In both
Matt. 16: 5 – 12 and in Gal. 5: 9, leaven is used figuratively to represent
false religious teachings and accompanying practices, and warns the believers
of the harm such things can cause. In the
Matt. 16 incident, Jesus was speaking about the religious teachings of the
Pharisees and Sadducees of His day. It must
be understood that these groups were considered to be the “go to” source for
religious and political guidance, being “experts” in the knowledge and
application of Old Testament Scripture. The
Pharisees and Scribes could accurately quote all *existing (Old Testament) Scripture,
but failed to see that it would be fulfilled (1) by and through, the Person and
the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I said *existing
Scripture because what would become New Testament Scripture would not be
composed until years after our Lord’s resurrection. The
Pharisees and the Sadducees held very different viewpoints on at least one
major religious issue. The Sadducees did
not believe in an afterlife. The Pharisees did, but rejected God’s way (2) of
obtaining it. Contributing
to the confusion, the Pharisees had established a history of adding their traditions
of Man in order to comply with Old Testament Scripture. As a result, in some cases, they rendered the
worship and religious life of their followers meaningless (3). They instilled
fear in spiritually weak people, as non-compliance with their religious opinions
could result in being excluded from the synagogue. In Gal.
5: 9, Paul used the, “just a little leaven (Gal. 5: 9 NASB 2020),” to teach how
false teaching and accompanying practices can negatively impact one’s
perception of his or her salvation, as well as quality of the post salvation spiritual
life that follows. The
classic example of negative impact that false teachings can have, takes place
when one takes his or her focus of attention away from the cross (4) and considers
the additional “requirements” that are added to the unadulterated Gospel
Message, encapsulated in John 3: 16, 18, as the means of salvation. The atoning
Work (means of salvation) was “finished-John 19: 30 NASB 2020)” on the
cross. Adding anything amounts to blasphemy,
as among other things, such things imply that faith in His atoning Work, that
was finished on the cross, was or is, not enough. Not
having a clear understanding of the permanency and security of one’s salvation,
opens the door to the perceived, but erroneous, and even blasphemous position,
that faith and faith alone in the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not enough to obtain and or to retain salvation. Not
having a clear understanding of the unadulterated Gospel Message will
inevitably lead a Christian to believe that one must earn his or her salvation by
participating in the religious traditions of men, that has been added to the
unadulterated Gospel Message. In
addition to the religious traditions of Man, good behavior, and good deeds are
among other things that are erroneously promoted as the means to “earn” salvation. Good
behavior and good deeds are a part of the post salvation spiritual life, but not
for the purpose of improving or retaining salvation. Salvation
is a “no strings attached” gift from God, that He gives to those who make a
one-time decision to believe in the unadulterated Gospel Message. Nothing more;
nothing less. Weak (unedified)
believers will spend much of their post salvation spiritual life wondering if
they are really saved, or worrying about losing something (their salvation)
that cannot be lost. An advancing
disciple will develop the confidence that sets one free from such unnecessary and
ungodly wondering and worrying (5). Church
Age believers are to learn from the negative choices of their past, but are not
to live in the past, if they are going to fix their attention on the road ahead
that leads to spiritual maturity. On the
other hand, there is the danger in thinking that because one’s salvation is
eternally secure, that one is then free to live any way he or she wants,
without any consequences. Such individuals
become powerful tools in the hands of the devil by becoming stumbling blocks (6)
in the spiritual paths of those who observe them. Although their
salvation remains secure, divine discipline (7) awaits all born-again believers
for post salvation sin, throughout the course of their post salvation spiritual
lives, here on Earth. Such
discipline can range in anything from having to live with a guilty conscience
for sin that has not been confessed (8) and or forsaken (9), up to and
including physical death(10). For an advancing
disciple, just the empty and sinking feeling that comes from being out of
fellowship with God, is more than enough to motivate him or her to make things
right with the Lord. The just
a little leaven principle can also be applied to sin in the post salvation life
of a born-again believer, as one sin leads to another, after giving the devil a
foothold (11). Like leaven that permeates
the whole loaf of bread, just a little sin takes an individual just as far out of
fellowship with God, as does any other.
So says James 2: 10. No one
gets away with anything (12). One might not get caught in the act, or punished
when or how one expected or feared, but what goes around comes around. Be it
here on Earth, or worse, for all of Eternity future, there are consequences for
the leaven (false doctrine/sin) that born-again believers allow to become, and
remain to be, a part of their thought processes and inevitable actions. In truth,
there is no such thing as a little sin (13), especially when we consider what
it took for the Lord Jesus Christ to atone for it. As an
advancing disciple spiritually matures, he or she can hear the haunting, clanging
sound of the spikes being driven into the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ, as He paid for the sin debt of the entire human race (15). A part of that sin debt were the “little” and
great sins of the one we see in the mirror. An
advancing disciple will learn just how much damage a little leaven can cause,
and will be wise enough to take the necessary steps (16) to do something about
it. (1)Matt. 5: 17 (2) John 14: 6 (3) Matt. 15: 9 (4) Gal. 1:6/Gal, 3: 1 (5)
John 8: 32 (6) Luke 17: 1, 2 (7) Heb. 12: 6 (8) 1John 1: 9 (9) John 8: 11 (10)
Acts 5 (11) Eph. 4: 27 (12) Gal. 6: 7 (13) James 2: 10 (14) 1John 2: 2 (16)
1John 1: 9/John 8: 11