Anonymous Asks (242)

“What does it mean to hand someone over to Satan?”

Paul gives a command in his first letter to the church at Corinth to “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh”. The man to whom the apostle refers was carrying on a relationship with his stepmother, a sin Paul said was “of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans”. That’s where this phrase comes from.

So what was the apostle saying exactly?

The Authority of Satan

The New Testament teaches consistently that while cast from heaven, Satan retains significant authority on earth. When tempting the Lord Jesus, Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment, and said their authority and glory was his, and that “I give it to whom I will.” Jesus never denied this, and later affirmed it, twice calling Satan the “ruler of this world”. The Greek word there in both cases is kosmos, which has in view more than just the physical realm, but also the spiritual and intellectual atmosphere of this present, fallen world. Paul also called him “the god of this world”. The word he used for “world” is aiōn, which means age or era.

That is Satan’s domain, which certainly explains a lot, doesn’t it? Satan is behind all the deception in our present culture and the cultures of other centuries. He has a great deal of power despite the limitations God has placed on him.

The church, however, belongs to Christ. Satan has no authority there. Christians are free from Satan’s dominion. We owe nothing to him. We serve the Lord Jesus, the church’s living head, and can claim his protection.

Removing the Protection

So then, to hand someone over to Satan is to expel him from that sphere of spiritual protection he was intended to enjoy as a child of God. Excommunication, as it is sometimes called, is a very drastic step, and one a church ought only to take when there is no other option, when the evidence of sin is overwhelming, and the guilty party remains obdurate, refusing to repent. Paul commanded the Corinthians to break off all association with this man who claimed to be a Christian but was living sinfully. He charged them not even to eat “with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler”. These are all lifestyles that should not characterize believers.

The intended purpose of expulsion from the church back into Satan’s dominion is always restorative, not punitive. Paul writes, “Deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” The word “flesh” there is sarx, which may refer to the physical body but more often refers to the sinful impulses against which believers continually struggle.

Unlikely Scenarios

Some suggest that when a church delivers someone to Satan in this way, the sinner’s heavenly protection is lifted and he becomes open to physical attack from the devil, just as Job was. That is certainly not impossible, but it seems an unlikely opportunity for Satan to exploit. When Satan requested and received permission to attack Job physically, he did so because Job was living righteously, and Satan was convinced intense suffering would break Job’s spirit and turn him against God. I cannot see what would motivate the forces of darkness to attack a man physically who has already abandoned righteous living and fallen into Satan’s trap. The accuser’s methods are usually subtler and more deceptive than an obvious frontal assault.

Alternatively, some people believe excommunication is effectively a request from the church to God to personally afflict the sinner physically to bring him to repentance. There are certainly times when God personally afflicts believers because they are sinning. Paul writes later in the same letter about people in Corinth who ate and drank in the Lord’s Supper without discerning the body, and therefore were “weak and ill” because they were under the judgment of God. And in the letter to the church at Thyatira, the Head of the Church promises to throw “that woman Jezebel” onto a sickbed and strike her children dead if they refuse to repent. But in neither of these cases had the churches delivered anyone over to Satan, even if maybe they should have. It seems to me that the people who take this position are conflating two different situations and two very different sources of suffering.

Breaking the Flesh’s Hold

Personally, I think it’s more likely that when Paul refers to the destruction of the flesh, he means breaking the hold a man’s fleshly desires have over him so that he may come to repentance and the believers may be free to receive him back into their fellowship. The purpose is to “save the spirit” by freeing it from the grip of the flesh. Handing the sinner over forces him to decide what is more important to him: temporary gratification of his passions, or his relationship to the Lord and to his body.