Remove the Leaven

Remove the Leaven
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
July 28, 2024

In the last few verses of chapter 4 you get a very strong sense that Paul is correcting the church. He is their spiritual father and feels a responsibility to them as his spiritual children, still babies in Christ, to keep them healthy, to keep them growing spiritually.

Their immaturity has already caused them to get off course, so Paul corrects them to get them back on track.

The wonderful thing about this is that they listen. We know that from reading 2 Corinthians. As we discussed last week, the prerequisite for them to listening was having a teachable and humble heart.

 Humility is essential to being able to receive correction. Humility sets us up to welcome change and direction. That is why he first addressed humility, because they would now have to deal with some major correction in the following chapters.

Paul addresses another major concern he had for them. “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not even exist among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife,” Paul wrote.

It was bad enough that someone in the church had such a depth of immorality, but the problem was made worse because they were actually puffed up, or arrogant, or prideful about the fact that they could tolerate such things.

In other words, they thought that this was a demonstration of the greatness of their love. But Paul writes to show them that this is a great sin. Sin is like cancer and it’s not “love” to tolerate cancer when in fact it destroys the body. You need to cut it out.

Paul then uses the illustration of leaven in bread as a picture of sin, saying, “Don’t you know that a little lump of leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” In other words, we are all lumps of dough in this illustration, and we are called to be unleavened lumps because it only takes a little bit of leaven to leaven the whole lump of dough.

This then addresses the state of the church, but not only that, also the state of each one of us individually, not first pointing fingers to others, but also looking into our own lives.

For this, we need to humbly be willing to be changed by the inworking of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

I. We Need God’s View of Morality

• One of the points I’ve made several times over the last several weeks is that we come to Christ out of the world, and we brought a lot of the world with us.
• That couldn’t be truer than when it comes to our perspective on sexuality and morality. We came out of the world and it’s very easy for people to bring the world’s perspective on sexuality and morality with them when they come to faith in Jesus Christ.
• Very subtly, the goalposts are moved, and it even has the potential to change the viewpoint within the church.

Illus – There is an interesting strategy sometimes used by government or government agencies… The same has happened to sexuality as well. Although you are staying on the conservative side of the norm, when the norm moves, you are in danger of becoming more liberal. For example, PG 13 movies of 20 years ago opposed to PG 13 movies now.

• The Corinthians lived in Greece and that culture stood in distinct contrast to Jewish culture and the truth that Jesus Himself taught.
• Much of the Greek culture was offensive. For example, historically, Greek athletes competed completely naked. In fact, the word gymnasium means ‘naked’ in Greek.
• You might say, but there is nothing weird about that. We have naked bike rides! Newsflash. That is not the acceptable norm.
• But Jewish laws forbade public nakedness as dishonoring to God who gave sexuality as a gift to husband and wife.

A. Appraise things Spiritually

• Paul has used the phrase “spiritually appraised” several times and it has important meaning. To appraise something is to assess its value.
• Sometimes I hear people say, “What’s the big deal?” about this or that. In other words, they can’t understand the spiritual value, they can’t understand God’s perspective. Why? Because these things are spiritually appraised.
• How are we spiritually transformed? When God changes our perspective, when we agree with His view of the thing.
• The grave danger is that the things we are bombarded with in the world can already be transforming you if there is no fortification raised up against it in your soul.

Luke 16:15, He said to them, “… but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

• Where does this happen, you ask? Just look at the fame and esteem the world gave to Hugh Heffner and his organization.
• Would you agree that the world’s view of sexuality and morality is distinctly different from God’s? It subconsciously puts the focus on the body. The person inside is no longer important. They are defined by what is seen.

Illus – I recently read an article on AI robot girlfriends/boyfriends. They are now developing technology where one can order the ‘perfect’ partner that you design, but it is not just a doll. It will have AI capabilities to be a complete partner to a person. We think it is crazy, but it is another goalpost that is being moved by the world. It is already the theme of many movies brainwashing young people.

• Sexuality being a beautiful part of a covenant relationship between two people before God has been eroded to being something that perverts and destroys people’s souls.
• But how do we change? We take hold of God’s thoughts, God’s truth, God’s wisdom and place it higher than what we have in the world.

B. Pursue the better Spiritual life

• Throughout these chapters Paul presses us to understand that maturity is better than immaturity; that life in the Spirit is better than life in the flesh.
• But that’s a lot easier to see from the perspective of the mature; it’s very difficult for an immature person to see that maturity is better.
• But we need to keep speaking truth. Faith comes by hearing because as we hear the words of truth, the eyes of our heart begin to open…

John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Illus – One of my greatest joys is hearing  these words from my kids now that they are growing up…

C. God’s heart is always to restore

• Paul wrote that he decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh; that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
• The destruction of his ‘flesh’ refers to his earthly nature; that which is prone to sin.
• To deliver him to Satan means to put him outside the church, out from under the protective hand of God, into the world, Satan’s domain. This would have been a great consequence; there was only one church there.
• Paul is telling them to get him out of the church and give him over to his sin, which is the worst punishment of all.
• This might seem harsh, but the truth is that God will not force anyone to stand under His authority. This person has already chosen to step out from under God’s hand.
• God wants to protect you against the destruction of the enemy, keep you in the fold, but the one who is unrepentant and wants to live in immorality already has the heart of the prodigal son.
• He has to experience the effect of sin so that his heart will want to turn back to God for rescue. Unfortunately, this May have severe repercussions.

Romans 1:24, 27, Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them… receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

Illus – The other night Rhiete and I were watching a program, and an advert came on for a medication that treats a severe illness which is the direct result of sexual promiscuity. In the advert, the perverted lifestyle choices are even given as the reason for the illness. Ironically, the message is given that people can continue with their actions as long as they take this medication. As I looked at this, my heart broke. I thought, how can people be so blind? Has the world gone mad? Can they not see that the trauma they are going through is the direct result of their actions? This is exactly what God wants to protect them from and set them free from.

• A warning to young people. Stay humble, thankful, and teachable if you have the privilege of standing under the protection of a god-fearing loving father and mother. The boundaries set for you is to protect you.
• Sin has its own penalty built in.

Proverbs 26:32,26,33, The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it. For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, and an adulteress hunts for the precious life. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out.

• Once again, there is a penalty built in. Financial ruin, the destruction of the fabric of the family, the wounds that impact everyone connected to it, and the effect it has on generations to come is enormous, if it is not turned around by the grace of God.

Illus – How many people would say, “If God had not saved me from the road I was on, it would have ended in disaster”?

• The giving over of this man was done for the purpose of restoration. “That his spirit may be saved for the day of the Lord Jesus.”
• The good news is that the church did remove him and that later he was restored.

2 Corinthians 2:6-8, Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Reaffirm your love for him.

• God is always ready to forgive; He is always ready to restore, and we should have the same heart as well.

Galatians 6:1, Brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.

• Jesus gave us the example when he restored the woman caught in adultery.
• God will do everything in His power so you can be saved and have eternal life.

II. Be a Person of Substance

• Paul uses a lump of dough as an analogy. Leaven puffs up the bread, and earlier he said that they had become puffed up. They took pride in tolerating this man’s immorality.
• Then he asks, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” In other words, sin, like leaven, grows and affects everything.
• Over and over scripture uses the analogy of bread.
• There is a beautiful picture in the Jewish feasts that point to this. At the Passover, they had to prepare unleavened bread, representative of Jesus who had no sin, who would become the sacrifice for our sin.
• For the feast of weeks, they had to bake two loaves of bread with leaven. This was one of those mysteries in the Old Testament that they didn’t understand, but the reason for it became apparent at the first feast of weeks, or Pentecost as we know it, after the resurrection of Jesus.
• It represents the church made-up of Jew and gentile who are still in this world tainted by sin, but declared righteous by the sacrifice of Christ.
• This is an important picture. We are now the body of Christ and the representatives of Christ here on earth. As such, although we are tainted by the nature of sin, we do not stay there and revel in it. Our goal and focus are to grow more into the image of Christ to represent Him more effectively.

Verse 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.

A. Grow in the spirit, not in the flesh

• The reason leaven represents sin in the scripture is because it puffs up bread with nothingness.

Illus – Have you ever had bread without leaven. It is heavy, dense, and full of substance. Some bread you buy in the store, feels like you are eating nothing. You have to eat many loaves to feel full, because it is just ‘wind/air”.

• The idea of sin as leaven is that it puffs up a person’s life with emptiness, or vanity.

Psalm 119:37, Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in Your ways.

• Isn’t this the picture of the world? People look at the enticing things presented by Hollywood, and it looks glamourous. Until they pursue that in real life and soon find themselves in the dregs of life.

Illus – I have  friend who lived quite a rough life, chasing all the ‘fun’ things of the world…

Romans 6:21, What benefit did you gain from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

• Leaven spreads through the whole lump of dough. Immorality takes over more and more of a person’s life until it affects everything.
• I’ve seen the consequences of immorality over and over… First, it drains a person of spiritual life, then faith grows weaker and weaker, then comes depression, emptiness, and fear…

Proverbs 28:1, The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

• Isn’t that a better way to live? To stop running, turn around, get out from under the boot of sin and stand in your righteousness in Christ, bold as a lion!
• In the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus spoke of those things which grow in our lives.

Luke 8:14-15, “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bear no fruit to maturity. (If the enemy can keep you immature, he keeps you ineffective and you are no threat to him.) But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”

B. Unleavened bread is sincerity and truth

• In verse 8 Paul says, the unleavened bread is sincerity and truth. In other words, unleavened bread isn’t just the removal of leaven, it’s the spiritual substance of the life of God within. Worthless things are replaced by that which has worth.
• There needs to be spiritual revival if there’s going to be a change in how a person lives. Otherwise, it’s just another rule, another external constraint.
• God doesn’t just give us rules, He gives us character, integrity, sincerity and truth.
• When we give our lives to Christ, our nature is changed. As we humble ourselves, repent (come in agreement with God), He changes our nature so that we ‘see’ the truth and want to change.
• But we must choose not to keep on turning a blind eye. See sin for what it is and surrender it to God so he can transform you.
• Many don’t find revival, because they want to keep their secret friend. They have not seen it for the monster it is yet.

C. Impact the world

• Paul tells them not to associate with immoral people, but he doesn’t speak of the immoral people of this world. In essence, he says that this world will be immoral. It is the nature of this world.
• The warning is not to associate with one that says that he is a brother in Christ, yet continues to willfully keep on living the immoral life even after loving correction an opportunity to repent.
• Why? Because we are the salt of the earth, we are the light of the world. This world needs to taste and see that there is a better way, a way of life, and a way of hope.
• We cannot take the Lord’s name in vain. It makes a mockery of the work of Christ on the cross.

2 Corinthians 3:2, You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

• This is why our aim and prayer should be that God would, through the in working of His Spirit, change and renew us, fill us with His life, righteousness, peace, and joy so that our lives will be the letter written to the world.