7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor 5:7-8)
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To really follow Paul's train of thought:
(1) Paul likens the Christian church to the Bread of the Jewish Passover
(2) The Passover is celebrated with unleavened bread. The church is told to cleanse out the old leaven. This is a bizarre way of describing things. Once bread is leavened it cannot be unleavened. We cannot "un-yeast" the bread as the application of yeast has already caused the dough to rise
(3) But still Paul calls attention to the fact that the church is "unleavened". That unlearning process began with the sacrifice of Christ the Passover lamb, i.e. you are unleavened for Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
(4) Christians are then called to celebrate the festival (not the literal Passover) but to celebrate Christ's sacrifice of the Cross. How should they celebrate? Not with leavened bread. That goes against the literal Passover as well as this one. They celebrate by unleavening away the old leaven of malice and evil.
===
To really follow Paul's train of thought:
(1) Paul likens the Christian church to the Bread of the Jewish Passover
(2) The Passover is celebrated with unleavened bread. The church is told to cleanse out the old leaven. This is a bizarre way of describing things. Once bread is leavened it cannot be unleavened. We cannot "un-yeast" the bread as the application of yeast has already caused the dough to rise
(3) But still Paul calls attention to the fact that the church is "unleavened". That unlearning process began with the sacrifice of Christ the Passover lamb, i.e. you are unleavened for Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
(4) Christians are then called to celebrate the festival (not the literal Passover) but to celebrate Christ's sacrifice of the Cross. How should they celebrate? Not with leavened bread. That goes against the literal Passover as well as this one. They celebrate by unleavening away the old leaven of malice and evil.
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