PURGING THE LEAVEN
I Corinthians 5:7-8
"Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
At first reading, this reference to Passover seems to be out of place. I think Paul was saying that when we observe the Lord's Supper – the memorial "feast" of Jesus' death as the Passover Lamb – it is incongruous to celebrate His sacrifice for sin while living in sin. The leaven and the unleavened do not go together, either on a personal level or on a corporate level. Later in this letter, Paul wrote again about observing the "feast" of the Lord's Supper, and exhorted Believers to examine themselves lest they eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, and thus be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. To partake unworthily brings judgment. (See I Corinthians 11:23-30.) The Lord's Supper is a holy time and needs to be approached very carefully.
TODAY'S THOUGHT: It is incongruous to celebrate the sacrifice of Christ, who died for sin, while living in sin.
Have an "unleavened" day. Love you.
I Corinthians 5:7-8
"Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
At first reading, this reference to Passover seems to be out of place. I think Paul was saying that when we observe the Lord's Supper – the memorial "feast" of Jesus' death as the Passover Lamb – it is incongruous to celebrate His sacrifice for sin while living in sin. The leaven and the unleavened do not go together, either on a personal level or on a corporate level. Later in this letter, Paul wrote again about observing the "feast" of the Lord's Supper, and exhorted Believers to examine themselves lest they eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, and thus be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. To partake unworthily brings judgment. (See I Corinthians 11:23-30.) The Lord's Supper is a holy time and needs to be approached very carefully.
TODAY'S THOUGHT: It is incongruous to celebrate the sacrifice of Christ, who died for sin, while living in sin.
Have an "unleavened" day. Love you.
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