Christians tend to run to two extremes when it comes to sin [too soft or too hard]. We either lean too heavily towards grace and let sin slide or we’re hyper-vigilant about sin and almost lose grace entirely. Where’s the balance?
Open up your Bible and read 1 Corinthians 5:1–8. We set up the situation yesterday: A church member was in a relationship with his stepmother—something even the pagans of Corinth thought offensive.
1I 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. 2You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship. 3Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. 5Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. 6Your 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? 7Get 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. 8So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
Paul leaves no room for questioning in this passage. What the man is doing is wrong. Very wrong. So wrong that Paul wants him out of the church. In verses 6–8, he alludes to an Old Testament tradition to show the Corinthians why it’s so important to weed out the sin from the church.
Let’s take a look at what Paul’s referring to in verses 6–8. Flip back to Exodus and read Exodus 12:1–20. While you’re reading, jot down what the blood of the Passover lamb did for the Israelites and what the Israelites were supposed to do with leaven, aka yeast.
1While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: 2“From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. 3Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. 4If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat. 5The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects. 6“Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. 7They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal. 8That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast. 9Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs—must be roasted over a fire. 10Do not leave any of it until the next morning. Burn whatever is not eaten before morning. 11“These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover. 12On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! 13But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14“This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time. 15For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel. 16On the first day of the festival and again on the seventh day, all the people must observe an official day for holy assembly. No work of any kind may be done on these days except in the preparation of food. 17“Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation. 18The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month. 19During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes. Anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel. These regulations apply both to the foreigners living among you and to the native-born Israelites. 20During those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread made without yeast.”
Exodus 12:1–20 (NLT)
There are two big parallels to note from Exodus 12. The first is that Paul calls Jesus our Passover lamb. He’s reminding us of what Jesus’s death means for us. He freed us from death. He brought us into God’s family. He paid the consequence for our sin. Paul wants the church to remember why we take sin seriously. It’s because our God did, which led to Jesus’s death and our salvation.
God’s grace isn’t a free ticket to do whatever we want in life. We remove sin from our lives because of the grace we have through Jesus. He hated sin. We should too.
The second parallel from Exodus 12 is that God didn’t tell the Israelites to throw leaven out of their houses just for fun. He had a purpose behind it: to prepare them to celebrate, remember, and enjoy the freedom he gave them from slavery in Egypt.
God doesn’t ask us to remove sin from our lives without a reason.
Sometimes we focus so much on saying no to our sin that we forget what we’re saying yes to when we turn away from sinful habits. Repenting of sin is more than turning your back on sin. It’s also about what you turn toward—about what you get to experience because you’ve let go of sin.
So when it comes to finding a balance between being hyper-vigilant or too gracious about sin, we can start by remembering the grace God’s already given us through Jesus. When we say no to sin, we’re saying yes to grace. To love. To freedom. We experience true life when we put death behind us.
Imagine what would look like if your life were completely free from sin. How would your friendships change? Your self-talk? Your attitude at work? Take some time to reflect and journal: What would your life look like when you say “yes” to God and “no” to sin?
Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and/or share it as a comment below
When I say yes to God my life has meaning and purpose. I’m living for a greater reason beyond my needs and desires. I experience His love, grace, and joy. I experience life and life in abundance. When I say no to sin it is letting go what holds me back and down from truly growing. It’s about turning away the dark to face the light.
My life would look very obedient and loving to list a few. Because when I say no to sin, that’s an umbrella that interconnects all the problems in our world right now. That stems from the lack of obedience and love to God. He knows what great joy is and he knows what is best. He will set us up and steer us in the direction he has planned for us. As we see in the extension scripture to our devotion. God creates this sacrifice ritual to show his presence and to use as a teaching moment to remind us of the weight in which sin holds. Sin deserves condemnation, it deserves death by sacrifice. In which Christ Jesus does for us all. In this he also makes it a moment for the Israelites to feast and to celebrate. That parallels so well with how Sovereign and serious God is all while how loving and caring he is. Life rejecting sin and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit which flows in us, the helper provided by God, is fruitful and meaningful.
If I say yes to God and no to sin, my life would be characterized by qualities that are a reflection of Christ. I would steer clear of rumours and issues that are contrary to what God would want to see in my friendships and interactions, and they would be more Christ-centered. Additionally, I would have a more optimistic outlook on life and would view hardship as a formative experience from God. God would take center stage in my thoughts and deeds rather than the sinful nature of the world.