A Newsletter of weekly meditations on Biblical Theology and curated resources from The Carson CenterApril 15, 2026
 Read 1 Samuel 24, Ezekiel 3, John 4, 1 Corinthians 5 1 Corinthians 5:7–8 “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Deuteronomy 16:2a, 3a, 4a, 8a “And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God … You shall eat no leavened bread with it. … No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days … For six days you shall eat unleavened bread …” Several of my friends make sourdough bread. The process involves using a “sourdough starter.” The starter is usually leftover dough from a previous batch with the bacteria and yeast necessary for flavoring the bread and causing it to rise (“leavening” the dough). In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul urges the church at Corinth to resist sin’s corrupting influence and strive for moral purity. Paul is appalled by a report that the Corinthian church is tolerating—and even boasting about—a professing Christian’s flagrant sexual immorality. Paul calls the church to sorrow over this scandal and, at their next assembly, to remove the offender from their fellowship. Excommunicating the offender aims for his eventual restoration (cf. 1 Tim. 1:20). Paul explains his urgency with an analogy to the bread-leavening process (5:6–8). Even a little starter dough (leaven) initiates a fermentation process that will overtake the whole lump. Similarly, no matter how isolated one congregant’s willful rebellion may seem, when that rebellion is allowed to continue unchecked, it festers and ferments (cf. Gal. 5:9). Each part of Christ’s body, the church, belongs to and affects the whole. Paul is alluding to the Feast of Unleavened Bread that commemorates Israel’s exodus from Egypt (Ex. 12–13). The LORD’s swift judgment against Israel’s oppressors caused Israel to leave Egypt in haste, even before they could leaven their dough (Ex. 12:33–34, 39). What caused Israel’s oppressors to send them out in haste? The LORD had executed judgment against all in Egypt who failed to take refuge under the blood of the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:12–13, 29–32). Future generations commemorated God’s propitiating and liberating mercy by eating unleavened bread during the Passover feast (cf. Deut. 16:1–8). The Passover in Egypt anticipated the sacrifice of God’s Son, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; cf. Mark 14:12–25, 49; Rom. 3:21–26). Our churches ought to celebrate so great a salvation by consecrating ourselves to our Savior. Since Christ has delivered us from slavery to sin—the old leaven—we ought to present ourselves to him for righteousness (Rom. 6:5–14). So, let’s together be that unleavened lump he’s made us to be. – Mary Hannah Reflect: To what extent do you view your words and actions as affecting others in your local church? In what specific area of your life do you need to be more uncompromising about sin? | 
