Sincerity and Truth
by Brandy Webb
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (Paul, 1 Corinthians 5:8).
We are in the midst of God’s set-apart Holy Days, Unleavened Bread. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I am doing a lot more Bible studying these days, which is a good thing. In my studies, I reread Paul’s words, and I decided I needed to really reflect on the words “sincerity and truth.”
Sincerity comes from the Greek word elikrineias (Strong’s Greek 1505). It means “clearness, sincerity, purity.” I know that we are all human; therefore, we fall short of being completely pure. Yet, a repentant heart that asks for forgiveness can be made pure by Christ’s sacrifice, our Passover Lamb. A repentant heart is sincere. It knows that it is the blood of the true Lamb that gives us clearness of thought and purifies us. Truth, aletheias (Strong’s Greek 225) means “truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness.” God’s Word is truth. We need to make sure that whatever we believe we test it against God’s Word, for it is there that we find truth. There are a lot of false teachings out there. It is our own personal responsibility to “test all things, and hold firmly that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
When I read Paul’s words this week, I decided to look into what not to do and what to do. One of the first scriptures that popped into my head was Jesus’ words to “‘Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy’” (Luke 12: 1). The Pharisees appeared outwardly as righteous men, but inwardly were “full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28). We do not want to be like them. Jesus gives us a whole list of things that we need to watch for within ourselves. In Matthew 23, we can learn what traits are neither sincere nor true. One is putting heavy burdens on others that we are not willing to do ourselves (verse 4). The next few are full of pride, like desiring accolades for one’s works, best seats in the house, pats on the back, and appearing superior than others (verses 5-10). They were cruel to those they should have shown mercy (verse 14). They were blind guides (verse 16). They also lacked the “weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith” (verse 23).
These traits are the “leaven” of the Pharisees and scribes, and we must strive to remove them from within ourselves. Instead, we need to be sober-minded and focused on our hope of the coming Kingdom of God (1 Peter 1:13). We are all called by our Heavenly Father, “who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work.” You should therefore “pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear: knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:17-19).
Christ’s sacrifice purifies us, and because of this we can keep God’s Feast of Unleavened Bread with sincerity and truth. Therefore, we must work on removing from us “all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking” (1 Peter 2:1). Instead, we need to put on the character of Christ, one of love, self-sacrificing, serving, humility, faith, purity, and truth. He is our example of how to keep God’s Feast.
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps, 22 who did not sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.” 23 Who, when he was cursed, didn’t curse back. When he suffered, didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously; 24 who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep; but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Peter 2:21-25).