What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 5:8? Therefore let us keep the feast • The “therefore” reaches back to 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed”. Because Jesus fulfilled the Passover, believers are invited into an ongoing celebration of redemption. • Paul is not commanding the church to observe a literal Jewish festival but to live in a continual state of Passover gratitude—our lives becoming a joyous feast to God (Exodus 12:14–20; Hebrews 13:15). • This celebration is communal. Paul uses “let us,” reminding the church that redeemed living is shared, not solitary (Acts 2:46). • Practical implications: – Regularly remember the cross as the centerpiece of life (Luke 22:19–20). – Approach every gathering, workday, or quiet moment as part of the feast—an act of worship (1 Peter 2:5). not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness • Leaven in Scripture frequently pictures a hidden, spreading corruption (Matthew 16:6; Galatians 5:9). • “Old bread” points to the pre-conversion way of life—the attitudes and habits that once characterized us (Ephesians 4:22). • Paul names two sour ingredients: – Malice: the settled intention to harm, resent, or retaliate (Titus 3:3). – Wickedness: broad, active evil that contaminates relationships and witness (Romans 1:29). • To “keep the feast” requires clearing the pantry: – Identify lingering sins quickly (Psalm 139:23-24). – Remove them decisively, as Israel swept leaven from every corner of the house (Exodus 13:7). – Guard against small compromises; they grow (James 1:15). but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth • “Unleavened bread” pictures purity—flour and water, nothing else. In Christ, believers are already “a new lump” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Paul now urges us to live like it. • Two fresh ingredients flavor the Christian life: – Sincerity: single-minded, transparent devotion (2 Corinthians 1:12; Psalm 51:6). – Truth: alignment with God’s revealed Word and with honest dealings toward others (John 17:17; Ephesians 4:25). • Living unleavened means: – Speaking plainly, without hidden agendas (2 Corinthians 4:2). – Walking in the light, confessing sin quickly (1 John 1:7–9). – Letting Scripture define reality, not shifting cultural winds (John 8:31–32). summary Christ’s sacrifice has turned life into an ongoing feast of worship. We celebrate best when we sweep out the stale leaven of malice and wickedness and lay out fresh, simple loaves of sincerity and truth. Keeping this feast is daily, communal, and joy-filled—a tangible witness that the Passover Lamb has truly set us free. |
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