I Corinthians 5:8
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Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
not . . . old leaven--of our unconverted state as Jews or heathen. malice--the opposite of "sincerity," which allows no leaven of evil to be mixed up with good (Mat 16:6). wickedness--the opposite of "truth," which allows not evil to be mistaken for good. The Greek for "malice" means the evil habit of mind; "wickedness," the outcoming of the same in word and deed. The Greek for "sincerity" expresses literally, a thing which, when examined by the sun's light, is found pure and unadulterated.
Open source ↗In this chapter the apostle, I. Blames them for their indulgence in the case of the incestuous person, and orders him to be excommunicated, and delivered to Satan (Co1 5:1-6). II. He exhorts them to Christian purity, by purging out the old leaven (Co1 5:7, Co1 5:8). And, III. Directs them to shun even the common conversation of Christians who were guilty of any notorious and flagitious wickedness (Co1 5:9 to the end).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.
“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
Then they understood that He was not telling them to beware of the leaven used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.