The Blood and the Unleavened Bread

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” Philippians 2:12.
 

This has always been a verse that causes theological discussions. Some wonder if it means we can earn our salvation by works, because it says, “work out your salvation;” others say it has nothing to do with earning our salvation but rather, just live in the fear of God realizing that HE is the only one who can destroy a man’s soul. 

With that verse in mind, we are going to look at two other Bible passages and hopefully you will have a clearer picture of what Paul was meaning in this verse. The first one is in 1 Corinthians chapter five and the second one is in Exodus chapter twelve. 

I Corinthians 5:1-8 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4 When you are assembled in the Name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” 
 

I have titled this devotional, “The Blood and the Unleavened Bread.” We are going to look at how these two items relate to us in living an overcoming life. In verse 7, it says, “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

Both the blood and the unleavened bread are mentioned in this verse. The word “yeast” is also the word leaven. And then the mention of the Passover is all about the blood, which was applied to the doorposts so that the death angel would pass over their homes. 

Blood

First, we are going to look at the subject of the blood. Let’s go to Exodus chapter 12, where we see Jehovah’s first command of putting the blood upon the doorposts of the house. This goes all the way back to when God was freeing the Hebrew children from Pharaoh’s grip. Since Pharaoh would not bow down to God, God sent a death angel over the land to kill each firstborn child and firstborn animal, unless they took the blood of the sacrificial lamb that they had put to death and applied it to their doorpost.  (On Friday, I would like us to receive communion – you where you are, me where I am, whenever we happen to be reading the devotional – so please keep that in mind and have bread and grape juice ready.)

Continued tomorrow