7 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: 8 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. (1 Corinthians 5:7-8 KJV)
Purging ourselves of the old leaven
The apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthians to purity by urging them to purge out the old leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7). This instruction applies both to the church as a whole and to individual members. As a body, they were to remove the immoral person from among them (1 Corinthians 5:13), since Christian churches must remain pure and not tolerate scandalous or corrupt members. They are called to be unleavened—free from corrupt influences that defile the community.
Individually, each believer is also called to personal holiness, especially in avoiding the kinds of sins to which they were once particularly prone. The Corinthians, known for tolerating sexual immorality, were to break from such sins entirely. They were also to rid themselves of malice and wickedness—resentment, ill-will, and harmful deceit—which poison the heart and disrupt the unity of the church. Some among them may have even taken pride in the scandal or used it to advance personal grievances. Such attitudes are contrary to the spirit of Christian love. True love is the essence of Christianity and the clearest reflection of God, for “God is love” (1 John 4:16). On the other hand, malice is spiritually murderous: “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer” (1 John 3:15), and such a person bears the likeness of the devil, “who was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). Christians, therefore, must reject anything that resembles hatred or malicious intent.
Paul supports this call to purity with a powerful reason: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Just as the Jews celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread after the Passover, so believers are to live their entire lives as a spiritual feast—marked by purity, sincerity, and truth. The Christian life is not a brief observance but a continual celebration of holiness. We are called to die to sin, to be united with Christ in his death and resurrection, and to live renewed lives—both inwardly and outwardly. Our ordinary conduct and religious devotion must be pure and sincere. The more sincere we are in our own faith, the less inclined we’ll be to harshly judge others.
Ultimately, Christ’s sacrifice is the strongest motivation for a believer’s pursuit of purity. His death was the ultimate proof of his love for us and a vivid demonstration of how hateful sin is to God—it was so grievous that only the blood of God’s own Son could atone for it. If sin killed our Savior, how can we love or tolerate it? God forbid.