What New Testament passages connect to the concept of purity in Exodus 12:19? Setting the Scene “ ‘For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats anything leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a foreign resident or native of the land.’ ” (Exodus 12:19) Why Leaven Matters • In Scripture, leaven regularly pictures sin’s quiet, spreading influence. • Removing it for Passover highlighted God’s call to an undefiled, set-apart people. Straight-Line New Testament Echoes • 1 Corinthians 5:6-8—“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? … Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” – Paul links the Passover command directly to moral purity among believers. • Galatians 5:9—“A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough.” – Warns that even small doctrinal or moral compromise spreads. • Matthew 16:6, 11-12—Jesus cautions, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” – Their hypocrisy could corrupt the whole community. • Luke 12:1—“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” • Mark 8:15—“Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.” – Leaven here pictures corrupting unbelief and worldliness. Wider New Testament Calls to Purity Though not mentioning leaven, these passages carry the same Passover-shaped insistence on holiness: • 2 Corinthians 7:1—“Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” • Ephesians 5:26-27—Christ sanctifies the church “that He might present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish.” • Titus 2:14—Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession.” • 1 Peter 1:15-16, 18-19—“Be holy in all you do … you were redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.” Putting It Together • Exodus 12:19 demanded visible, household-wide removal of leaven. • The New Testament carries that picture forward: every trace of sin, hypocrisy, and false teaching must be purged from Christ’s community. • The same God who delivered Israel by the Passover lamb now purifies His church through the spotless Lamb, calling us to live “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” |
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