1 Corinthians 5:7 Commentary: Christ Our Passover

Paul writes to a church in Corinth, a bustling port city famous for its moral laxity. The immediate crisis is a man living with his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1). Paul has already judged the matter and now calls the congregation to act. He borrows imagery from the Passover, the annual Jewish festival commemorating Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.

On the fourteenth day of Nisan, each family slaughtered a lamb and smeared its blood on the doorposts. For seven days they ate unleavened bread, having removed every trace of yeast from their homes (Exodus 12:15). Jewish tradition records that the search for leaven was done by candlelight, with great thoroughness, every crumb had to go. This cultural practice gives Paul’s metaphor its sting. A little leaven works through the whole batch; one tolerated sin infects the entire fellowship.

Many scholars note that Paul likely wrote this letter near the time of Passover (1 Corinthians 16:8). The Gentile believers in Corinth would have been familiar with the festival through their Jewish neighbors and the Old Testament read in the synagogues. By calling Christ “our Passover,” Paul reframes the ancient feast: the lamb has been slain, and the church now lives in a perpetual season of unleavened sincerity and truth.

The Greek text shows two minor variants: the conjunction oun (“therefore”) is absent in some early manuscripts, and the phrase huper hēmōn (“for us”) is omitted in others (e.g., several witnesses behind the BSB and Darby translations). Both variants make the connection to the incest case and to substitutionary atonement more explicit. The essential meaning is unchanged. The consulted sources note no other significant textual issues.

The early church applied this verse to preparation for the Eucharist, reading the purging of leaven as a call to examine one’s conscience before communion (Apostolic Constitutions). Medieval interpreters emphasized the typology: Christ the lamb fulfilled the Passover once for all, and the church lives in a perpetual feast. Reformed writers such as Calvin and the Geneva Bible stressed the link between Christ’s sacrifice and the necessity of church discipline. In modern evangelical tradition, the verse is often used to teach both personal sanctification and the corporate responsibility of the congregation to maintain purity. Across eras, the sacrifice of Christ always stands as the unshakable ground for the call to holiness.

Three-point outline

1. The command: Purge out the old leaven. Paul’s aorist imperative ekkatharate demands decisive action. Remove what corrupts, whether a person, a pattern, or a private sin. The church cannot be passive.
2. The identity: You are unleavened. Believers are already called to be pure. Paul writes “even as you are unleavened”, not as a goal to achieve but a reality to live out. Your position in Christ demands consistency.
3. The ground: Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. This is the engine of the whole passage. Because the Lamb died, the old life is finished. The command rests not on human effort but on finished work.

Five-point outline

1. Paul turns from one offender to the whole church’s condition. The metaphor widens.
2. Leaven symbolizes sin’s spreading influence. A little tolerated evil works through the whole body.
3. “Purge out” means thorough cleansing, no hidden corners.
4. “A new lump” signals a fresh start, a community set apart.
5. Christ’s sacrifice is both the model and the motive: he was slain, so we must be unleavened.

Illustration hooks

• Spring cleaning. Every household knows the ritual of clearing out the old to make space for the new. One hidden moldy item ruins the whole pantry.
• A baker discarding spoiled starter. A small amount of bad yeast ruins the entire batch of dough. The only remedy is to start fresh with clean ingredients.
• Church discipline today. A congregation discovers a member living in ongoing unrepentant sin. The hard work of confrontation feels like searching with a candle, but it aims at healing and restoration.

Questions your congregation is asking

• Does “purging out” mean I should judge unbelievers, or only those inside the church?
• How do I know when a sin is serious enough to require church discipline?
• If Christ has already cleansed me, why do I still need to purge sin from my life?

This passage sits at the intersection of grace and holiness. Christ has been sacrificed, yet the church must actively remove sin. Your group may wrestle with the tension between acceptance and accountability. Let the discussion move from what the text says to how it shapes both the church and your own heart.

Discussion questions

1. Read 1 Corinthians 5:7 slowly. What words or images stand out to you?
2. Paul uses the Passover as an analogy. What do you recall about the original Passover in Exodus 12? How does knowing that background affect your reading?
3. The phrase “as ye are unleavened” seems to describe something already true of the church. In what sense are believers already unleavened? What does that imply about our identity?
4. Why does Paul connect the command to purge sin with the sacrifice of Christ? What does the sacrifice accomplish that makes the command possible?
5. The verse moves from the specific case (the incestuous man) to a general principle. How does a local sin affect the whole fellowship? Can you think of a current example?
6. “Purge out” sounds harsh. How does the gospel keep this command from becoming legalism? Where is the good news for the person being purged?
7. What one area of your own life might need the old leaven removed this week? How can the group pray for you?