A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Galatians 5:9-12 "A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I am convinced in the Lord that you have no other mind. But whoever stirs you up will be subject to judgment. Brothers, if I were still preaching circumcision, why would I still be persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross would have been removed. I want those who stir you up (anastatuntes) to cut themselves off."

The little leaven signifies legalism. "Mikra" refers to something small that cannot be seen with the eye. In this way, legalism within the church, which is too small to be distinguished from the truth, contaminates the entire church.

Gathering at church to worship on Sunday is not the issue. The true meaning of worship is not the concept of offering worship to God. The concept of offering refers to the sacrificial offerings made to God in the Old Testament era. However, the biblical teaching regarding worship is to worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:21-24 “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. For you worship what you do not know, but we worship what we know, for salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’”

Churchgoers usually think that they go to the temple to worship. They regard the church as the temple. They believe that they must go to the temple to worship and praise God. However, when we look at what Jesus says, God is not on this mountain, nor is God in Jerusalem. He is saying, "The time is coming when you will worship God, who is within you." If God is not within you, you cannot worship.

It is right that in order to worship God, one must go to where God is. One cannot worship where God is not present. That is why Jesus said so. In other words, He said, "You will become the temple." It means that when Jesus is crucified, dies, resurrected, sits at the right hand of God, and sends the Holy Spirit, the time will come when every single believer in Christ, even while on earth, will become a temple and worship God of their own accord.

When believers gather to worship, it becomes true worship if they worship in spirit and truth. The phrase "in spirit and truth" does not mean "purifying one's mind," but rather worshiping through Jesus Christ, who is the Truth, with a spirited heart. A spirited heart is the heart of the Spirit that has been revived by the work of the Holy Spirit, believing that the physical body died with Jesus and the spiritual body resurrected with Jesus.

Therefore, a new temple is built within the heart of the saint, God dwells in that temple, and the saint's spirit becomes a priest, so the saint worships God in the temple. The saint beholds Him, hears His Word, and acts according to His Word. This is worship. Worship is not something performed according to certain rituals or procedures, but rather true saints gathering together to worship in spirit and truth.

In the early church, Jesus' disciples worshiped in spirit and truth, but as time passed, the true meaning of worship faded.

Nowadays, worship must be held in a church sanctuary, and some denominations argue that one must be at church on Sundays based on the concept of keeping the Lord's Day holy. This is what is meant by legalism.

It is the same logic as saying that when people cannot enter the church due to COVID-19, believers cannot be saved because they are not inside the church on Sunday. The same applies to tithes. The church requires finances for operation. Therefore, members make offerings, but by linking this to the Old Testament law of tithing, it is made to seem as if failing to tithe is a violation of the commandment.

Since most churchgoers fail to distinguish between the law and legalism, many consider failing to observe certain provisions of the law to be committing a sin. This is what legalism is. Within the tithe lie righteousness, mercy, and faithfulness. It contains faith, hope, and love. Therefore, the intention is to offer with that heart, yet they psychologically pressure believers by imposing regulations.

Paul declared in advance that the recipient would not harbor a different mind. "Pepoida" (grammatically past tense) means he was certain. The target of Paul's message is directed toward those who spread legalism. This means that those who spread legalism will be judged. "To krima" signifies the final judgment.

There were some among the Jews who claimed that Paul was preaching circumcision. Therefore, they speak words similar to Paul’s protest. A scandal is causing one to stumble. Paul was persecuted for preaching the message of the cross; if he had preached circumcision, I, too, would not have faced the stumbling block (pain like stumbling) caused by the cross while preaching the Kingdom of God.

Anastatuntes (ἀναστατοῦντες) means "on top of" and "to establish," which is equivalent to the English phrase "raise up." This word is also used to describe the resurrection of Jesus (rising from the dead). The sentence above has two meanings. It implies a desire to cut it off oneself. Paul rebuked him quite severely.

Circumcision is the act of making a wound at the tip of the genitals, and he is telling him to cut it off completely himself. Furthermore, he implies that if one can escape circumcision just as if truly cutting it off, one will become someone like the resurrection.

The original Greek text differs in the placement of the two sentences compared to the Korean Bible. It reads, "I wish to cut them off myself, those like resurrection (anastatuntes)." Therefore, a Korean translation with a completely different meaning was produced.