1 Corinthians 5

Greetings in the Lord,

The memory passage for 1 Corinthians 5 is;

1 Corinthians 5:6-7, 11 (ESV)
⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

The outline theme is Correct Discipline in the Church.

The specific issue of discipline that Paul deals with at the beginning of chapter 5 is sexual immorality (though he gets to others later). The Cor church was either ignoring or celebrating an act of sexual immorality that was forbidden in OT law and the Roman law of the time. The body of believers should mourn, not celebrate, and Paul passes judgment on the guilty one through this letter. He calls for the congregation to remove the guilty man and turn him 'over to Satan' as discipline for his actions. But while Satan may punish the flesh, the goal of the discipline is to bring the guilty one back to repentance or at least save his soul.

The warning that follows in vv6-7 speaks to the cancerous nature of sin in the body of Christ; just a little leaven (yeast, a metaphor of sinfulness) affects the whole lump (church). Paul calls for them to cleanse (some translate 'purge') the old leaven to continue to live up to their status as 'unleavened' in Christ. This metaphor was very tangible to this audience as they were approaching Passover and the Festival of the Unleavened Bread. This festival is a yearly reminder of the Passoverprecedingg the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, but Paul reminds them that Christ is THE Passover Lamb that was sacrificed once and for all. The 'old leaven' of the flesh includes malice and evil, but the 'unleavened bread' of those in Christ include sincerity and truth.

The first eight verses deal with the means of discipline while the final four verses clarify the scope of who should be disciplined. Clearly there is immorality in the world all around us, but we have no grounds to discipline them. Butsomeonee who 'bears the name of brother' (who is in and has submitted to the church) and yet continues in sin (sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, drunkenness, or swindling) should be removed from fellowship. They shouldn't even 'eat with such a one'.

As far as those outside the church who live in sin; God will judge them.

How does this affect my worship?
The five words in the middle of v7 challenge me. 'As you really are unleavened'. I stand before God as His adopted child because of the substitutionarysacrificee of Christ. He is my Passover Lamb. His blood was shed so that my soul might be saved. The challenge from Paul is that I walk in a manner that evidences my standing. I truly am forgiven and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb; live like it, walk like it, talk like it, and worship like it.

How does this affect my discipleship?
Jumping back to the first part of v7, we see the idea of 'cleansing out the old leaven'. The most affective way to get into someone's life and help them 'cleanse out the old leaven' is through a discipleship relationship. It is very difficult to sit across a table from someone and hide your heart. You may be able to hide in aworshipp service (although that shouldn't be) or a Sunday School class (which would be a bit harder) or a Small Group (if you really try), but it's hard to hide from the person sitting across that table asking you about more than sports scores and work. Healing and cleansing and growth happen in that context.

May your walk today be unleavened, as you really are,

Ethan