Paul wrote twice about ‘deliver a person unto satan’, namely in 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 and in 1 Timothy 1:20. But what did Paul mean when he said to deliver a person unto satan? To understand, what it means to deliver a person unto satan, we must go back to the moment, when a sinner turns to Jesus Christ and repents and what takes place in the spiritual realm.
What happens in the spiritual realm, when a person repents?
When a sinner repents and becomes born again, the person will be transferred, in the spiritual realm, from the kingdom of satan; the darkness, into the Kingdom of God; the Kingdom of Light.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14)
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me (Acts 26:18)
The person has been transferred to another kingdom, which means there will be another king; another ruler.
When someone is transferred from the kingdom of the devil, into the Kingdom of God, the person is no longer under the control of satan and shall no longer submit to satan, but the person is under the control of Jesus Christ and shall submit to Jesus Christ.
Now, that the person belongs to a new Kingdom, it means that the person will also live differently. Because another Kingdom means another law; other rules and regulations.
The person shall no longer live according to the law and regulations of his old kingdom; the darkness (the world), and live under the control of satan and the powers of darkness, who rule in the flesh. But the person shall live according to the law of the Spirit of the Kingdom of God. The person shall live according to the will of Jesus Christ and shall walk after the Spirit, and live under His control (Read also: What is repentance?).
The process of sanctification
By the blood of Jesus, the sinner has been cleansed from all his sins and iniquities. The sinner has been freed from sin and his sinful nature. Therefore the sinner is no longer a sinner. Through the baptism, the person has symbolically laid down his old life as a sinner and has been raised up in Christ in newness of life. Through the baptism with the Holy Spirit, his spirit has been raised from the dead. Through this process of regeneration, the sinner has been made righteous and has become a saint (Read also: God’s work of redemption).
The sinner is no longer a sinner; a son of the devil anymore. But he has become righteous; a saint; a son of God.
A saint will not walk in sins and iniquities anymore but shall walk in holiness and righteousness according to the will of God.
What happened in the spiritual realm, must become visible in the natural realm. This is called the process of sanctification. During the process of sanctification, the person puts off the old man and puts on the new man.
The new man shall read and study the Bible and be taught by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. So that the mind of the person will be renewed with the Word of God.
When a person renews his/her mind, the strongholds of his old carnal way of thinking will be destroyed by the Word. So that, the mind will line up with the Word of God. By the renewing of his mind, the person shall think the way God thinks, and therefore shall speak, act, and walk according to His will (Read also: Are God’s thoughts our thoughts?).
The immigration process
We can compare this process in the natural realm with the immigration process. When an immigrant enters a new country, the government expects the immigrant that (s)he will adjust his or her life to the law and culture of that country. The immigrant must learn the law, rules, regulations, language, customs, and culture. Therefore, the immigrant has to take mandatory immigration courses. When the immigrant has taken all the courses, (s)he has to take an exam to prove that (s)he understands what is expected from him or her. When the immigrant passes the exam with good results (s)he will get a residence permit.
But a residence permit is just the beginning. After getting this permit, it’s all about whether (s)he does, what is expected from him or her. In other words, the immigrant needs to put into practice, what (s)he has been taught.
Will the immigrant submit and adjust his or her life to the new culture? Will (s)he keep the law and live according to the (moral) customs of that country? Or will the immigrant hold on to his or her old culture, habits, customs, laws, and regulations of his or her old country? And therefore may do things, that go against the culture of the new country and therefore violate the laws of his or her new country. If the person isn’t willing to submit to the ruler(s) of this country and its culture and law and isn’t willing to change to the customs of this new country, but keeps living after his or her old habits, customs, and old laws, then the immigrant could lose his or her residence permit. Which means, that (s)he will be sent back to his or her old country that (s)he came from.
Transferred from the kingdom of darkness
into the Kingdom of Light
It is the same with the transition from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. When a sinner is transferred from the kingdom of the devil, into the kingdom of God, and becomes a saint, it means that the person must also change his or her life and walk like a saint; set apart from the world unto God.
A saint walks after the Spirit, after the will of God. Therefore, the person shall walk according to what the Word of God says, and not according to what the world (previous kingdom) says.
Confronting a person, who perseveres in sin
When a Christian is habitually living in sin and is confronted by another fellow Christian in church, about the sin(s) in his life (because, maybe this brother is not aware of his sin, and considers it a normal thing to do), let’s use the example of living together unmarried, but he is not willing to listen to him and doesn’t want to repent, but perseveres in sin, even when the congregation confronts him. Then it’s all about, what you do with this person.
What do you do with a person, who is rebellious and doesn’t want to submit to the Word of God? And is not willing to repent from his sin and remove the sin from his life? Because basically, the person is not willing to submit to the Head of the church: Jesus; the living Word of God.
The Word says, that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Therefore if a member keeps living in sin, and doesn’t want to repent, then the fruit of sin will affect the whole congregation. The whole congregation will be affected by evil.
That’s why evil (sin) must be removed before it will affect the other church members.
When we continue with the example of this person, who lives together unmarried, then this person commits fornication. The spirit of fornication, will not only stay with this person but will affect the whole congregation.
This will become visible in the lives of the believers, through sexual uncleanness, like seductive spirits, sexual lusts, and desires, watching porn, masturbation, fornication, adultery, divorce, a change in sexual orientation, pedophilia, sexual abuse, etc.
The church is an assembly of believers, who are together the local body of Jesus Christ. Therefore every member of the congregation is a partaker of the sin of a person, who perseveres in sin, and refuses to repent (Read also: What does the Bible say about sin in the church?).
What does it mean to deliver a person unto satan?
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:4-5)
This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (1 Timothy 1:18-20)
Paul says, that if a person perseveres in sin and doesn’t want to listen and repent of his sin, you should deliver the person unto satan, for the destruction of his flesh, so that the spirit (his life) will be saved on the Day of the Lord; the Day of Judgment. What does this mean?
It means, that when a person perseveres in sin, he should be removed from the church. Because the church represents the government of the Kingdom of God. So that in the spiritual realm, the person will be handed over to satan; to the world (the kingdom of darkness), where he originally came from. Just like what happens to an immigrant, when (s)he doesn’t want to change and submit his life, to the ruler(s) of the new country and its culture, customs, and law. The immigrant will be sent back to his old country.
If the church delivers a person unto satan, then the person will not be under the control of God anymore, but the person will be put back under the control of satan.
What is the purpose of delivering a person unto satan?
When the leaders of the church deliver a person unto satan, and put the person back into the kingdom of darkness, which is the kingdom where he came from, then maybe the person will regret his actions, show remorse, and repent of his sin.
If he shows remorse and repents of his sin and returns to Jesus, and the Kingdom of God, during his life on this earth, then his spirit (life) shall be saved on the Day of the Lord.
This is what might have happened to the person of the church at Corinth, who committed fornication, with the wife of his father.
The church accepted fornication. Because of that, Paul accused the church, that they were puffed up (prideful and arrogant).
Instead of mourning over this awful sin, removing the person from among them, and handing the person over to satan, they had accepted the sin (work of the devil).
When Paul confronted the church with their wrong behavior, the church listened to Paul and acted upon his words, and removed the person from the congregation. By removing the person from the church in the natural realm, the person was delivered unto satan in the spiritual realm.
Apparently, the person showed remorse, repented, and returned to the congregation. Because Paul commanded the church to forgive and comfort him (the person, who was removed from the congregation because of sin), and to show him their love, by accepting him back into the church (2 Corinthians 2:7)
Spiritual discipline will yield the fruit of righteousness
By this harsh spiritual discipline; confronting the person with his sin, which is a work of the devil, and by removing him from the church, the person showed remorse and repented of his sin. The harsh spiritual discipline may have been painful for the person at first. But in the end, the person was saved from death and it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Hebrews 12:11)
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19)
What happens if a church doesn’t deliver a person unto satan?
What would have happened with the person, if Paul didn’t command the church to remove him from her midst? Or if the church decided to stay prideful and arrogant, and rejected the words of Paul and God’s commandment, and accepted the sin and let the person stay in the church, while he sinned?
The person would be lost. And that’s not all, because the whole congregation would be affected by evil. Eventually, the church would be seated in darkness, instead of living in the light and would serve their flesh and the devil instead of Jesus Christ (Read also: The church seated in darkness).
When a person perseveres in sin and stays in the church, and is not spiritually disciplined, by confronting the person with his sin and by removing him from the church or when a person doesn’t want to listen to the church and stays in the church, then on the Day of the Lord; the Day of Judgment, the person shall be judged by the Word unto eternal death. But that’s not all! The church will be held responsible for his blood.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
