For quite a while now we
have been sharing the words and thoughts of Paul the apostle to the
church members in Galatia. We may begin to wonder why Paul would go
to such efforts to refute the teachings of the Judaizers who were
attempting to convince the believers there that they must also follow
the law of God as well as receiving the grace of God by faith in
Jesus Christ. In chapter five and verse nine Paul gives an important
reason for removing all false teaching where he wrote:
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Paul begins, “A little
leaven...” It seems so small. Is there really any affect that
such a small, tiny, inconspicuous amount will have? We might think,
what difference does such a small amount of leaven make. For those
who make homemade bread, they know what difference it makes. There is
a bread called “friendship” bread that used to make the circuit.
The idea was that a small pinch of leavened bread would be given by a
friend to his or her friend, and they would introduced it into an
unleavened batch of dough. Overnight that infiltrated new bread would
begin to swell from the small pinch, and soon the entire new batch
would be leavened as well. Leaven is like that, and so is false
doctrine.
Paul goes on to tell the
effect of the little leaven, “...leavens the whole lump.”
In other words, just as the small amount of leaven infiltrates the
bread, so does false doctrine and ways throughout a church body. Just
before the children of Israel left Egypt, God instructed Moses on the
idea of eating unleavened bread. In Exodus chapter twelve and verse
fifteen we read:
Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even
the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for
whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh
day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
The rule was so strict
because leaven represented “sin”. Leaven was an agent of
fermentation as is sin. Whenever leaven and sin are allowed to remain
eventually rottenness occurs, and those who are affected by the
rotten bread and sin are certain to be harmed. There was not to be
one speck of leaven in their houses. They would search their houses
thoroughly to be certain there was no leaven to be found. Paul knew
that if any part of the doctrine of the Judaizers was left among the
church members in Galatia, it was certain that the entire church
could be affected by it.
The question is, “Do we
have any leaven in our lives?” Are there ideas that are contrary to
faith and trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation? Is there sin in
any measure in our lives? Perhaps we should examine ourselves and be
as David of old who wrote in the book of Psalms chapter one hundred
and thirty nine in verses twenty-three and twenty-four:
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and
know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting.
Let us be reminded again, “a
little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
Next time Paul will share what happens to those who persuade the
Galatians away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, so read ahead, and
let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally
at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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