To answer your good question, let’s read 1 Timothy 1:18-20, “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.”  These two men are also mentioned later in Paul’s writings.  2 Timothy 2:17, “And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus.”  2 Timothy 4:14, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works.”  One of the doctrines which Hymeneus held was that the “resurrection was past already,” (2 Timothy 2:18); but what doctrine Alexander might have held is unknown.  Since he is mentioned here in connection with Hymeneus, it could be that he held the same false doctrine that the resurrection, or second coming of the Lord, had already happened.  He appears to have been guilty of some personal injury to the apostle.  Both of these men were guilty of blasphemy.  We read in Mark 3:28, “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme.”  To blaspheme literally means to ‘speak impiously’ or to speak disrespectfully of someone.  This blasphemy is obviously not the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, of which there is no forgiveness.

This is not the first time that Paul had turned someone over to Satan.  Let’s read 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”  This man was guilty of one of the worse forms of fornication.  He was sleeping with his father’s wife, his step-mother.  The judgment of Hymeneus and Alexander was “that they may learn not to blaspheme.”  The judgment of the fornicator was “that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”  If you notice, both of these judgments occurred with a desire for positive results.  Hymeneus and Alexander needed to learn not to blaspheme.  The fornicator needed to stop his actions.  While he might suffer in the flesh, he would still be saved in the day of the Lord’s judgment.

This was certainly done by Paul’s apostolic power.  Who else could deliver the bodies of men into the hands of Satan, by him to be tortured and afflicted, in order to bring them to a sense of their sins, and as a chastisement and correction for them, and a token of God’s displeasure at them?  Today, any form of ex-communication must be done by the local assembly, or church, as we read in Matthew 18:15-20.

What does it mean to deliver someone unto to Satan?  Let’s read 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”  This clearly shows us that Satan is ‘the god of this world.’  If it ever becomes necessary to ex-communicate someone from the local church because of unjudged sin in their lives, they are then sent out into the world of which Satan is in control.  The intended desire is that when someone is denied fellowship with the Lord’s people, and is openly exposed to the depravity and ungodliness of the world, he will repent of his sins and seek to be restored to the Lord and His people.  We see that sometimes ex-communication is necessary, but it must always be administered with an eye towards restoration of the sinning believer.  (203.4)