What does this verse mean to YOU?

Little sins lead to big sins. Our little secret sins contaminate our whole testamony.

 

Beware the yeast of the Pharisees?

 

A rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel...

 

Again, the issue is what does the verse mean, not what does it mean to you. It means the same thing to everyone.

In context, it means that if you keep the Law a little, you have to keep the whole Law.

 

Kinda like talkin back to your wife just a little gives you a big lump - or something like that.

What does the context have to do with anything anyway?

 

If you take a verse out of context (not reading the surrounding verses) you won't get what it is talking about.

When you do that, you can get any verse to mean exactly what YOU want it to...

 

Amen, Larry, on both points. Needed to be said.

 

Answering the question of what it means to me

Pure isn't pure if you add something else to it.
One glass of 100% pure water plus one little drop of sewer water is something I'm not drinking.
Grace with something added is not grace.

 

Leaven and Egypt both pertain to 'wordly'. That is why the leaven had to be left behind when fleeing from Pharoah.

God did not want any worldliness to go with His people. He wanted them to leave it all behind and follow Him.

A little 'worldliness' is like a little 'sin'. There is no such thing.

It gets bigger - just like bread rising.

 

I have no arguement about asking others what a verse (or passage or even a portion of a verse) means to them.

While reading a verse within its context will usually keep someone from arriving at an erroneous conclusion concerning what that verse may be teaching, I see nothing inherently wrong with asking others what a particular verse means.

Yes, without reading and understanding the context of a passage, a person does stand the risk of mis-interpreting what a passage may be trying to tell that person.

I could, for example, announce that there are falsehoods in what the Word of God states. An example of a stated falsehood in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:4b ("Ye shall not surely die"). Of course that was a falsehood, for Adam and Eve did die spiritually when they partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and, moreover, they both eventually died phyiscally as well.

I would also be correct in stating "Twice the Bible says, 'There is no God,'" for that is a direct quotation from both Psalm 14:1 and 53:1. However, the context indicates that this is what the fool believes.

So what, then, do I believe the verse referred to in the OP is teaching? Well, I tend to agree with most of the previous postings: A "little sin" or a "little departure" from God's way is dangerous because usually it's the "little sins" that open the door to a more serious departure from the teachings of God's Word.

In other words, we should not let "little things" go unnoticed, especially in our own lives or in the lives for those whom God has placed us in a position of responsibility.

 

I agree - the verse belongs in its context and Paul's context here is legalism in the church amongst professing beleivers.

I am open to instruction though. Could someone share how the "little bit of sin grows" interpretation fits the context of Galatians 5?

 

There really is no 'little' sin. God sees SIN, not big and little sins.

It doesn't matter if Paul is talking about a sin, the world, Egypt, legalism or leaven.

The premise is the same. It represents bad things and will ruin the whole.

A little legalism in the church could ruin the whole church.

A little sin could ruin your testimony or sometimes your life.

Sin will take you farther than you want to go,
Keep you longer than you want to stay,
And cost you more than you want to pay...

I liked the illustration of the water. I have heard that there is nothing better than a cool, fresh, glass of water.

If one 'little' drop of poison goes into that glass - would you drink it? No. It ruins the whole...

 

In 1 Corinthians 5v6 the same wording does refer to sin.

Here it refers to a legalistic spirit.

This quote of yoru Sue fits this passage perfectly:

 

I am not judging anyone. It is unfortuante you took it that way. But there is a basic rule of Bible interpretation that meaning is not individual. That is how heresy gets started. A passage means the same thing for everyone. It is always important to have right theology, both in the way we ask questions and in the way we answer them.

There is nothing to disagree about, get over, or pray about. Meaning is one, and everyone should have the same meaning. Application to life may be different. Don't confuse the two.

 

Actually, "leaven" doesn't represent anything. Leaven is yeast, that makes bread rise. It is used as a metaphor for certain things in Scripture, and not always for the same thing.

You are right that the Law is perfect, but it cannot be added to works in order to get salvation, or to grow. But the Law is not the leaven. Leaven is leaven. It is used here to talk about adding works of the Law to grace. That is the point of Galatians. In teh context of Galatians 5, Paul is talking about adding works to grace, and he says that a little corrupts the whole thing ... a little leaven leavens the whole lump ... a little Law added to your relationship with God corrupts the whole relationship with God. This is very obvious vrom vv. 1-8 where those freed from teh Law should stand fast in it and not go back.