To correctly apply 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, we must first discover the meaning of the context in their town.

Paul was writing to the Corinthian church informing them that if a Christian was willfully and pride fully engaging in sexual immorality, such as being intimate with his stepmother, then the church was to hand him over to Satan. By doing this hopefully their soul would be saved. If we fully understand what Paul was saying, we can accurately interpret this passage. Therefore, we can properly apply it. Today the proper application would be in a situation when a member of the church was committing adultery, pre-marital sex, or homosexuality and was very proud of their sin, as if they were not doing anything wrong. Paul mentions in this passage that the sexual immorality was something the heathen would not even feel guilty for. If this was the case, then the church members should excommunicate or exclude them from fellowship. By doing this the member will hopefully begin to repent due to the power Satan has over him and would eventually become saved. This particular passage falls in the category #1, which is titled: If some commandments, exhortations, narrative examples and instructive teachings found in the Bible are directly transferable to us today. 1 Corinthians fits into this category because although the time and culture are different making the width of the river to cross very narrow. The theological principle or exact meaning from God can still be applied today just as it did in the Corinthian church around A.D. 55. A specific example of a situation in which this passage applies would be as follows: A young lady goes to a small church in a very small community where everyone knows everyone on a very personal basis. She has become very involved in the churchs choir. She has been attending this church for over a year and has been in fellowship with the other church members regularly. Recently, some of the other members of the church have found out that she is having an affair with her stepfather. She admits that she is romantically involved with him, but is completely blown up with pride and is acting as if she is doing nothing wrong. Somehow she is no longer being convicted of her sin. According to the Bible, the church members have to stop fellowship with her and hand her over to Satan. Hopefully, by turning her over to Satan, she will come back to the church, repent and the action taken by the church will ultimately lead to salvation.