Just a Pinch

1 Corinthians 5
So let us celebrate the festival, (Passover) not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.  NLT 1 Corinthians 5:8


LET IT GLOW

The evening before Thanksgiving, I was preparing to make my usual homemade yeast rolls to put in the refrigerator in order for them to rise overnight. I noticed the yeast had an expired date on the package, making it a year old. Okay, I confess that it was last Thanksgiving since I last made any rolls.So I put on my coat, drove to the local grocery store and bought yeast. Then I continued the process. If I had used the old yeast, it would have been flat bread. Paul uses leaven to make an illustration in this chapter.

When leaven is used in the Bible, it refers to sin.  Shepherd's Notes says, "Leaven was a small portion of fermented dough used to ferment other dough." 

Paul is encouraging the Corinthan church to do a heart check using sincerity and truth, getting rid of sinful  ways.

 Webster's Dictionary defines sincere as being free from falsehood, pretense, or deceit. So Paul is  telling  me since my life is new in Christ, people should see sincerity and truthfulness in it. I can't pretend with Christ, since He sees my heart, but I can pretend to be Christ-like.

David Guzik describes sincerity and truth used here as "two strong guard-rails for the way of the Christian life."

LET IT GROW

There is a problem in the Corinthian church which Paul addresses in this chapter. A man in the church is sexually immoral (commiting incest with stepmother) and they all know it, but are prideful of their acceptance of this man and his sin. (Evidently the woman isn't a believer because she isn't mentioned here.) Paul tells the church to kick him out for their sake (so they don't do the same thing) and the salvation of the man.
He uses the illustration of leaven.

Verses 6-7 in NLT say,"Your boasting about this is terrible. Don't you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us."

David Guzik said,"Leaven mentioned was just yeast, but a pinch of dough left over from the previous batch, as in making of sourdough bread, in ancient times. It could make the new lump of dough rise and 'puff up.' It illustrates the work of sin and pride."

Shepherd's Notes states,"When a congregation, or the church at large, condones immorality, the moral fiber of the church is weakened. None escape is contamination. The whole lump is affected. No church or fellowship may celebrate deliverance from sin while sheltering sin among its members."

Now, that's a tall glass of tea.

Is the Lord telling me to be watchful of pride in my life? Is He saying to watch out with whom I  associate?
To not condone immorality? To be aware of just a pinch of sin? Don't let it grow into a whole batch.


LET IT GO

Be sincere and truthful.

Don't let a pinch of sin grow into a whold batch; stay confessed up.