"They shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread" (Exod. 12:8).
Leaven is invariably used throughout Scripture as a type of evil. Neither in the Old nor in the New
Testament is it ever used to set forth anything pure, holy, or good. Thus, in this chapter, "the feast
of unleavened bread" is the type of that practical separation from evil which is the proper result
of being washed from our sins in the blood of the Lamb, and the proper accompaniment of
communion with His sufferings. Nothing but unleavened bread could at all comport with a roasted
lamb. A single particle of that which was the marked type of evil would have destroyed the moral
character of the entire ordinance. How could we connect any kind of evil with our fellowship with
a suffering Christ? Impossible. All who enter, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into the meaning
of the cross will assuredly, by the same power, put away leaven from all their borders. "For even
Christ our passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth"
(1 Cor. 5:7-8). The feast spoken of in this passage is that which, in the life and conduct of the
Church, corresponds with the feast of unleavened bread. This latter lasted "seven days"; and the
Church collectively, and the believer individually, are called to walk in practical holiness during
the seven days, or entire period, of their course here below. And this is the direct result of being
washed in the blood and having communion with the sufferings of Christ.

The Israelite did not put away leaven in order to be saved, but because he was saved. If he failed
to put away leaven, it did not raise the question of security through the blood, but simply of
fellowship with the assembly. "Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses:for
whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of
Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land" (Exod. 12:19). The cutting off of an Israelite
from the congregation answers precisely to the suspension of a Christian’s fellowship if he be
indulging in that which is contrary to the holiness of the divine presence. God cannot tolerate evil.
A single unholy thought will interrupt the soul’s communion; and until the soil contracted by any
such thought is got rid of by confession, founded on the advocacy of Christ, the communion
cannot possibly be restored (see 1 John 1:5-10). The true-hearted Christian rejoices in this. He can
ever give thanks at the remembrance of God’s holiness. He would not, if he could, lower the
standard a single hair’s breadth. It is his exceeding joy to walk in company with One who will not
go on, for a moment, with a single jot or tittle of "leaven."

Blessed be God, we know that nothing can ever snap asunder the link which binds the true
believer to Him. We are saved in the Lord, not with a temporary or conditional, but with an
everlasting salvation. But then salvation and communion are not the same thing. Many are saved
who do not know it; and many, also, who do not enjoy it. It is quite impossible that I can enjoy
a bloodstained lintel if I have leavened borders. Practical holiness, though not the basis of our
salvation, is intimately connected with our enjoyment thereof. An Israelite was not saved by
unleavened bread, but by the blood; and yet leaven would have cut him off from communion. And
as to the Christian, he is not saved by his practical holiness, but by the blood; but if he indulges
in evil, in thought, word, or deed, he will have no true enjoyment of salvation and no true
communion with the Person of the Lamb.

This, I cannot doubt, is the secret of much of the spiritual barrenness and lack of settled peace
which one finds among the children of God. They are not cultivating holiness; they are not
keeping "the feast of unleavened bread." The very fact of being delivered by the blood of the
passover lamb rendered Israel responsible to put away leaven from all their quarters. They could
not say, in the frightful language of the antinomian, Now that we are delivered, we may conduct
ourselves as we please. By no means. If they were saved by grace, they were saved to holiness.

Grace not only saves the soul with an everlasting salvation, but also imparts a nature which
delights in everything that belongs to God, because it is divine. We are made partakers of the
divine nature, which cannot sin because it is born of God. To walk in the energy of this nature is,
in reality, to keep the feast of unleavened bread.

(From Notes on the Book of Exodus.)