A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?

1 Corinthians 5 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. ²You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

³ For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? ⁷ Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; ¹⁰ I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. ¹¹ But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? ¹³ But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Again today it is made clear that Paul is writing to the church, to believers. His instruction, his encouragement and his rebuke are for those who believe, not for the world. He begins today’s text saying:   It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.   He ends saying:  I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.   That our culture or society deems something acceptable or right does not make it right. As Paul points out believers cannot completely remove themselves from the immoral people of the world. We are in fact called like Jesus to show love, compassion and grace to all people. Loving all people though, does not mean that we love and embrace all things.

Jesus Himself said there would be more to being His follower than simply calling Him Lord. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:   “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”   It is not enough, for believers to know Jesus as Lord, we must also be known by Him. If, as Jesus says, we practice, continue in lawlessness, we are known and judged by our own deeds. To be judged by our own deeds will not end well.  Romans 3:10-12 says:  as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”   To be known by Jesus we must repent, changing both the way we think and act. To be known by Jesus is to be known by His sacrifice on the cross which redeems us from sin. In John 14 Jesus says:  ^“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you… He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him..If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. ”    So it is not Paul, speaking words of judgment or legalism, who calls us to live to a higher standard, but Jesus Himself, the one who associated with outcasts and sinners, who says that if we love Him we will keep His commandments, we will not practice lawlessness.

The fact that we are to be holy and set apart from the ways of the world is without question. Along with all that Jesus says, God says: You are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. (Leviticus 20:26)   The difficulty we have is how do we love and show compassion and grace to the world, associating with those who are immoral, yet not walk in immorality ourselves, nor tolerate it among those who are believers? Paul says:  Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.   When the church, in the name of grace, begins to tolerate and embrace even a little bit of sin, sin becomes part of the culture of the church. Paul says we are to walk in sincerity and truth. We can only do that by knowing and being known by Jesus, as He says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”   We can only walk in sincerity and truth if we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth abiding in us. Only then can we like Jesus, love the sinner yet hate the sin and like Paul says:  For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.  

We must show love, compassion and grace even to the immoral people of the world. But if Jesus is truly Lord, if we would know and be known by Him, we must remove the wicked man from among ourselves. This begins with each believer personally and also through the redemption of the cross to those who are called by Christ’s name corporately. In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus says:  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit through the redemption of the cross, may I both know and be known by You. May I walk in sincerity and truth. May I remove the wicked man from myself through the abiding power of Your presence. Then may I be salt and light to the world, not embracing the sin of the world, even as I show those in the world love, compassion and grace.  Amen.