Paul was not one to mollycoddle. He wrote, “Hold this man’s conduct up to public scrutiny. Let him defend it if he can! But if he can’t, then out with him! It will be totally devastating to him, of course, and embarrassing to you. But better devastation and embarrassment than damnation. You want him on his feet and forgiven before the Master on the Day of Judgment.” (The Message, I Corinthians 5:5) Scholars continue to debate what Paul meant by this. The most common theory is that Paul meant for the believers to expel him from the church in the hopes that the severity of the penalty would prompt the man to mend his ways.