1 Corinthians 5:6–8 | The Church Of Unleavened Bread | Pastor Tanks | 08-02-2026 | Reach City Church

Paul tells Corinth that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump,” and that warning does not let sin stay small. Leaven works by permeating whatever it touches, so sin consumed as content, fun, entertainment, satisfaction, or “just a little something” eventually rises up and shows itself. The image presses past behavior management. Leaven cannot be managed once it is mixed in. It has to be cleaned out.

Paul’s warning lands first on the church’s boasting. Corinth had a man living in scandalous sexual sin, and the church was not mourning it, confronting it, or removing it. Their slowness was not kindness. Their delay was arrogance. Mourning over sin means grief that moves toward repentance, not churchy sadness that lets wickedness keep running around the room. Paul’s command to put the man out was not cruelty, but a severe mercy meant to bring him to the end of himself, like the prodigal son outside the father’s house until the pigpen woke him up.

Paul also exposes how sin gets provision. Romans says to “make no provision for the flesh,” because some things may not be sin by themselves but still build a room where the flesh can eat. Certain shows, conversations, friend circles, dating choices, and environments create space for old leaven to rise again. The issue is not trying to prove strength in filthy spaces. The wiser work is removing the filth before it has to be fought all day.

Paul then holds together two dimensions of sanctification. Christ declares his people unleavened, clean, holy, and set apart, yet that position still has to become practice. A saint may still sin, but a saint is called to press toward what Christ has already declared. “Declare and decree” without surrender and obedience is just talking. Progressive sanctification is not an excuse to be intentionally slow.

Grace carries the whole argument. Grace is not only mercy after falling. Grace is help in the time of need before falling. Hebrews invites the tempted believer to the throne of grace for power to stand, not just forgiveness after choosing to fall. Titus says grace trains God’s people to deny ungodliness, so grace becomes fuel for righteousness, not a license for unrighteousness.

Paul anchors all of it in Passover. Christ, the Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed, so the church celebrates the feast of unleavened bread by daily cleaning out the old leaven. Israel was not spared because Israel was better than Egypt. Israel was passed over by blood, mercy, and promise. In the same way, Christ’s blood saves guilty people, and that grace calls for a life that stops being content with carnality and starts becoming what Christ already declared.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Leaven never stays little Sin does not need a large doorway to take over a life. Leaven works quietly, but its effect is total, and what gets consumed eventually starts speaking, desiring, and acting through the body. The issue is not whether a thing feels small, but whether it is being allowed to rise unchecked. [10:23]
• 2. Bad content redirects the walk Paul’s “little leaven” warning applies not only to obvious sin, but also to content that steers the soul off course. Bad doctrine, careless podcasts, pop-up Bible studies, and timeline theology can become a spiritual GPS that reroutes a person away from truth. Maturity does not make a believer immune to being shipwrecked by what gets followed. [13:10]
• 3. Grace helps before the fall Grace is not merely the towel handed over after a believer gets dirty. Hebrews presents grace as help in the moment of need, when temptation is knocking and the flesh is already reaching for the door. Grace strengthens weakness so righteousness can happen before failure becomes another testimony of disobedience. [51:00]
• 4. Sanctification has position and practice Christ declares his people holy, clean, and unleavened, but that declaration is not the end of the work. Paul can call believers saints and still tell them to clean out the old leaven because identity must become reality through surrender. A saint may sin, but a saint is not called to make peace with bondage. [30:28]
• 5. Passover grace demands unleavened living The blood came first, and the feast came after. God delivered Israel by mercy, not because Israel was innocent, and then commanded leaven to be removed as a memorial of that deliverance. Christ’s sacrifice works the same way: grace saves first, then grace calls for a daily life that cleans house.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:06] - Returning and Setting the Direction
• [03:05] - Nourishment Can Include Correction
• [05:23] - The Church of Unleavened Bread
• [09:38] - Sin Consumed Eventually Manifests
• [10:54] - Leaven Permeates the Whole Lump
• [12:52] - Bad Content Takes People Off Course
• [17:52] - Stop Managing Leaven, Clean It Out
• [19:23] - Corinth’s Boasting Was Not Good
• [22:20] - Severe Mercy and the Prodigal Pattern
• [26:26] - Make No Provision for the Flesh
• [30:28] - Sanctification as Position and Practice
• [39:28] - God Sanctifies, Believers Abstain
• [45:45] - Grace Is Power to Stand
• [55:02] - Passover, Exodus, and Unleavened Bread

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 5:6-8
“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” [05:37]

Romans 13:13-14
“Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” [26:43]

Hebrews 4:16
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” [51:00]

Titus 2:11-12
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,”

Exodus 12:13-17
“The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.”

Observation questions

1. In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, what commands does Paul give about leaven, and what reasons does he give for those commands? [28:22]
2. In Romans 13:13-14, what are some of the specific behaviors Paul says to avoid, and what does he say believers should do instead? [26:43]
3. What were some examples of “making provision for the flesh” that came up, even in things that may not seem sinful by themselves? [27:02]
4. In Hebrews 4:16, what two things are believers told they will receive when they draw near to the throne of grace? [51:00]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul says, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Why is sin described that way, and how does that challenge the habit of calling something “small” or “just a little”? [10:23]
2. Paul tells the church to clean out the old leaven while also saying they are already unleavened. How can both be true at the same time, and what does that show about the difference between a believer’s position and practice? [30:28]
3. Paul treats slowness to confront open, unrepentant sin as boasting. Why would delay feel merciful at first, yet actually become prideful and harmful to both the person and the church? [25:27]
4. Hebrews 4:16 and Titus 2:11-12 present grace as more than forgiveness after failure. How do these passages show that grace also helps a believer resist temptation before the fall? [53:44]

Application questions

1. Leaven spreads quietly before it shows itself openly. What has been feeding the flesh lately in a subtle way—content, habits, conversations, or environments—and where is it already starting to show up in thoughts, desires, or speech? [10:54]
2. “Make no provision for the flesh” means not building a room where old struggles can eat. What is one practical provision that needs to be removed right now: a show, a playlist, a relationship, a pattern of texting, a place, or a social media habit? [27:43]
3. Grace helps in the time of need, not only after the failure. When temptation usually hits, what would it look like to go to the throne of grace first instead of waiting until after sin has already happened? [51:16]
4. A believer can be declared holy in Christ and still need to grow into that reality. In what area has there been too much comfort with saying the right thing about identity while avoiding the hard work of surrender and obedience? [33:49]
5. Progressive sanctification is not meant to become an excuse for intentional slowness. Is there anything God has already put a finger on that keeps getting delayed? What would it look like to move on it quickly instead of calling the delay “process”? [01:06:20]
6. Christ the Passover Lamb has already been sacrificed, and the response is a daily life of cleaning out leaven. What daily practice could help keep gratitude for Christ’s blood connected to real repentance and real change this week? [01:02:03]
7. Unrepentant sin does not stay private; it affects the whole body. How can this group become a place that is honest, protective, and serious about holiness without becoming harsh or performative? [01:04:17]