1 Corinthians 5:8, Leaven of Malice and Wickedness

1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The Apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth to live a life befitting of Christ in them. He urged them not to return to the way of the old man (described here as the old leaven) nor to yield to the flesh (leaven of malice and wickedness. The word “malice” means to live a life characterised by an evil habit of the mind.

The Apostle Paul warns the believers in the book of Galatians that the habitual sinner shall not inherit the kingdom of God. A very serious indictment of eternal judgment.

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.“

Rather he advised in Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” “Walk” means to make progress in your spiritual life. It is a command. We are to do so continuously. It short, we have to make a choice each time the Holy Spirit prompts us of the carnality of the flesh seeking to overwhelm us to say no! This verse is giving to us a promise that when you depend on the Holy Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

May God’s people be filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen.