1 Corinthians 5:6-8 - Boasting is not good

5:6

The Corinthians were prone to boasting, either about themselves or others, but this was not good. They were putting their trust in the wrong things, putting wrong value on things. Pride is something that is dealt with throughout the Bible, it is a most serious sin. Why is it so serious? Because it is in complete contradiction to the truth, and takes worship away from where it rightly belongs. We are completely dependent upon God, and He is the source of everything, of all goodness, and He is completely trustworthy. When we take pride in ourselves or in others (in the wrong way) we are saying we do not need God. This pride may start off as something small, but it is pernicious and works it way through everything.

5:7

Instead, we are to allow the new life to work its way into every aspect of our lives. So in saying here that we are to get rid of the old yeast, it is like when he talks about putting off the old self, and putting on the new. “As you really are”. We have been born again, we need to live out of the new nature, not the old. “For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed”. Our old self died with Christ. Note the repeated phenomenon that is found here. Something is done for us or to us, in this case Christ died for us, we are born again, but this never means that we are to be passive. What God has done for us should always spur us on to action.

5:8

So Paul continues the analogy of the Passover Festival. How do we do this? Not in any ritualistic sense, but in the practical sense of getting rid of malice and wickedness. Instead, we replace these with sincerity and truth. In Christ we are a new creation, so we should live a new life.