Herbert Armstrong and his followers have used a couple of verses from the fifth chapter of Paul's first letter to the saints at Corinth as a proof that Christians should be observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread for decades. They quote: "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (I Corinthians 5:6-8, KJV) For Armstrong and his followers, these verses are proof positive that the Gentile Christians of Corinth were observing the Old Testament Festival of Unleavened Bread.
But are these few lines from Paul's letter to them really about festival observance? What about the context of these verses - does context matter? And, if he wasn't talking about the OT festival, what was he talking about in these verses? Do these "prooftexts" warrant a closer look?
The chapter begins with: "I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship." (I Corinthians 5:1-2, NLT) Hmmm, sounds like Paul has a problem with the congregation's toleration and acceptance of flagrantly sinful behavior in their midst. He then proceeds to tell them that the man should be expelled from their midst until he has repented. (verses 3-5)
Paul continued: "Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth." (I Corinthians 5:6-8) So, Paul equated this man's sinful behavior with a leavening agent. He is telling them that this man's presence in the congregation has infected the whole with sin - that it has spread "through the whole batch of dough." And, that only by getting rid of this sin/leavening can the congregation partake in the festival that Christ's sacrifice has inaugurated for all of them.
Paul then proceeds to reiterate and make clear that this is his message to the saints at Corinth. In the chapter's remaining verses, he wrote: "When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you.'" (verses 9-13)
So, it turns out that Paul was speaking about expelling a man from the congregation who was flagrantly sinning and thus compromising the righteousness of the whole. He compares the man and his sin to a leavening agent spreading through a whole batch of dough. Paul is simply employing symbolism to demonstrate to these saints that their toleration and acceptance of this man and his sin has impeded their relationship with Jesus Christ! In other words, these verses should NOT be employed as a prooftext for OT festival observance by Christians.
No comments:
Post a Comment