Purge out the old leaven........as ye are unleavened - 1 Corinthians 5:7
In the New Testament epistles the believer is viewed in two ways - as perfect in Christ, and as imperfect in himself.
A striking passage in this connection says 'Purge out the old leaven.....as ye are unleavened'
The first of these phrases - 'purge out the old leaven' shows that the Christian is imperfect in himself. The second phrase - 'as ye are unleavened' shows that he is perfect in Jesus.
Naturally speaking this would be a seeming contradiction , but spiritually it is a profound spiritual truth.
What Paul says is 'Because there is no evil in you, put away all the evil that is in you'
That is the whole philosophy of the Christian life.
It means.....Become what you are;...... approximate actually to what you are ideally in Jesus;...... let your condition come ever nearer to your position;.... let your actual state in this world ever more worthily represent your wonderful standing in Christ, our Saviour and our LOrd.
Paul says 'In Christ you are complete' (Col 2:10) yet we are all aware that in actual experience we are far from complete. But if we can by God's grace apprehend this double fact, a vexing problem will be solved , and we shall see clearly that our actual experience may and should, draw ever closer to our judicial position in Christ.
In the New Testament epistles the believer is viewed in two ways - as perfect in Christ, and as imperfect in himself.
A striking passage in this connection says 'Purge out the old leaven.....as ye are unleavened'
The first of these phrases - 'purge out the old leaven' shows that the Christian is imperfect in himself. The second phrase - 'as ye are unleavened' shows that he is perfect in Jesus.
Naturally speaking this would be a seeming contradiction , but spiritually it is a profound spiritual truth.
What Paul says is 'Because there is no evil in you, put away all the evil that is in you'
That is the whole philosophy of the Christian life.
It means.....Become what you are;...... approximate actually to what you are ideally in Jesus;...... let your condition come ever nearer to your position;.... let your actual state in this world ever more worthily represent your wonderful standing in Christ, our Saviour and our LOrd.
Paul says 'In Christ you are complete' (Col 2:10) yet we are all aware that in actual experience we are far from complete. But if we can by God's grace apprehend this double fact, a vexing problem will be solved , and we shall see clearly that our actual experience may and should, draw ever closer to our judicial position in Christ.
