A little leaven: side-slipping

Ga. 5:9 "A little leaven leaventh the whole lump." Mt. 16:6 "Then Jesus said unto them: Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

Before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom (2Tim.4,1), I have to be as clear as possible that, whenever I mention "Word of God" in my writings, I do not imply the use of the Bible. I often see Muslims use the Bible in debates. This does not mean that they proclaim the Word of God, much less that they believe in the Bible, far from that! This simply means that they use the Bible to defend their Islamic opinion which, of course, is anti-biblical. Similarly, churches or denominations, be they Christian, professing their own opinion, cannot convince us that they proclaim the Word of God, even though they use the Bible, but to support their opinion. Neither can we, by that very fact, infer that they believe in the Bible!

Believing does not mean "referring to" or "quoting from" when needed, for example when you want to convince or get your opinion accepted. Believing is to admit for true (by Robert), and this must be absolute and exclusive. Thus, in discussion with a Muslim I try to quote Quran surates to convince him, but I do not believe in the Quran. Unlike, I can contend with my last breath that I do believe in the Bible because I consider it true in an absolute and exclusive manner. Any opinion contrary or divergent to it is falsehood. Further, the Word of God is the Bible taken as absolute and exclusive, not partially or optionally. If another opinion is added, it is not the Word of God anymore.

And the other opinion, this it is the leaven. The Lord explained to the disciples who had still not understood, Mt. 16:12 "Then understood they how that he bade them not to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” If the teaching given by God puts us strait in communion with him, the teaching provided by a religion puts you strait in communion with that religion and its leaders. He is my God because I believe in his Words, and this leads me to worship him. Likewise, if you believe in the teachings of a man, he becomes your god and you will eventually worship him.

The Word-food for our souls is unleavened bread (Lc. 22:7-8,19). And this bread descended from heaven, Jn. 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven." Simply add any human opinion, the whole thing becomes a human creed which creates a religion, and this in turn gives birth to religious people or proselytes twice more worthy of hell than their masters (Mt. 23:15).

The living bread which came down from heaven, it is the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to what we read in the verse above. And the flesh of our Lord is introduced as the Word that was in the beginning with God, who was God, by whom all things were created, and who gives power to become children of God (Jn. 1:1-3,12,14). And this Word is the fire of the Lord, " Is not my Word like as a fire? saith the Lord ... "Jr. 23, 29. The sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, once dared to mix it with strange fire, and they died at once (Le. 10:1-2). He who dares to add a lesser human mind to the Word of God is automatically dead, although living.

The Word of God is wheat that cannot mix with straw (the dreams of anyone). Jr. 23:25-31 "I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream, and he that hath my word, let him speak  my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. ...Behold, I am against those that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith (Segond, I am against those prophets who take their own word and give it for my Word)." The dream of a man, whether asleep or awake (mind, thought, imagination), should not be mixed with the Word of God, especially not be presented as God's Word. This thrusts the heart of the people away from their God. Let dreamers tell their dreams, but we will speak the Word of God faithfully.

What seems slight, in terms of little thought or opinion, yet is huge because a teaching is never static but dynamic. It is a seed: once planted, it cannot remain alone, but bears forth after its kind. That is why the Lord calls it "the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." The Lord urges us to take heed and beware of it because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Even in the natural, it's likewise: A very nice sauce which is mixed with just a little bit shit is no longer one, and no normal person would take it. Similarly, no true child of God who had seen the divine light will agree to swallow a teaching containing a lesser human mind, or walk through a doctrine partly divine and partly human.

In Ephesus in his farewell speech to the elders, Paul also expressed his deep concern about the leaven of some grievous wolves who would cause the flock that the Lord purchased by his own blood to side-slip, Ac. 20:29-30 "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Through these two verses we read that adding leaven to the lump, or strange fire, or mixing chaff with wheat is cruelty; it is very harmful because it leads away the sheep from the good shepherd, but into the claws and teeth of wolves, i.e. the authors of these teachings. And these savage wolves will account for this.

But also the sheep which is seduced is not cleared, as it is supposed to know the voice of his/her shepherd. Mt. 15:14 "And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” It is not said that the blind man led will deserve a lesser sentence because he has been misled, but he will receive the same punishment as he that leads. Responsibility of each and everyone is engaged.

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