we are to the in the world but not of the world...as chrisitans our lifes are to change through the help of the holy spirit....if i understand this passage correctly....we are not to participate in worldy behavior.....but we are to reach out to the lost.....also scripture also tells us that bad company corrupts good character.....now how do we reach the lost if we are not to partake in thier deeds of the world....jesus says we are to be a lightthrough the holy spirit our lost friends will see that we have changed,we no longer conform to the ways of the world...as for me i still have my friends of the past but i do not partake in thier ways, as i did befor i was saved, i do not go out to bars or drink with tem, bt i do not condemn them either, if they ask me questions as to my new behavior i give all glory to god and am ready to answer them with scripture. i try to do constructive things with them, maybe a lunch, or have them over for dinner, my goal is to let my light shine, and i cannot do this on my own, only through christ who dwells within me. believe it or not i have not lost many friends due to my faith, they respect me and they come to me with questions, i believe in my hert it is the holy spirits job to convict and convert, we are used as tools, as god sees fit. i hope i didnt confuse you, with my babbeling.....i agree with the earlier post try reading the n.i.v. or invest in a student bible not matter what age you are. remember when we are first saved we are "babes in christ" we have alot of learning to do (this is true even as we mature in christ). keep on searching and asking questions.....god knows your heart and your love for him. he will never let you down! as i re-red my post the first part is to say .we are to be in the world but not of the world.god bless you, T.D.L. 

Hi, the previous answer is good, but another way to look at this is that if we associate with the "immoral brother" it is kind of the same as saying to the outside, it is O.K. what this brother or sister is doing. In fact it is not,so we are to let this brother or sister know they are wrong and if they don't want to change then they are to be cast out of the church. Hope this helps? 

Hello de novo,

Maybe the NIV text is easier to understand. It is kind of self-explanatory ...

[1 Corinthinans 5:9-12]
9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--
10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
13 God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

Paul is talking about a "brother" ... in other words fellow Christians who continue and decide to live sinfully because they might corrupt the others.

I heard in a message from Ed Cole that he had a friend whose wife has deserted him. Well meaning Christian friends told him that it is okay to seek "company" of women to fulfill his needs. If u are a new Christian, it is easy to be corrupted when u mix with Christians who are still very worldly and do not see anything wrong in their worldliness and do not desire to change. I think these are the type of people that Paul is asking us to avoid.