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Why We Must Put Out Leaven
Article by Earl L. HennWhen God called Israel out of Egypt, He commanded them to observe the seven Days of Unleavened Bread, a festival that the New Testament confirms Christians are to keep. Paul instructs us to keep the feast, not with old leaven or the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Throughout the New Testament, leaven symbolizes sin and corruption, as Jesus warns to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Paul also notes that a little leaven leavens the whole lump, emphasizing the danger of sin spreading. The purpose of keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to remind us of our need to remove sin from our lives. Paul advises using this feast to purge out the old leaven, urging examination of attitudes and removal of sins from both personal lives and the congregation. He reminds us that the Passover commemorates the death of Christ, who died for our forgiveness, and though we are unleavened through repentance and justification by faith in His sacrifice, allowing leaven to return requires us to get rid of it. Deleavening our homes symbolizes purging sin from our lives, a lifetime process not fully complete until we are transformed into spirit at resurrection. As long as we remain flesh and blood, absolute perfection eludes us, and we cannot completely free ourselves from sin. This ongoing struggle to overcome human nature and adopt God's nature is sanctification, yet we must continually strive to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. Observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread yearly reminds us that we are not perfect and that our lives involve constant warfare against sin. When deleavening our homes, we find that no matter how hard we try, we cannot locate every tiny crumb, illustrating the deceitful nature of sin and the need to constantly examine ourselves to purge it out. Removing sin is hard work, and the Days of Unleavened Bread annually reinforce this battle all Christians must wage. The object lesson of deleavening our homes retains great meaning and purpose for us, as the symbolism of putting sin out of our lives will not be fully realized until we are changed, inherit the Kingdom of God, and become like Him who cannot sin.
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