In his letter, after greeting the Corinthian church, Paul dives into the problems which the Corinthians had allowed into their church. They had went against the teaching of holiness and embraced a multicultural influence to guide their decision. However, their cultural differences were ripping them apart.
They had infidelity and incest within their church. They bickered on who should be their pastor. From the strong words Paul opens with it is feasible they had more problems than this.
Yet the Corinthians thought of their church as being a good church and growing their church was a mission they shared in common. Yet, it is a responsibility of a church to consider the environment they are inviting people into.
A sweet friend of mine invited me to the hospital to see her newly born baby. Though I was eager to see the bundle of joy, I declined for I was recovering from a cold. I would not want to expose the baby to its first cold.
The same consideration must go into our church environments to which we are inviting people into. In Corinth, they took pride in their hospitality and they were eager to grow their church; yet to Paul, he could see more harm in inviting people in than good. It was possible to make a bad situation worse; thus hurting people rather than helping them.
Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 1 Corinthians 5:6 (NKJV)
We must consider the church like a hospital. A hospital needs to be a clean environment to bring new born infants into. It must be staffed with care givers knowledgeable of how to care for new born babes.
Once a baby is born it takes a whole hospital staff to care for the babies to ensure they have just the right start into life, that they may begin their journey healthy.
Our churches are no different when a person is born again, saved from their sin; they are like new born babes and care must be taken to ensure they grow to be sound adults.
Now the Corinthian church had internal sickness and disease. The sin they had allowed and practice was just enough to infect new comers and possibly damage their lives rather than help them.
Paul recognized the Old testament example God used when leading the captives out of Egypt to freedom. Before they left they were to prepare a meal and eat it with their bags packed and their shoes on their feet for they were being delivered from their bondage.
They were to sweep their house and clean out any leaven (yeast) which could possibly pollute the bread they were to make for the meal. Since this day the comparison of leaven to sin is throughout the scriptures; for even the smallest amount of leaven can cause bread to rise.
Paul reminds the Corinthians of this truth and how this lesson must be part of the Christian church doctrine; for the teaching of this lesson was still applicable to the newly formed Christian Church; regardless of cultural differences.
Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 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.1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (NKJV)
This church was formed of Greeks, Romans, and Jews. Who's traditions to follow was a large debate and here Paul shows the important of remembering the Jews were first called of God to be His children. The work God did in their lives cannot be dismissed or replaced. These lessons are to be part of the Christians Church.
In the preparation to leave Egypt the Children of Israel were told to prepare a lamb for the dinner. The blood was to be placed over the door post and on each of the side posts. Those obedient to do so, would be passed over. However, those who did not would not be spared the tragedy of the loss of their first born son to the death angel who would come in the night.
Though the Children of Israel did not understand how this pointed to the future messiah, they understood their obedience to be demanded by God. God was not to be ignored, nor were His precepts. From this day forward, every year, God instructed Israel to keep the Passover feast in remembrance of what was done.
Christ is our Passover lamb. He was the perfect sacrifice the ritual was pointing to. Therefore, the leaven of our lives is to be swept clean and this teaching of being ready to leave must be the attitude of the church for Christ is coming again.
Jesus is our sacrificial lamb and His blood is to be spread upon the doorposts of our heart. The death angel then has to pass over the Christian and cannot take them to the grave for they have salvation. Having escaped death, the Christian is to let go of those things that were used to drag them down. They can now walk in newness of life and follow our savior to the promised land of Heaven.
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 1 Corinthians 5:9-12 (NKJV)
The church must be taught to understand its place in the lives of people. When people are in our church they are to be taught to be holy; for holiness is not a suggestion, but a demand of God.
The church must understand that those they fellowship with will affect them. If you keep company with a fellow Christian who does not honor holiness, the sin in their life can spread to affect the perception of others. A little leaven will ruin the whole lump.
Yet the church is also told to go into the world and preach the gospel, considering those sick and bind up their wounds. Thus there is a tolerance of sin we have to permit to reach these sick from sin.
Jesus ate with prostitutes, drunkards, and outcast from society. He said these are the ones who need a doctor. Yet God would not have people come into the church who are going to stay the way they were. Jesus told us to bring in those who will repent and let them be baptized.
So why would we allow a person who lives immoral to exist inside our church?
But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." 1 Corinthians 5:13 (NKJV)
So the church is not to fear mixing in the world of sinful people, remembering their mission to save the lost. Yet inside the church they are to be holy, live holy, and sweep the leaven to protect each other.
The Corinthians were not doing this. They were accepting of their people to live as the world lives.
