Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 5:11

"but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat." — 1 Corinthians 5:11 (ASV)

Having explained that he did not mean Christians are to be totally dissociated from the world, Paul hastens to add that the church community should not “associate” (GK 3264) with such flagrant sinners as those enumerated, even if they carry the name “brother” (i.e., are part of the Christian fellowship). They should not eat together. In sharing in a common meal, Christians show their union with one another. This eating is probably not the Lord’s Supper, but any meal, including the Christian agape (love feast). This kind of association should still be avoided, for otherwise believers raise questions about the validity of their own Christian profession. To the list of sinners in v.10 Paul now adds the slanderer and the drunkard (cf. 6:10; 11:21; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:7).