Command 27: Beware of Leaven
Study Question
Q: Why did God kill Ananias and Sapphira for simply lying but did not kill the man in the Corinthian church for committing gross immorality? (See Acts 5 and I Corinthians 5.)
A: God swiftly judged Ananias and Sapphira with instant death, because they secretly conspired together to lie to the Holy Spirit, not just to Peter. (See Acts 5:3.) Their sin of hypocrisy was a “leaven” that would have spread throughout the church.
On the other hand, the immoral man in the Corinthian church was openly sinning. His punishment was excommunication from the church and being turned over to Satan so that his sinful nature would be destroyed and his spirit saved in the day of the Lord. (See I Corinthians 5:1–5.) For this man, church discipline would be sufficient chastisement for him to turn from his sin and repent.
Throughout the Bible, leaven is a symbol of corruption and of perverseness of heart and life that must be rejected. (See Matthew 16:6, 11–12; Mark 8:15; and I Corinthians 5:7–8.) The very nature of leaven requires that it be removed entirely since even a small amount of leaven will permeate an entire batch of dough.
In the Old Testament, God gave instructions to the nation of Israel to cut off any man who ate leavened bread during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (See Exodus 12:15.) In the New Testament, God instituted church discipline to deal with any member who willfully allowed sin to reign in his life. If unchecked, his leaven of sin would soon permeate the entire church.
The only way to escape the leaven of sin is to not permit any compromise of sin to dwell in our lives. If we excuse a little sin, it will grow in our lives and soon affect our attitudes toward God and others. Eventually, it will thoroughly permeate our thinking and corrupt our hearts and minds.
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This study question and answer is adapted from the Commands of Christ, Series 4, book. For further study, this book may be purchased from our Online Store.