God's Word is full of warnings about the destructive power of sin.
Sadly most people do not take this serious at all even though we can read all about the destruction in the garden of Eden. It was there that Adam and Eve fell into sin and corrupted the entire human race. What was their sin? They simply disobeyed God.... once. ( see Genesis 3 )
To understand sin (or leaven) lets look at a key bible verse that used it in the New Testament.
In the book of Galatians the 5th chapter verse 9 the Apostle Paul says this:
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump". (In context Paul is saying some "sin" has entered into the Galatians theology/body)
Knowing some biblical history helps us to understand this verse about leaven.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites used leaven (which was a yeast) to make bread rise. It was commanded by God that at the special feast of unleaven bread (see Exodus 12) they should clean ALL the leaven out of their houses. They did this by sweeping every inch of their houses to clean out ALL the leaven and to be obedient to the Lord. The leaven was representing sin and they made a clean sweep to remove it all for God's glory. Today in the New Covenant we must do the same thing, in a sense. We are told to be "holy in ALL our conduct" (1 Peter 1:15) so we should be at all times... sweeping ALL sin out of our lives for God's glory if we are His true holy obedient people. (This includes the New Testament body as well.)
Also, if you understand bread making you know that it only takes a very small amount of this yeast (leaven) and it affects the entire loaf of bread, causing it to rise up. So looking at the context and the history of this verse in Galatians, Paul is telling us that a small amount if sin in a body WILL affect the entire body over time. But is this true?
We have learned this ourselves in our walk with Christ. Sadly we have even seen entire bodies of Christ be torn apart and separated over just one sin. If you do not think this can happen let us give you a example if we can that we have experienced personally.
Let's say you have small body of Christ with everyone striving for truth together. Then one of the men decides to lie about something that affects the entire body. When confronted in love about this lie and asked to come reason and talk about it all together, he refuses to do it and hides in silence. The sin begins to fester and the body can't move on as before until he deals with his sin that has caused mistrust in the body. Jesus even said in Matthew 5:24 to not go before God with a sacrifice if ...you have an issue with a brother.
Now because this man refuses to face his sin issue, communication in the body is totally cut off. Those in sin or promoting sin, hide from those asking that the sin be dealt with. Over time some in the body side with those calling him out and others side with the man hiding in his sin (often it is relatives or friends of his) and what is the result? We had to leave them to their sin as the entire body was torn apart over..... a lie: which is sin! It is leaven (sin) that has affected the entire loaf just as Apostle Paul warned about in our verse given.
This is but one shameful example and there are many more. ALL sin is destructive and it is an offense against God that all people who claim Christ must defend against at all costs. To take a lax view of sin is to take a lax view of God's Word, His Purity and Holiness. So what is the cure? In a biblical body Matthew 18 church discipline must be used to keep the body pure of all sin. If we cling to God's Word, repent when we are in sin and deal biblically with others; we can avoid the long term ill effects of sin's curse via repentance, God's grace and reconciliation. But if we hide in the dark (in our sin), make excuses for it and others decide to over look or choose people (friends & family) over biblical truth, there is no hope for a spirit and truth body in that situation (see John 4:24). A healthy biblical true body of Christ will purge all public leaven (sin) out of its ranks and if men choose to not address all public sin, they are to be put out of the body until they will address it publicly. To compromise on this means...you have a compromised (sinful) body. Where in God's Word are we told to EVER compromise on sin? (We cannot find those verses so please call us with them if you claim to know where they are.)
In fact, God told us in His word to strive for perfection. Jesus said this in Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect
Paul said to strive for perfection in Hebrews 6:1
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works
Please ask yourself, how are you doing with sweeping ALL the leaven (sin) out of your life for God's glory? Do you study His Word to show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15 ) to even know what all sin is? Also ask yourself, does your religious body take a stern and biblical view of all sin and act according to the bible or does it compromise on truth/sin/leaven so it can grow its numbers in the pew and add to its building plans and parking lot? In the case of a small NT body, do you compromise on any sin just to remain close to friends or family? This is very sinful and needs to be addressed.
God forbid we should ever be lax on sin now that grace has come!
Romans 6
We hope this article on leaven and sin has stirred you to be more aware of it and to strive to be biblical in dealing with it for Gods glory. Leaven has a good purpose when making bread ( I sure like my wife's homemade bread) but when in the NT body of Christ as sin; there is NO place for it and it must be purged out or it will destroy much over time.
God be praised!
www.dontperish.com
Sadly most people do not take this serious at all even though we can read all about the destruction in the garden of Eden. It was there that Adam and Eve fell into sin and corrupted the entire human race. What was their sin? They simply disobeyed God.... once. ( see Genesis 3 )
To understand sin (or leaven) lets look at a key bible verse that used it in the New Testament.
In the book of Galatians the 5th chapter verse 9 the Apostle Paul says this:
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump". (In context Paul is saying some "sin" has entered into the Galatians theology/body)
Knowing some biblical history helps us to understand this verse about leaven.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites used leaven (which was a yeast) to make bread rise. It was commanded by God that at the special feast of unleaven bread (see Exodus 12) they should clean ALL the leaven out of their houses. They did this by sweeping every inch of their houses to clean out ALL the leaven and to be obedient to the Lord. The leaven was representing sin and they made a clean sweep to remove it all for God's glory. Today in the New Covenant we must do the same thing, in a sense. We are told to be "holy in ALL our conduct" (1 Peter 1:15) so we should be at all times... sweeping ALL sin out of our lives for God's glory if we are His true holy obedient people. (This includes the New Testament body as well.)
Also, if you understand bread making you know that it only takes a very small amount of this yeast (leaven) and it affects the entire loaf of bread, causing it to rise up. So looking at the context and the history of this verse in Galatians, Paul is telling us that a small amount if sin in a body WILL affect the entire body over time. But is this true?
We have learned this ourselves in our walk with Christ. Sadly we have even seen entire bodies of Christ be torn apart and separated over just one sin. If you do not think this can happen let us give you a example if we can that we have experienced personally.
Let's say you have small body of Christ with everyone striving for truth together. Then one of the men decides to lie about something that affects the entire body. When confronted in love about this lie and asked to come reason and talk about it all together, he refuses to do it and hides in silence. The sin begins to fester and the body can't move on as before until he deals with his sin that has caused mistrust in the body. Jesus even said in Matthew 5:24 to not go before God with a sacrifice if ...you have an issue with a brother.
Now because this man refuses to face his sin issue, communication in the body is totally cut off. Those in sin or promoting sin, hide from those asking that the sin be dealt with. Over time some in the body side with those calling him out and others side with the man hiding in his sin (often it is relatives or friends of his) and what is the result? We had to leave them to their sin as the entire body was torn apart over..... a lie: which is sin! It is leaven (sin) that has affected the entire loaf just as Apostle Paul warned about in our verse given.
This is but one shameful example and there are many more. ALL sin is destructive and it is an offense against God that all people who claim Christ must defend against at all costs. To take a lax view of sin is to take a lax view of God's Word, His Purity and Holiness. So what is the cure? In a biblical body Matthew 18 church discipline must be used to keep the body pure of all sin. If we cling to God's Word, repent when we are in sin and deal biblically with others; we can avoid the long term ill effects of sin's curse via repentance, God's grace and reconciliation. But if we hide in the dark (in our sin), make excuses for it and others decide to over look or choose people (friends & family) over biblical truth, there is no hope for a spirit and truth body in that situation (see John 4:24). A healthy biblical true body of Christ will purge all public leaven (sin) out of its ranks and if men choose to not address all public sin, they are to be put out of the body until they will address it publicly. To compromise on this means...you have a compromised (sinful) body. Where in God's Word are we told to EVER compromise on sin? (We cannot find those verses so please call us with them if you claim to know where they are.)
In fact, God told us in His word to strive for perfection. Jesus said this in Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect
Paul said to strive for perfection in Hebrews 6:1
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works
Please ask yourself, how are you doing with sweeping ALL the leaven (sin) out of your life for God's glory? Do you study His Word to show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15 ) to even know what all sin is? Also ask yourself, does your religious body take a stern and biblical view of all sin and act according to the bible or does it compromise on truth/sin/leaven so it can grow its numbers in the pew and add to its building plans and parking lot? In the case of a small NT body, do you compromise on any sin just to remain close to friends or family? This is very sinful and needs to be addressed.
God forbid we should ever be lax on sin now that grace has come!
Romans 6
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
We hope this article on leaven and sin has stirred you to be more aware of it and to strive to be biblical in dealing with it for Gods glory. Leaven has a good purpose when making bread ( I sure like my wife's homemade bread) but when in the NT body of Christ as sin; there is NO place for it and it must be purged out or it will destroy much over time.
God be praised!
www.dontperish.com