1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Put Away the Leaven Sunday, February 4, 2001

Introduction
Last time Paul dealt with the report that there was a case of sexual immorality in
the church (v. 1-5). The major teachings of that section concern:
a) The sin of fornication
b) That there was toleration of this sin among the church members
c) The way that church discipline should be administered.
We noted that the purpose of removing the offender from the fellowship was
really two-fold: that his fleshly appetites would be destroyed or punished, and that
his spirit would be saved. In other words, that he would be restored again to proper
fellowship in the assembly.
The present section continues by dealing with the issue in a more general sense.
Paul uses the figure of leaven to denote the sin in the assembly. In this text, this does
not only denote the man who was involved in sexual immorality, but also the wrong
attitude of the Corinthians, and is generally applicable to sin in the life of the church
or the individual Christian.
In these notes, a preliminary study of the word leaven is made before going to
the verses in 1 Cor. 5.

Definition of Leaven
The words leaven, leaveneth, and unleavened occur 7 times in this section.
According to some English dictionaries, there are several important aspects of the
definition:
a) Etymology. The word literally means to make light, to relieve, or to raise.
b) For baking. To make batter or dough rise before or during baking by means
of a leavening agent. There are three common agents: yeast, baking power,
and baking soda.
c) Relation to fermentation. A similar process as leavening takes place in the
fermentation of grape juice into ethyl alcohol. So leavening and
fermentation are parallel concepts. Some definitions say a leavening agent
works by a fermentation process.
d) General definition. An agent that acts in or upon something to produce a
gradual change or modification; to permeate with an altering or
transforming influence.
Still, the best definitions are not from Webster’s, but right from the Bible, as we
discuss in the next two sections. The general definition is what we want to get to
understand.

OT Teaching on Leaven
The OT uses of the word leaven almost all have to do with the Feast of the
Passover. The primary passage is Exodus 12. The OT also mentions the place of
leaven in the other sacrifices (Lev. 23:17, for example).
The Passover is an important ordinance: its proper celebration is recorded in 6
passages: Ex. 12:15, 23:15, 34:18, Lev. 23:6, Num. 28:17, Deut. 16:3.
NT Teaching on Leaven
The NT uses the idea of leaven in five major places.
a) When it speaks of the feast of unleavened bread or the Passover (Mat. 26:17,
Mark 14:1,12, Luke 22:1,7, Acts 2:3, 20:6).
b) When it speaks of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:33, Luke 13:21). This
may be the only “positive” use of the term leaven in the NT. The kingdom
of heaven is like the leaven having its effect on the whole batch of dough in
that it will have wide-reaching impact.
c) When it speaks of the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod. This
leaven is explicitly said to be hypocrisy and bad doctrine (Matt. 16:6, 11,
12, Mark 8:15, Luke 12:1).
d) When it speaks of sin in the church in 1 Cor. 5:6-8 and the necessity of
purging it out.
e) When it speaks of bad teaching regarding circumcision and the law in
Galatians 5:9.

1. Something to Know – verse 6

Paul begins the section in 1 Cor. 5:6-8 with a negative statement about the
glorying of the Corinthians in this situation. They were puffed up about it (v. 2).
Whether this means they were happy about their tolerant attitude or were just
glorying in their own gifts and wisdom (as in chapters 1-4), Paul’s pronouncement is
the same: “not good!” We take leaven to mean sin in a broad sense, not just limited
to the particular problem in the Corinthian assembly.
The Holy Spirit through Paul then tickles our memory. We understand how a
little leaven leavens a whole batch of dough, right? Notice that it is a little leaven and
a whole batch. It’s sort of like the tongue—a little member that boasts great things
(James 3:5). The effect is just like the definition we gave for leaven. The permeating
and transforming influence is in mind here.

2. Something to Purge – verse 7

Therefore, Paul says, there is a response to have. The Bible places an emphasis
on things known and then acted upon. In this case, Paul is saying, “Hey, you know
this! So why don’t you act like it?” Therefore means “accordingly.”
The proper response is to purge out the leaven. Purge comes from the Greek
ekkayairw ekkathairo, which means to clean out, to cleanse thoroughly. It comes
from a root meaning to cleanse, prune, or expiate.
The purpose of this (“that”, hina) is so that the Corinthians may be a new batch
of dough. Note that they “are unleavened.” The word “are” is a present tense verb.
They are to be in behavior as they are in position. Notice John 13:10, where Jesus
says that the disciples are clean but need a foot washing. They are clean by position
but need cleansing from daily sin.
The final portion of this verse gives further explanation of why the purging is
necessary. Just as leaven was to be removed for the Passover week, which began
with the sacrifice of a lamb, so also Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us
(aorist tense). He is THE Passover (there is a definite article there). After this once-
for-all sacrifice (Heb. 10:12), we find ourselves as believers in the midst of the
Passover week for the rest of our lives—leaven should be always removed, not just
for one week.
3. Something to Keep – verse 8
Paul says let us keep that state after Christ’s sacrifice not with leaven but with
no leaven. This is an aorist subjunctive, indicating the mode of possibility, but in this
context it is used as a command. The leaven is described by three phrases:
a) old
b) malice – an evil habit of the mind, internal.
c) wickedness – malicious person who is not only evil inside but expresses the
evil by actions so it affects others.
The unleavened bread is described by two phrases:
a) sincerity
b) truth – the reality that is behind the appearance. Not falsehood or insincerity,
but integrity.
Note that like James 1:13-16 where lust conceives and then gives birth to sin,
the evil habit of the mind (malice) leads to wickedness acted out. So much
like Psalm 36:4, where the wicked devises plans and then sets his way by
them. Instead, we ought to be characterized by internal sincerity and truth
with the corresponding outward actions.

Parallel between Passover and the Lord’s Table

Please note at least three parallels between the Lord’s Table and the Jewish
Passover.
a) Both are for remembrance. The first is a remembrance the Lord’s deliverance
from bondage (Deut. 16:3, Ex. 12:15), and the second is to remember the
Lord’s work in saving us (Luke 22:7-20), His deliverance from sin.
b) Both place an importance on purging of leaven. The purging of leaven in the
first case is part of the week-long feast (Ex. 12:15), and in the second case
is dealing with the dealing with sin in the believer’s life (1 Cor. 11:28)
c) Both have an associated lamb. For the Passover, this lamb was of the first
year, a male, and without blemish (Ex. 21:3-5). For the Lord’s Table, we
have “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Conclusions
The general definition of leaven is an important reminder of how sin operates in
the life of the church or the believer. Just as leaven gradually changes the substance
it is in from one thing to something quite different, so sin has this altering effect.
Because of its gradual effect, continuous diligence against it is necessary. Because of
its powerful effect, how it can completely change the whole of a person or church, it
must be removed as quickly as possible.
This is the action that Paul commands in this section. Paul tells us to live an
unleavened life of sincerity and truth and to put away evil thinking and actions.
Remember: a little sin goes a long way to mess things up.
MAP