Throw Out the Old Yeast
Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are.
The Jewish Passover was instituted on the night God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12). For each household a lamb without defect was slain, and its blood was sprinkled on the doorframe. In a similar way, Christ, our Passover Lamb, was slain for our redemption, and in this way God delivered all who believe in him from the slavery and tyranny of sin.
For the Passover feast, all yeast was to be removed from every house. This was a sign of sanctification. The yeast that leavens dough was a symbol of sin that infiltrates our lives and contaminates us through and through. It reminded people that they could not participate in the Passover with impure hearts and a defiled life. They had to throw out the old yeast, for they were being reshaped as a new unleavened batch of dough.
As believers in Christ, we have received a new heart, a new mind, a new life. We are part of a new family. We are God’s people, called to be light in the world. We cannot imitate the world or be of the world. We are called to reshape it for the kingdom of God. We are a holy people, remade in Christ. We are saved from sin to live in holiness for Jesus’ sake. So we must walk in a manner worthy of the gospel, depending on the power of the Holy Spirit to live for God.
Dear God, thank you that in Christ we can have a new life. Remake us to be like Jesus, and guide us to live in holiness, following him day by day. In his name, Amen.
About the author — Hernandes Lopes
Rev. Hernandes Dias Lopes grew up in a Christian home in Brazil. Following his 1981 graduation from Seminário Presbiteriano do Sul in Campinas, Brazil, he served two congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil. In 2000, he earned a doctor of ministry degree from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. Rev. Lopes has been the voice of the television program Verdade e Vida (“Truth and Life”) since 2006. In 2010 he was appointed Portuguese ministry leader for Back to God Ministries International. Rev. Lopes and his wife, Tinha, have two college-age children.
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