Scripture to Read: 1 Corinthians 5:7
God guided Paul to tell the Christians in Corinth what they must do, as we read this in 1 Corinthians 5:7: “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.” God had Paul tell them that they had to get rid of the old “yeast,” which meant they must remove the man who was living in sexual immorality from the church. If they would do this, God had Paul tell them that they would be like a new batch of dough made without yeast, which is what they really were, for they had been cleansed by Christ’s blood. So, God wanted them to realize that He would cleanse them of the sin in their midst if they removed it. God also had Paul remind them that Christ, their Passover Lamb, had been sacrificed for them in order to cleanse them of their sin. That is why God tells us in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” There must always be a willingness to confess any sin in our lives, for unconfessed sin in our lives produces nothing but death. God makes this clear in James 1:15, “…when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” The believers in Corinth had allowed their lustful pride to blind them to what they must do.
Challenge & Application
God used yeast as an illustration for how sin affects the entire person, so, how do we keep from sinning? (See Psalm 119:9, 11.)
Why must we confess our sins to God since He already knows them, and how does confessing affect us?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!