) I did not at all mean: 1Co 10:27 of this world: 1Co 1:20 Joh 8:23 15:19 17:6,9,15,16 2Co 4:4 Eph 2:2 1Jn 4:5,7 for then you would have to go out of the world: Mt 5:14-16 Joh 17:15 Php 2:15 1Jn 5:19 Rev 12:9 1 Corinthians 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries MISINTERPRETATION OF PAUL'S INSTRUCTIONS I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world - Paul did not mean to forbid social relationships with pagans. Apparently the church thought Paul's first letter referred to the unbelieving immoral people in Corinth. In my opinion it is also very possible that they interpreted Paul that way so that they could "wink" at the immorality in their very midst! Hodge - The world means mankind as distinguished from the church (Galatians 4:3; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 2:8). Immoral (4205) see pornos World (2889) kosmos related to the verb kosmeo = to order or adorn, to put in order [Mt 25:7 = "trimmed"], to adorn literally [1Ti 2:9], to adorn figuratively [Titus 2:9-note]) means essentially something that is well-arranged, that which has order or something arranged harmoniously. Kosmos refers to an ordered system or a system where order prevails. As explained below however, kosmos as used here in James 4:4 and many places in the NT, takes on a considerably more negative shade of meaning. In this sense kosmos is much like the Greek word for flesh (sarx), which can be a neutral word, but which many times in the NT takes on an evil connotation. or with the covetous (pleonektes) and swindlers (harpax), or with idolaters (eidololatres) - Now Paul adds to the list of sordid sinful practitioners with which the saints were not to associate. MacArthur adds that "The Greek terms used here to identify the sins are substantives, indicating patterns of behavior." In other words these sins were being practiced continually. In the context of the preceding section on church discipline, it follows that these sinners were to be disciplined and if they refused to repent, they were to be expelled from the local body. They were like the leaven Paul had described and if allowed to remain in an unrepentant state would eventually mingle with and leaven the entire "lump" of the body in Corinth. Hodge on covetous (pleonektes) and swindlers (harpax), or with idolaters - the greedy—those who want more, and especially those who defraud for the sake of gain. In the Scriptures the controlling love of gain is spoken of as a specially heinous sin in God’s sight. It is called idolatry in Ephesians 5:5 because wealth becomes the object supremely loved and sought. Therefore, someone who sacrifices duty to the acquisition of wealth, who makes gain the great object of his life, is a greedy person. He cannot be a Christian and should not, according to the apostle, be recognized as such. Swindlers. That is, those who exact what is not justly due to them, or more than is justly due. The sin is not confined to exactions by force or open robbery, but to all undue exactions. Someone who takes advantage of another person’s poverty, or of his needs, to secure exorbitant gain is a “swindler.” Or idolaters. That is, those who either professedly worship false gods or who do what, in its own nature and in people’s common judgment, amounts to such worship. This is said to be the earliest known instance of the use of the Greek word; it is never used in the Septuagint, although a related word is constantly used in that version in the sense of “false gods.” Covetous (4123) pleonektes from pleonekteo = to be covetous in turn from pleíon = more + écho = have) describes one who is "grasping", one who wants more, one who is always eager for more and especially for what belongs to someone else. Greedy for gain. One who desires to have more than is due. The Greeks defined pleonektes as “the spirit which is always reaching after more and grabbing that to which it has no right.” It is aggressive getting. It is not the miser’s spirit, for it aimed to get in order to spend, so that it could live in more luxury and greater pleasure and it cared not over whom it took advantage so long as it could get.
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MacArthur - We cannot always tell wheat from tares, or know whether a so-called brother is genuine. Such acts of sin make a believer indistinguishable from a nonbeliever to the world, to the church, and even to himself. All assurance is forfeited (cf. 2 Pet. 1:5–10; 1 John 2:5). It is essential to realize that in a true believer the flow of sin will not be uninterrupted, as in one who is unredeemed. There will be some fruit of righteousness, for the new nature must be manifest (John 15:1–8).