“ Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).
Jesus is pictured in the New Testament as God’s ultimate sacrifice who purchased our freedom. The Old Testament Passover was a celebration of Israel’s deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. Jesus’ sacrifice is our celebration of freedom from the bondage of sin.
We are told by Paul how not to celebrate Christ. We don’t celebrate with the corrupting leaven of “malice” and “wickedness.” “Malice” is perhaps the strongest word for sin in the New Testament. It involves injury inflicted on others—emotional, physical and primarily spiritual injury. “Wickedness” is evil pictured as a spreading influence. “Malice” can be compared to a rotten egg that is no good. “Wickedness” is like a rotten apple that will corrupt other apples in a bushel.
On the positive side, we celebrate what Jesus has done by exhibiting “sincerity” and “truth.” “Sincerity” literally means something that is pure enough that it can be inspected in the light of the sun. “Truth” is that which is genuine and real. The only way we can achieve either quality is because of the change in us that Jesus’ sacrifice makes possible.
As believers we are testimonies to the work of Christ in us that makes us pure and true. There’s nothing fake or deceptive about us because Jesus changes us. Jesus has set us free from who we once were and given us a brand new nature that reflects who He is.
