Each year as we celebrate Resurrection Sunday and Passover, it’s common to hear messages highlighting God’s merciful promise: “When I see the blood on the doorposts of the house” – now representing the blood of Jesus over our lives – “I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.” (Exodus 12:13, 21-23)

While it’s always appropriate to meditate on this type and shadow from the original Passover, which provides such a powerful picture of the saving blood of Jesus, these messages typically present only part of God’s counsel to ensure His merciful deliverance.

The Less Popular Side of Deliverance

Tucked in between the promise of divine protection (v.13) and the instructions for applying the blood of the lamb (v.21-23), we find an additional Passover requirement that still applies symbolically for us today as well – the removal of all leaven (chametz) from their meals and homes, representing the removal of sin from our lives. (Exodus 12:13-23)

To this day, faithful Jews make a diligent and thorough search of their homes before Passover to remove every last trace of leaven (Bedikat Chametz), burn all that is found (Biur Chametz), and renounce any they may be unaware of that might unknowingly remain (Bittul Chametz). For the church, this symbolizes what should be our ongoing lifestyle of repentance and sanctification.

The omission of this part of the type and shadow from Passover, and the full implications of neglecting this side of the story, has resulted in the compromised and weakened condition of much of the church today, where sin (leaven) is tolerated while grace (the blood of the Lamb) is celebrated.

Faced with such compromise in the church at Corinth, Paul found it necessary to remind them of the rest of the Passover parallel. (I Corinthians 5) When addressing the willful, unrepentant sin in their midst, he prescribed a church discipline that many now reject as too harsh, unloving, and unkind, “…Drive out that wicked one from among you [expel him from your church].” (5:13) He instructed the church not to remain in fellowship with those who profess to be Christians, yet continue practicing willful sin. (5:9-13)

Was “the Apostle of Grace” Being Graceless?

Was Paul, often credited with having the greatest revelation of God’s grace, forgetting the grace and mercy of God? Was he violating Christlike love and misrepresenting the heart of the Father? Was he suddenly seized with a religious or legalistic spirit and returning to his former Pharisaical past? Did he not yet understand that it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance? Was he being “anti-Christ”?
Or is it rather that modern-day teachings about the grace and mercy of God have drifted so far that Paul’s words and actions now seem at odds with the very revelation of grace he’s been credited with bringing?

Hopefully, we can all agree it’s the latter. Any time Scripture itself cannot pass the test of our theological conclusions, interpretations, definitions, and standards we’ve drawn from other parts of Scripture, something is wrong – and it’s not Scripture. It’s an indication that it’s time to realign ourselves to the Plumb Line of the whole counsel of God’s Word.

Paul’s Passover Parallel

Paul went so far as to say the man in this case was to be handed over to satan “for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (5:5) As he continued explaining the necessity of the painful discipline he prescribed, he pointed them back to the entire Passover parallel:

…Do you not know that [just] a little leaven will ferment the whole lump [of dough]? ⁷ Purge (clean out) the old leaven that you may be fresh (new) dough, still uncontaminated [as you are], for Christ, our Passover [Lamb], has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of vice and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened [bread] of purity (nobility, honor) and sincerity and [unadulterated] truth. I Corinthians 5:6-8

Therefore, we see that his reasoning for this radical discipline was twofold:
~first, for the sake of the one living in sin – for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may yet be saved in the day of judgment. (v.5)
~ And second, for the sake of the church – to prevent the spread of sin (leaven) throughout the Body of Christ. (v.6)

By highlighting this less popular parallel from Passover, he gave us the key to understanding BOTH.

Paul’s latter reason is evident through his reference to the spreading nature of leaven (representing sin) until it has affected the whole. Therefore, the removal of the one practicing sin was for the protection and preservation of the entire church.

But to more fully understand his former reason – that this man might experience a painful enough discipline to hopefully cause him to return to a place of ultimately being saved – a closer look at God’s instructions in Exodus is needed.

A Physical Demonstration of a Spiritual Reality

God had warned that those who retained any leaven in their meals or even in their homes as they prepared for deliverance from Egypt would be cut off from His people and excluded from the congregation. (Exodus 12:15,19) Applying the blood of the lamb over the doorframes of the house didn’t overrule this commandment or override the judgment for failure to comply. Obedience to BOTH instructions was essential – the removal of the leaven and the application of the blood of the lamb.

By importing these instructions into his reasoning for telling the church to remove professing believers who have remained in or returned to lifestyles of sin, Paul revealed that the Passover command concerning removing leaven carries just as much symbolic revelation for New Covenant believers as does the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. In doing so, he affirmed that holding onto willful sin (leaven) in our lives (and the church) will truly cause us to be cut off. Claiming the grace of God through the blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, doesn’t overrule this command or override the judgment for failure to comply.

Both the command to cut off those found with leaven from God’s people in the Old Covenant, and its New Covenant application to cut off those remaining in lifestyles of sin after receiving Jesus, are meant to be physical demonstrations of a deeper spiritual reality. Being physically cut off from God’s covenant people, whether Israel (Old Covenant) or the church (New Covenant), was intended to awaken us to the deeper truth that holding onto willful sin cuts us off spiritually from covenant with God. This spiritual reality explains the first reason Paul gave for his severe discipline – to remove the man and hand him over to satan “for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” In other words, this was not just a matter of preventing the man from spreading harmful influence on others in the church. Nor was it just a matter of wanting him to repent so he could live his best life now, to walk in all the blessings and benefits of God on earth (while believing his spirit was still ultimately perfect and securely saved). No – Paul’s Passover parallel to the New Covenant church revealed this was a matter of eternal salvation.

This is reaffirmed in II Corinthians 7, as Paul continued to address the situation in his follow-up letter:

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. II Corinthians 7:10

Salvation was at stake. Repentance was required.

Denying the Lord: When Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Adherents of “once saved, always saved” (OSAS) teaching – or its close relative, the belief that salvation can only be lost by renouncing or denying faith in Jesus with our mouths – will likely contend that the man was never truly born again. Certainly a case could be made for this in many situations where someone continues to practice willful sin after receiving Jesus, but I’m not convinced this applies in every instance. In this situation, we should acknowledge that Paul’s use of the Passover parallel implies that the man was formerly regarded as included within the covenant people of God, but was now to be cut off and excluded for holding onto the leaven of unrepentant sin. Paul rebuked the church for the sin among them (believers), stating it was a kind of sin even condemned by unbelieving Gentiles. (v.1-2) He didn’t claim the man himself was an unbelieving Gentile among them, but reproached them as believers for sin that even unbelievers know is unacceptable. Lastly, Paul admonished the church that he was not instructing them to judge those outside the church (unbelievers), but those within (believers) – those bearing the name of Christian brother or sister. (v. 9-13)

I realize it would take far more than one paragraph to adequately address OSAS and related objections, so for the sake of keeping this from turning into that treatise, I will just briefly reference something previously shared in The Spirit of a Magician and Apostasy – part 1 blog:

Those deceived by the error of lawlessness still claim faith in Jesus as their Savior, but these errors cause them to deny and disown Him as Master and Lord – in the sense that they reject His Lordship over their lives. It’s vital to understand that they don’t do so by purposefully denying or renouncing Him as Lord with words. Instead this denial and rejection occurs through their actions/sin (I Thess 4:1-8, Titus 1:16, Jms 4:4, Heb 10:26-39).

“Watch the actions (or life), not the words” and “Actions speak louder than words” are phrases we’ve likely all heard as wise counsel to help us determine the truth about others (or ourselves). The Lord affirms this wisdom by telling us we will know people by their fruit (actions, character). He warned that it’s not those who merely call Him “Lord” (words), or even operate in His gifts in His Name, who will be saved – if they also practice lawlessness (sin) – but only those who actually live under His Lordship (actions), obeying His Word and doing His will. (Matthew 7:13-29)

This truth is further established and confirmed in additional passages, where we’re told that people, through actions rather than words, have denied the faith and are worse than unbelievers (I Timothy 5:8), and that servants of the Master (believers) who don’t remain faithful to His will, but instead begin to live in sin, will be cut asunder (“cut off” in some translations) and assigned a place with unbelievers (the unfaithful) in punishment at His return. (Luke 12:42-48)

The Mercy of Discipline

Regardless of where one lands on this broader debate, hopefully we can all agree Paul clearly stated his goal was that this man’s spirit may yet be saved — a statement that would be unnecessary if his final salvation, as one professing faith in Jesus, was assured and unassailable. The painful discipline was intended to produce godly sorrow that would result in genuine repentance (turning away from sin and bearing the fruit of that change), and ultimately in salvation.

When we understand this, it becomes clear that this severe discipline was not un-Christlike cruelty, but a profound work of the kindness, mercy, and grace of God. Whether you believe he must never have truly been born again, or whether you’re willing to accept the Scriptures that indicate true believers can fall from their secure position and deny the Lord through willful sin (II Peter 2:18-22, 3:15-18, to name a few more), the bottom line is that Paul didn’t want this man or the church to be deceived about his salvation in his current condition. Being cut off was intended to prevent them all from persisting in the spiritual blindness and deception of believing he was still in right relationship with God while living a life of willful disobedience to Him. Applying the blood of the Lamb alone, by claiming God’s mercy and grace, would not make up for this. He needed repentance (removing the leaven/sin) as well as applying the blood.

Again, to be clear – This is NOT about a works-based salvation; it’s about the truth that we must receive Jesus as our Lord as well as our Savior, which involves turning from sin to follow Him and continuing (abiding, remaining, enduring) in Him. Continuing instead in willful sin is the fruit that reveals He either never was, or is now no longer, on the throne of our hearts and lives as our Lord.

Paul was actually not only looking for repentance from the one man in question, but also from the whole church for their part in tolerating sin, contributing to spiritual deception and danger, not only for the man in question, but for the rest of the church.

Thankfully, in this situation, Paul’s confrontation and the subsequent severing were successful in accomplishing the intended purpose – both the church and the man repented and were restored. (II Corinthians 2:1-11; 7:8-11)

Misguided Mercy Undermines True Mercy

But what about the church today? It seems Paul’s Passover parallel is just as much a call to repentance for us today as it was for the church in Corinth.

The error might not always be as blatantly clear. While there are certainly some congregations of professing Christians who now openly accept and celebrate sin in the name of grace, there are others who still claim to hold to God’s eternal Scriptural standards of morality, yet fail to follow Paul’s counsel for various reasons.

Recently, some internationally known leaders have cited their understanding and practice of the kindness, mercy, and grace of God as the reason they’ve neglected Jesus’ and Paul’s Holy Spirit-inspired instructions for church discipline. Some have framed their fault as being too merciful. But who exactly are we being merciful to when we disregard the clear teaching of Scripture about these issues?
~ It isn’t merciful to the person practicing sin, who’s allowed to persist in spiritual blindness and deception about their salvation, putting them in mortal and immortal danger.
~ Nor is it merciful to the church, who’s being negatively influenced and impacted in many ways.

While I can empathize with the thinking behind these decisions at times, since many have suffered traumatic church hurt where love was lacking in confrontation and discipline, this should not become an excuse to forego following Scripture in these areas. It should compel us to grow in applying these difficult truths in love. Failing to follow these Scriptural instructions has actually resulted in vast numbers more people experiencing traumatic church hurt in recent years. In trying to spare a few from painful discipline, many more have suffered far greater harm, even to the point of losing their faith. Our unwillingness to submit our understanding to the wisdom of God in these matters has ironically undermined His true kindness, mercy, love, and grace, in the name of His kindness, mercy, love, and grace. Hopefully, many are beginning to identify these as unScriptural versions of these virtues – what some refer to as unsanctified mercy, which I believe falls under the larger umbrella of hypergrace error. These strengthen the hands of those in error, so that no one turns from their sin. (Jeremiah 23:14)

May God help us reconcile that the same Paul who said it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance also said godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation (in this very context of painful church discipline). The two are not mutually exclusive or contradictory. When Paul said it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance, surely he was including the kindness that is willing to lovingly confront sin – and where this alone is not successful, to continue the process of Scriptural church discipline from a motivation of love. As we broaden our understanding to encompass the whole counsel of Scripture, we find that whatever expression of love is required to bring someone to repentance, whether the way we prefer to envision God’s mercy – as with the woman caught in adultery, whom I believe already displayed the godly sorrow Jesus knew would produce the true repentance to “go and sin no more” (John 8:1-11) – OR through love that is willing to confront and discipline to bring conviction and motivation to change – as with five of the seven churches in Revelation (Revelation 2-3) – ultimately all are manifestations of His loving-kindness trying to draw us to repentance and a knowledge of truth that will set us free.

Passover Preparation as our Way of Life

May we all have the heart of the Father and the mind of Christ in showing God’s mercy to the repentant and His more challenging form of mercy to the unrepentant who claim to know Him. I know this is extremely difficult for us all. And we certainly need His wisdom, discernment, and the nuance gleaned from the whole counsel of His Word to apply this as we should.

But even if we’re not certain in every case when longsuffering and forbearance are in order vs. church discipline, or withdrawing fellowship, may we at least love people enough to do what we can to make sure they’re not deceived about salvation – so that all will understand the ultimate cutting off God warned of if we profess Jesus as Lord and Savior but persist in willful sin, rather than submitting to His Lordship. And may we do all we can to prevent and protect against the spreading nature of sin in our midst. These two priorities were at the heart of Paul’s instructions.

And lest we think Paul’s message is only about the leaven remaining in others’ lives, may we remember God’s Passover parallel is for us all.

Just as faithful Jews today still make a diligent and thorough search of their homes before Passover to remove every last trace of leaven, burn all that is found, and renounce any that they’re unaware of that might unknowingly remain, may this truly symbolize our ongoing lifestyle of repentance and sanctification.

May we continually invite the Lord’s supernatural help and insight in this process to search us and know our hearts, show us any offensive way within us, and lead us in the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24) And as Paul described in the letters to the Corinthians, may we also remember we have an active role to play in this process. We are called to search and examine ourselves as well – to judge ourselves so we will not be judged by God. (I Corinthians 11:28-32, II Corinthians 13:5)

The Passover pattern remains. The blood still leads to life. The leaven still leads to death. And the God who warned Israel and confronted Corinth, is still calling His people to cleanse our lives and house, even as we also apply the blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb.

May we return to the whole counsel of God — applying the blood and removing the leaven – holding fast to grace and repentance, mercy and holiness, salvation and sanctification. And may we see the same God who rescued from Egypt and restored in Corinth move mightily in our lives and in the church to rescue and restore again today.
May we hear His call, and with His help thoroughly search our hearts and homes to remove all that’s not of Him, so that we’re not cut off, but that when He sees the blood of Jesus, destruction will pass over and we will be saved.