Sincerity and Truth

Day 221: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

“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 Corinthians 5:8 ESV

The situation in the Corinth church that Paul found himself confronting was deeply disturbing. Sleeping with your step-mom was wrong on many levels, and something needed to be done to ensure the congregation's health moving forward. Paul's use of the word purge is all we need to know about the seriousness of this situation. This man needed to be distanced from the church so that he would (hopefully) understand the idiocy of his actions.

In verse 8, Paul contrasts two words with two more words. Malice (damaging evil) and wickedness (wicked nature) were to be put away in exchange for sincerity (unmixedness) and truth (integrity).

God's desire is for us to live genuinely good lives, not just for appearance's sake. He knows who we really are, deep down (see John 2:24-25).

The Jews had three main festivals (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles), and many others they celebrated annually. Paul insists that Christians are always celebrating, always to be setting themselves apart. This life of obedience to Jesus isn't to be thought of as drudgery; it should be our greatest joy.

"The believer’s perpetual festival is kept with sincerity, which refers to purity of motives, and with truth, which points to purity of action. Both are so characteristic of the Christian as to be compared to his necessary food, his bread." - Leon Morris