Don't Allow Sin to Take Hold

1 Cor 5:6-8
“Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast — as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.”

This passage needs to be understood in its context because apart from that it makes little sense to the modern reader. Most of us are used to going to the store, be it a supermarket or a bakery and having a wide selection of breads to choose from. Most of our modern breads contain yeast so that they rise and have a soft and pleasing texture.

The Jew of Paul’s time did not have this luxury. More to the point, the bread of the Passover feast or what we know as the Seder is made without yeast and eaten with bitter herbs to commemorate their deliverance out of Egypt when the angel of death passed over any home that was marked with the blood of a sacrificial lamb. Jesus then, became the Pascal Lamb (The Passover lamb of Easter) who atoned for our sins once and for all.

For those acquainted with baking, you know that it only takes a minute amount of yeast to leaven a batch of dough. To the Jew observing Passover, bread that contained yeast would be considered contaminated and would be thrown out.

Paul uses this analogy to point out that while you might think that you are doing great, if you allow even the smallest amount of sin to come in a get a foothold it will have the end result of ruining the whole batch. Sin which goes unchallenged and which stays in the dark shadows is very insidious and begins to erode the foundations of our relationship with God. That is why it is important to allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and expose to the light those things which, if left unchecked, will have the net effect of hardening our hearts against the Lord.

In a corporate setting it is even more dangerous as it can affect multiple people and rip apart a congregation.

The Holy Spirit, when allowed, can become the cleansing agent that allows us to expose sin to the light. The moment it is exposed to the light it begins to lose its power. In our natural state we fear this because we are afraid of the shame that we feel will accompany our sin being exposed. The reason we think this is because the enemy wants to keep us captive and lies to us. Shame is from the devil.

Forgiveness and reconciliation are the work of the Spirit. Therefore, sincerity and truth are key elements of a walk with God because they have a positive power unto life.

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