Position and Condition

[cavell]

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.

[Aletheia]

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."

-Phillipians 3:12-15

[Dansey]

In this context the verse applies to cutting of fellowship with a sinning brother. In this case, the church in Corinth was not doing anything to discipline this person for sleeping with his stepmother. They let him remain. Allowing that person to remain in fellowship with the believers and the believers really not to troubled by it was the leaven they were talking about.

Jesus also refers to the leaven on the pharisees- which warns us as individuals to beware of fostering a legalistic spirit in our hearts.

As to the above points they are so valuable. About 7 years ago the Lord gave me a dream. In the dream I was in some ind of department store. Inside they were selling these miniature bunnies, they were the most adorable looking things I had ever seen and I wanted one real bad. The only problem was that when you put them in your hand they turned into a giant centipede, kind of like the one from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The other problem was that there was whole right in the center of my hand so the centipede could go under my skin and crawl around. THe bunny was SOOO cute, it was worth it. It crawled around (in my left hand) and I could stop it by blocking its way - but it was fast. Sooner or later I knew I couldn't control it, it would go up my arm and make it to my heart. It was sooo hard to turn it down.
Such is sin, It is almost irresistable, but if you hold on to it long enough, eventually it will make it to your heart. "Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ"

Thought produces action
Action turns into habit
Habit makes character
Character Destiny

So many of the great men and women of God have fallen because they thought that they could control sin rather than cast it down when it was a mere thought. I pray that we will have the wisdom and strength to cast it down!