"A Little Leaven Leavens the Whole Lump"

The phrase you're quoting is from 1 Corinthians 5:6-7, where the Apostle Paul admonishes the Corinthian church about the danger of sin within the community and encourages them to remove it. Here’s a breakdown of how this could be developed into a sermon:

### Title: "A Little Leaven Leavens the Whole Lump"

#### Introduction:

- **Context of 1 Corinthians**: The letter to the Corinthians addresses various issues within the church, including division, immorality, and idolatry. In this passage, Paul speaks specifically to the issue of sexual immorality in the church.

- **Leaven as a Metaphor**: Leaven (or yeast) is a substance used in baking that causes dough to rise. Biblically, leaven often symbolizes sin or corruption. Paul uses this image to warn about the pervasive effect of even a small amount of sin.

#### 1. **The Danger of Tolerating Sin**

- **Paul’s Warning**: Paul is addressing a specific case of immorality in the church (1 Corinthians 5:1-2), but his principle applies universally. Just as a small amount of leaven affects the whole batch of dough, allowing even a little sin to persist in the church can spread and corrupt the entire body of believers.

- **The Church as a Whole**: Sin has a corporate effect. When one member of the church body sins and it goes unaddressed, it doesn't just affect the sinner; it affects the health and unity of the entire body of Christ. The holiness of the church is at stake.

#### 2. **Purging Out the Old Leaven**

- **The Call to Purity**: Paul calls the church to "purge out therefore the old leaven" (verse 7). This is not just about the individual, but the corporate responsibility of the church to maintain its purity.

- **Practical Application**: What does it mean to purge out the old leaven? It involves a commitment to holiness—holding each other accountable and confronting sin within the community. It’s about ensuring that sin does not take root and fester, but is dealt with decisively.

- **Personal Reflection**: The church is called to be a community of believers who live out the new identity they have in Christ. We must each examine our own hearts and lives to identify and remove areas of sin.

#### 3. **The New Lump: Our Identity in Christ**

- **Unleavened Bread**: Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are "unleavened," meaning they have been cleansed by Christ’s sacrifice. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has already made us holy, and it is out of gratitude for His work that we strive to live in purity (1 Corinthians 5:7).

- **Transformation**: As believers, we are called to be a "new lump." This is not just about external actions but about a transformed heart. The Gospel doesn’t just call us to behave differently; it calls us to be different—new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

- **Living the New Life**: Living out our identity in Christ means that we are to live according to His holiness and righteousness. The old leaven of sin has no place in the new life we have received.

#### 4. **The Power of the Gospel**

- **Victory Over Sin**: The Gospel is the power of God for salvation, and it is through the Gospel that we can overcome sin. We do not have to live under the power of sin because Christ has already conquered it.

- **Holiness through Christ**: It is only through Christ that we are able to be pure and holy. Our efforts to "purge out the old leaven" are not in our own strength but by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit working in us.

#### Conclusion:

- **Call to Action**: The call to purge out the old leaven is a call to holiness, not just for individual believers but for the church as a whole. Let us be a people who take sin seriously, who hold one another accountable, and who strive to live out the new life we have in Christ.

- **Prayer**: Ask God for the strength and wisdom to address sin within our lives and the life of the church, that we might live as a pure and holy people, reflecting the holiness of the God who has called us.

By understanding the significance of this passage, we are reminded of the importance of personal and corporate holiness. Through the power of Christ, we are called to purge out sin and live as the new creation He has made us to be.