1 Cor. 5:6-8.
Your glory is not fine. Do you not know that a little leaven leaveneth the whole dough? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new dough, even as ye are unleavened. For we also have a paschal lamb, which is Christ, sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep Easter, not in the old leaven, nor in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the sweet dough of sincerity and truth.
1. When God wanted to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, He commanded them to eat the paschal lamb the night before and to keep the paschal feast for seven days every year at the same time in remembrance of this redemption; And he commanded them in particular that on that evening, when the feast began, they should put away all leaven and leavened bread from every house, and eat nothing but sweet unleavened bread or cakes for the seven days; hence it is called the feast or the days of sweet bread by the evangelists, Marc. 14, 1. Luc. 22, 1.
2 St. Paul shows such an interpretation in this epistle with few, but still beautiful and rich words, and comes to it from the reason that he previously in this fifth chapter chastised the Corinthians that they wanted to boast of the gospel and Christ, and yet abused the same freedom to fornication and other sinful behavior. And he admonishes them, because they have the gospel and have become Christians, that they also live as Christians according to the gospel, and that they flee and avoid everything that is not in accordance with the faith and Christian nature and that does not belong to them as new people.
(3) To this end, he takes this image or figure of the paschal lamb and unleavened bread, which the Jewish people had to eat at their Easter feast, to point them to the proper nature and Christian custom of the New Testament in the kingdom of Christ; thus showing what the proper paschal lamb and sweet bread or pancakes are, and how we should keep a proper Easter, in which everything should be new and spiritual. And he leads such a picture work out of a merry, rich spirit, to excite and move them the more, so that they remember their Christianity and consider it rightly. As if he wanted to say: Because you are now Christians and rightly God's people, and now also have an Easter feast, you must also do it its right, and all leaven that may still be found among you must also be removed from you, so that nothing but good, sweet dough may be found among you. But what he calls leaven, he himself indicates afterwards with the addition, when he says, "Not in the leaven of malice and wickedness," that is, who is wicked and evil;
That everything that is not of the righteous Christian nature, both in doctrine or faith and life, he wants to have everything swept clean among Christians; just as leaven was strictly forbidden in the law. Again, he wants us to keep our Easter in right sweet bread, which, in contrast to leaven, he calls the sweet dough of sincerity and truth, that is, righteous newness and life etc.
(4) Therefore this epistle is nothing else but an exhortation to Christian good conduct and works to those who have heard the gospel and have known Christ. That is, to eat sweet bread and wafers or pancakes (as we Germans have taken this word from the church, but shortened it, and made it into wafers, pancakes; for we Gentiles would otherwise have nothing to say about pancakes or Easter) on our Easter feast, in which we enjoy the paschal lamb, Christ, through faith: so that our life and deeds may be like and according to the faith of the known Christ. He begins this exhortation with these words:
Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole dough?
5 These words are the cause of the following admonitions and are a common saying, which St. Paul uses gladly and almost as a proverb, as he also says to the Galatians Cap. 5, 9. As Christ also indicates the likeness of dough and leavening from Scripture, Matth. 13, 33. For this is the way of leaven: if only a handful of it is thrown under a dough, it breaks and goes through and through, so that the whole dough becomes sour. This is what St. Paul means by spiritual things, both in doctrine and life.
For Gal. 5, 9. he actually needs this saying about false doctrine, which also has this way, where something is introduced wrongly and falsely in a piece or article, then it is already all and completely corrupted and lost; as happened to the Galatians about the piece that the false apostles did about the circumcision, who also wanted to preach the gospel and Christ. For such
The beginning always penetrates and tears away, until even the pieces, which are still unadulterated, no longer become useful, and the group, which was pure before, also becomes corrupt; as St. Paul also writes to his Galatians Gal. 5, 2. 4.: "I, Paul, say to you, where you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ is not useful to you"; item: "You have lost Christ and have fallen from grace" etc. But in this place St. Paul draws such a likeness more to the false delusion concerning life. It is the same when one begins to give room to the flesh and to abuse freedom, and this under the name of the gospel, then the leaven is already mixed in with the right Christian nature, and as soon as it corrupts the faith and conscience, it is always carried away until one loses Christ and the gospel. As would have happened to the Corinthians if St. Paul had not fed them with this epistle and admonished and urged them to sweep out such leaven, since they had already begun to exercise all kinds of willfulness, and to create sects and mobs against the unity of the gospel and faith etc.
(7) Therefore, this is a clear saying and an earnest admonition, that one should be careful with all diligence and take care not to mix or subvert anything false or foreign into the doctrine of faith or works; for it is a very delicate thing about God's word, faith and conscience; as the old common saying says: Non patitur jocum fama, fides, oculus: Honor or good rumor, faith and the eye, the three things cannot suffer a joke. For just as a good malt liquor or delicious medicine, the nobler and better it is, the more easily it may become corrupted and harmful, if even a drop of poison or impurity comes among it: so God's word and things can suffer no addition beside themselves, it must be completely pure and clean, or it is already corrupted and no longer of any use. And the worst thing about this is that it tears in so strongly and holds fast that it cannot be brought out again; just as leaven, however little it gets under a whole dough, so freezes through that it soon turns everything sour, so that no one can prevent it or make it sweet again.
8. Therefore it is wrong and nothing that now some wise men pretend that they want to find a remedy and a settlement between us and our counterpart of the papacy, and that they want to let the gospel be preached, but still keep the papal abuses, and say that it is not necessary to punish and put down everything for the sake of the weak, and for the sake of peace and unity, to moderate it a little and move closer together, so that one part yields to the other and bears patience with each other: Whether it is not all so pure, one can nevertheless help it with good interpretation and understanding, that it is to be suffered. No, not so! For here you hear that St. Paul does not want, and God has seriously forbidden, to mix even a little leaven into the good dough; for it eats through and spoils everything, so that where one mixes the right pure doctrine with human addition in one piece, the damage is done, that thereby the truth is obscured and souls are deceived. Therefore it is not to be suffered in Christianity, where one wants to make such a mixture and patchwork in the doctrine and, as Christ says, put a new cloth on an old garment etc.
(9) Likewise also in life and works, neither is it to be suffered that one should let the flesh have its bridle and courage, and yet boast of Christ and the gospel, as the Corinthians did, causing division and dissension among themselves, and one took his stepmother to wife. It is also said, says St. Paul: "A little leaven leaveneth and corrupteth the whole dough," that is, the whole Christian life. For it does not suffer one another to be Christians and to have faith, and to live according to the will of the flesh in sins and vices against conscience; as St. Paul says elsewhere, 1 Cor. 6:9: "Do not be deceived; a fornicator, an adulterer etc. has no part in the kingdom of Christ"; item Gal. 5, 19. 20. 21.: "Obvious are the works of the flesh etc. of which I have told you before, and still say before, that those who do these things will not inherit God's kingdom."
Therefore, we must punish here once again and not leave room for the insolent spirits,
who pretend that people should not be frightened with the law, nor given to the devil as soon as possible; but they must be taught and told that the old leaven must be swept out, and that they are not Christians, nor have faith, if they let the flesh have its way, and deliberately and against conscience remain and persist in sins. Which is so much the worse and more damnable, if it be done under the name and cover of the gospel and Christian liberty; for thereby the name of Christ and the gospel is blasphemed and despised: wherefore such things must be badly done away and cast out, lest faith and a good conscience should stand; as follows:
Therefore purge out all the leaven, that ye may be a new dough, as ye are unleavened.
(11) If you are to be a new sweet dough, he says, you must sweep out the old leaven; for, as I said, it is not fitting in the new nature of faith and Christianity that we should want to remain and live as before, when we were without faith, in sins and an evil conscience. It does not add up to be a new dough and keep Easter, and yet want to let the old leaven remain; for if it were not swept out, the whole dough would be completely leavened and spoiled, that is, the former sinful nature would again take over, and overthrow the faith and the purity and good conscience that had begun.
12) But that St. Paul here does not call bad leaven in general, but means to sweep out the old leaven, so as to show that there may nevertheless also be good leaven: this he does without a doubt in honor of the Lord Christ, who also compares the kingdom of heaven to leaven, which cannot ever be evil or harmful, but must be mixed with the dough, so that it becomes good fresh bread. This is what is said of the Word of God or the preaching of the Gospel, by which we are brought into Christ's kingdom or Christianity. Which, though it seems small and is despised and disagreeable to the world, yet it has the power to spread wherever it goes, and people
who accept it, and works in them so that they are reborn and become like him, just as leaven leavens the dough and makes it leaven. But Paul speaks here of such leaven, which is old, rotten and unfit, that is, of such doctrine and delusion or life, which comes from the old Adam, flesh and blood, and corrupts the pure new doctrine or new Christian nature. Therefore he calls him the leaven of wickedness and malice, and demands that they be a new, fresh and good dough.
013 But, behold, how the apostle speaketh: He calleth to sweep out the old leaven, and giveth this cause, For ye are new dough, and unleavened. "To be a new" or "sweet good dough", he means to have faith, who holds to Christ, and believes that through Him he has forgiveness of sins; as he will soon after say of the Paschal Lamb Christ, sacrificed for us etc. By the same faith we are cleansed from the old leaven, that is, from sins and evil conscience, and have now begun to become new men. Nevertheless, he calls them to sweep out the old leaven.
014 How then doth it compute that he saith, They shall sweep out the old leaven, that they may be a new dough; when he confesseth that they are unleavened, and a new dough? How are they unleavened as true wafers or sweet dough, and yet shall they put off the old dough as if it were still in them? Answer: This is spoken and written in a Pauline and apostolic way about Christians and the kingdom of Christ, so that he may show how it stands in the same, namely: that there is such a regime, in which a new Christian being has begun, through faith in Christ, the true paschal lamb, and now true paschals are kept, with new sweet wafers: But still there remains something of the old, which is to be swept out and cleansed; which is not imputed to them, because faith and Christ are there, and they are now in constant labor and exercise, that what is still unclean in them may be swept out for and for.
(15) So we have Christ and His purity given to us, whole and perfect.
through faith, and are counted pure because of it, and yet are not in and of ourselves as soon as pure and without sin or infirmity; but still have much of the old leaven left, which is to be forgiven and not imputed, provided we remain in faith and sweep out the remaining uncleanness. This is what Christ says to the disciples John 15:3: "You are clean because of my word." And yet there v. 4. He says of the branches of the vine that are clean and bring forth fruit, "That they must be cleansed, that they may bring forth more fruit;" and to Petro and the others He says Joh. 13, 10.That they which are washed and clean have need that their feet be washed; whereof it is elsewhere often said, how that a Christian by faith receiveth Christ's purity, and for the same is also pronounced clean, and begineth to be truly clean: for with faith is given the Holy Ghost, which worketh in a man to resist and to subdue sin henceforth.
16. Therefore, those are to be punished who want to pretend and paint or judge Christianity and the churches' nature and government as if it should and must be without all infirmities and defects everywhere; or where this is not the case, the church of Christ should not be true Christians; How then many erroneous spirits, especially the great clever ones and untimely self-grown saints, are vexed and offended at this, if they see or feel anything infirm in the multitude who are Christians and have the gospel, and dream such a church for themselves, in which there should be nothing infirm at all; which, however, cannot be on earth and in this life, nor is it found in themselves.
(17) On the other hand, it should be known that Christ's ministry and rule in His church is to give us His purity completely at once through the Word and faith, and also to make our hearts new through the Holy Spirit, but in such a way that He does not complete the work of our renewal and purification at once, but works and works on us daily until we become purer and purer. Such a work he does and drives through the ministry of the word, with admonition and punishment,
To improve, to strengthen (as he did through St. Paul to the Corinthians), item, through cross and suffering etc. For for this cause he came, and for this cause he did his work, and suffered, and rose from the dead 2c, not that he wanted to find pure and holy people in us at all: he has indeed accomplished everything completely for his person, as he was without all sin and completely pure from the time of his incarnation, and also communicates and allows us to enjoy such purity completely and without any defect, as long as faith holds on to him; but that the same purity also follows in us ourselves, there is still work to be done daily, until he also completes us in this way, as he is pure in himself and without any defect. For this purpose he has given his word and his spirit, by which we are to practice and work, so that the old leaven, which still remains, may be purged out, so that we may remain in the purification we have begun and not fall away from it again, and may retain faith, spirit and Christ; which does not happen where one leaves room for the old carnal nature and does not resist it, as has been said.
(18) Behold, this is one thing which this text teaches us, that even in the saints there still remain infirmities, impurities, and sins, which are to be swept out, and yet are not imputed to them, because they are in Christ and sweep out such leaven.
(19) The other thing is that he also shows herewith what difference there is between the holy and the unholy, because they both have sin, and what such sins are in Christians and believers, yet they remain holy and do not lose grace and the Holy Spirit; and on the other hand, what such sins are as cannot stand with faith and grace.
The rest of the sin in the saints is every evil inclination and lust or desire that stirs in man against God's commandment, which the saints feel as well as the others. But this is the difference, that the saints do not let themselves be overcome by them, that they follow them and let them work; but resist and, as St. Paul says here, always sweep out in themselves; and is called in them such sin as is swept out. The others do not do this,
who follow their lusts and let the flesh take the bridle, and so sin against their conscience. Therefore a good conscience and faith still remain in those who resist sinful desire; which cannot remain in others, who do not resist sin but follow it, and so their conscience is violated and faith is overthrown. For if you remain in evil intent and your own conscience testifies against you, you cannot believe nor say that God is gracious to you. Therefore, it is necessary for a Christian not to give place to such sinful lusts.
For this very reason the Holy Spirit is given to fight against sin and not to let it reign, as St. Paul says in Gal. 5:17: "The spirit lusts against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit"; and adds this rule: "That you do not do what you want"; and Rom. 8:13: "If ye put to death the business of the flesh by the Spirit, ye shall live"; item, Rom. 6:12: "Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies, that ye should follow the lusts thereof" etc.
For we also have a paschal lamb, which is Christ, sacrificed for us.
22 Hereby he gives cause why he said now: Ye are unleavened. A new unleavened or sweet dough are ye, saith he, not of yourselves, or of your holiness and worthiness; but because of this, and therefore that ye have Christ, and believe on him, as the paschal lamb, sacrificed for us. This makes you pure and holy in the sight of God, so that you are no longer old leaven, as you were before apart from and without Christ; but through this sacrifice you are reconciled to God and cleansed from sins etc.
(23) So now we also have a new time and feast given to us by God, in which is no longer the old, but a new being, another and better paschal lamb and sacrifice than that of the Jews, who had their paschal lamb, which they had to sacrifice and eat yearly, but by it they were not sanctified nor cleansed from sins. But it was given to them as a sign and remembrance of the right paschal lamb to come, promised by God, and
Sacrifice, by which death and blood we are washed from sins and truly sanctified; which we must enjoy and eat by faith, and now have a single, constant, and eternal Pascha, in which faith is nourished, filled, and made merry (that is, receives forgiveness of sin, comfort, and strength) from this Paschal Lamb, Christ.
(24) Now what this means, that he says, "sacrificed for us," we have heard in the sermon on the passion of Christ, how two things are to be held up to us in it. First, that we consider the great, grave and terrible wrath of God against sin, in that such wrath could not have been averted by any other way, and reconciliation could not have been acquired by any payment, but by this one sacrifice, that is, the death and blood of the Son of God, and that we all forfeited such wrath of God with our sins, and were the cause that God's Son had to be sacrificed on the cross and shed His blood. Let this work in us, that we may be sore afraid for our sins; for it must not be a small wrath of God, because thou hearest that no other sacrifice hath stood against the same, and made reparation for sin, but the only Son of God; and thinkest thou that thou wilt endure such wrath, or be able to stand and stand before it, when thou regardest not, nor knowest it?
(25) Secondly, in this also we must see and recognize God's unspeakable grace and love toward us, since in such terror man's heart is restored from his sin, and consider why God does this, that he does not spare his own Son and gives him up for sacrifice in the cross and death, so that the wrath might be taken away from us; what greater love and good deed can be found? For this reason such a sacrifice is presented to us, so that we may have certain and true comfort against sin; for here you can see and grasp that he does not want you to be lost because of your sin, because he gives you such a sacrifice as the highest and most precious pledge of his grace and your salvation. Therefore, although the sin and wrath that your sin deserves is great, yet this
The sacrifice and death of God's Son is much greater, which he gives you as a certain sign that he will be merciful to you for it and forgive sin. This must now be grasped with faith, which keeps this word: Our paschal lamb is Christ, given for us etc., and comforts and strengthens itself with it.
Let us keep Easter, not in all leaven, nor in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the sweet dough of sincerity and truth.
(26) Therefore, since we have a paschal lamb and a true paschal feast, let us also do it justice, and celebrate and celebrate it joyfully, as is fitting, so that we no longer eat the old leaven, but true wafers and paschal cakes. For the two belong together, the paschal lamb and sweet bread or wafers; the latter is Christ sacrificed for us, for which we do nothing, but receive and enjoy by faith alone (as given and given to us). But if we have this, it is proper that we also eat the sweet wafers, that is, with such faith in this paschal lamb, we both keep and practice the pure doctrine of the Gospel. That is, with such faith in this paschal lamb we keep and practice both the pure doctrine of the gospel, and also keep ourselves according to the same with good life and example, and thus live steadily well, as in the eternal paschal feast, as St. Paul calls it here, in which we live and continue as new men in the faith of Christ righteous, holy and pure, in peace and joy of the Holy Spirit, as long as we are here on earth.
027 And he setteth again leaven and sweet dough one against another, as he began; and calleth leaven in general all things that are of the flesh and blood, and of the old sin.
But he divides it into two parts, saying, "not in the leaven of malice and wickedness. "Malice" means all kinds of evil and sin, where one publicly does wrong against God and one's neighbor. But "mischievousness" means all kinds of evil trickery, and quick, blind and poisonous handles, which are used in the doctrine or God's word to falsify and pervert it, and to deceive the hearts from faith and pure mind and understanding, as St. Paul 2 Cor. 11, 3. and says: "I fear lest, as the serpent beguiled Eve with his craftiness, so also your minds be beguiled from the simplicity that is in Christ"; after that also other evil things, hypocrisy, and other vexations, where one acts falsely and treacherously (especially under God's name), and yet wants to adorn and cover it, so that it should not have the name of being unjustly taught, advised, or done, but be called right, good, and Christian. This is what Christ calls the leaven of the Pharisees, item, the leaven of Herodis etc., as this is innumerable in the world, especially at this last worst time.
28 Against this he now sets the two: sincerity and truth. "Truth" is that which is lived and done rightly and Christianly, out of a faithful, pious heart, which means well toward everyone, thinks no one is doing wrong or harm, and acts as he would have acted with himself; but "truth" is that which does not deal falsely or treacherously, with deceit and mischievousness, but is taught and lived righteously and rightly according to the pure Word of God. This must be the case with the Christians, who are now in a new state and nature and are observing the new Easter, so that both faith and doctrine and life will be in accordance with it.