Repentance Reconciles Yeast.

Repentance Reconciles Yeast.

Good Morning Friends,

There is great debate amongst scholars as to whether the use of leaven in reference to the Kingdom of God is a positive or negative example. Some believe that it is positively speaking of the rise of the gospel in the world and others believe it is negatively speaking of evil doctrine working its way into the kingdom. For the most part it is a symbol of sin and pride puffing up dough but it is also a description of the Kingdom of God expanding as in the creation of an idea or thought that is generative and that forces us to think about how Repentance Reconciles Yeast.

Scripture: The Lord . . . is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 (NRSV)

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:8-10 (NRSV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through all the dough.”

Matthew 13:33 (CEB)

Message: When Christ died, he died for us in all the beauty and majesty of the great promise that we too might rise again to new life. The image is of yeast. But when leaven is mentioned in the Bible it almost always is a reference to sin. There is the Feast of Unleavened Bread
for example.
There are passages about Pharisaic yeast referring to the sins of the religious leaders but there are also passages about Jesus being the Bread of life.
It is interesting to note that for a peace offering in Leviticus 7:13 and a wave offering relating to priestly activities in Leviticus 23:17 God commanded that leaven be used. Now Jesus the priest of priests teaches us that he has come to prepare us for the kingdom of heaven and that we have to be partners with the kingdom and that this also is like yeast. To reconcile the metaphor Jesus teaches that He has come to prepare us for the kingdom of heaven and that this kingdom of heaven has to be first created within us if we are partners of that kingdom. This kingdom is created within us by His message. Friends, when we repent….when we confess….when we allow Jesus to become our sin we are reconciled to God and that is peace that surpasses all understanding. Here repentance reconciles yeast and we are justified by the grace of God.

Pray we turn to God in faith that through the death of Jesus Christ our Lord we have been forgiven. Pray we realize that only a small amount of leaven is needed for the bread to rise and even a small amount of sin can destroy the body. Pray we realize that Jesus came to save everybody who was willing to be saved. Pray we realize that Jesus had you and me in mind when he died on the Cross. Pray we have the assurance of His forgiveness.

Blessings,

John Lawson