Holiness Isn’t Harsh. Holiness Is Healing. | 1 Corinthians 5:1-2

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 5:1-2.

The sin in Corinth wasn’t subtle, hidden, or debatable. It was so scandalous that even the surrounding pagan culture was shocked by it. Paul writes:

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. — 1 Corinthians 5:1–2

Paul cannot believe what he’s hearing. A man in the church is committing sexual sin that even unbelievers reject, and instead of grieving over it, the church is arrogant about its tolerance. This is not just a Corinth problem—it’s a problem in today’s church as well.

Sexual sin is no longer shocking in the culture, but the deeper issue is that it’s no longer shocking in the church. Porn has become normalized. Cohabitation is assumed. Adultery is reframed as emotional escape. Lust is dismissed as human nature. Same‑sex behavior is being affirmed rather than confronted by churches that are more focused on appearing compassionate than being holy. We are treating as normal what God calls destructive.

This is where Paul’s words cut through our excuses. The church is never more vulnerable than when it stops being distinct. And if we lose our distinction, we lose our witness. We cannot rescue a world we’re trying to resemble. Believers today must reclaim what Corinth forgot: holiness isn’t harsh—holiness is healing.

Calling sin what it is doesn’t crush people; it frees them. Truth is not the enemy of compassion; truth is what makes compassion meaningful. Love doesn’t celebrate what destroys people; love confronts what destroys people so they can be restored.

If we stay silent, people stay trapped. If we stay passive, people stay wounded. If we tolerate what God calls sin, we slowly become a church shaped by culture instead of by Scripture.

This moment demands courage. Courage to grieve what God grieves. Courage to stand for truth when it’s unpopular. Courage to gently persuade others toward the life God blesses. Courage to be different in a world that demands sameness.

We cannot change hearts, but we can point to the One who does. We cannot force holiness, but we can model it with conviction and compassion. You don’t persuade people by blending in; you persuade them by living what they desperately need.

This is why Paul urges the church to mourn rather than shrug, to confront rather than ignore, and to lead rather than imitate. The church must be the place where truth restores—not where sin hides.

DO THIS:

Ask God to reveal any area of sexual compromise or complacency in your life. Confess it honestly, and commit to helping others walk in truth with humility and courage.

ASK THIS:

1. Have I become numb to sexual sin—in myself or in the church?
2. Where have I stayed silent when I should have stood for truth?
3. How can I lovingly help someone move toward holiness?

PRAY THIS:

Father, open my eyes to anything that mirrors the world instead of Christ. Give me courage to stand for truth—even when it’s costly—and compassion to help others walk in it. Make me a voice of clarity and a vessel of restoration. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

“Refiner”