A Little Leaven Leavens the Whole Lump

"A Little Leaven Leaveneth the Whole Lump."

 by Dustin Miller

Jeremiah 17:5-13 (NKJV): "5 Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. 9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. 11 “As a partridge that broods but does not hatch, so is he who gets riches, but not by right; It will leave him in the midst of his days, and at his end he will be a fool.” 12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. 13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed. “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.”

The leaven is the moral and spiritual corruption produced by false and heretical teaching - the perversion of the Truth, i.e. another gospel, another Jesus and another (unholy) spirit. When an assembly of Believers allows or tolerates this corruption to enter into their midst, they are, in actuality, accepting it and embracing it as Truth, and in so doing have made a departure from the Faith, i.e. they have left the Truth and are now following a lie.

An assembly of Believers that tolerates just a little leaven (corruption) will cause the whole congregation to be affected. “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33). Those Believers that leave the assembly remove themselves from the corruption, those that stay, however, will be swept away into more corruption. By reason of their acceptance of the “leaven” they estrange themselves from Christ; their hearts have departed from the Lord. They are no longer trusting in the Lord but are now trusting in man. They have made flesh, not God, their strength. Their hope is no longer God, but their worldly programs, their religious traditions and their humanistic philosophies. They have chosen the path of destruction, they are destitute and don’t even know it - like a shrub in the desert that cannot see when good comes. They are spiritually dead and blind, living in a salt land which where there is no life. They need restitution, but their pride prevents them from acknowledging their folly and their sin. They have been enticed by seducing spirits and have embraced the doctrines of devils and in so doing have removed themselves from their only true Hope. Am I saying that these Christians will “loose” their souls? No, I am not saying that. I am not in a position to judge anyone in that regard; I am not God. But I am saying that those who make such a departure from the Faith place themselves in the way of destruction which could, eventually, lead them to forsake the Lord completely. Spiritually speaking they’re in treacherous territory, because Christ has become of no effect unto them; they have removed themselves from the Grace of God. But they do not have to remain as such – they can acquiesce to the Holy Spirit’s leading, repent and come back to the Truth of the Gospel; they can once again be filled with the Life of God!

Any Christian whose trust is in the Lord and whose Hope is God will not cease to bear fruit because his thirst is always quenched as he drinks from the Fountain of Living Waters which will continually flow unto him. A Christian whose faith is grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e. Christ Crucified, is walking (living) in the path of righteousness. By virtue of his faith being solely in Christ Jesus and His finished work on the Cross, the righteousness of God is imputed unto him and he is given limitless access into His abounding Grace wherewith he can stand and rejoice in the Glory of God. “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.(Jer. 17:8)