Category: General Bible Topics

What does His blood do for us?

I have been taught all through my Christian experience that Jesus’ blood saves me, cleanses me, etc., etc., etc., and I have always just accepted that as a fact. It just does, period. Now don’t ask any more questions. But that kind of theology doesn’t satisfy me anymore. I want to know why His blood is so important and what it actually does. My scientific, inquiring mind wants to explore the root reasons for things. It might be compared to asking the questions, “Why is the sky blue?” “Why is the grass green?” The answer might be given, “It just is that way because God made it that way.” But there are explanations available that are more satisfactory (though still somewhat incomplete). The sky appears blue because, as sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the blue wavelengths are scattered in all directions and we see blue light coming from all directions. The grass (and other plants) appear green because the chlorophyll in the leaves absorbs all wavelengths of light except the green, which is reflected and perceived by our eyes. I can live with those answers for a while longer until I start asking more questions, “Why does the atmosphere scatter only the blue?” “Why does the chlorophyll absorb only certain wavelengths and not others?” It really seems that there is no final answer to the question, “Why?” Parents learn that while raising their children, to their utter frustration sometimes.

So I raise the questions, “How and why does Jesus’ blood cleanse me from sin?” “Why can I have peace with God because of it?” “How am I justified by it?” etc., etc. Sin is not a material thing like dirt that can be washed off or extracted by a substance like soap or dry-cleaning fluid or hydrogen peroxide. You could bathe in blood all day and scrub yourself raw and it would have no effect on your sin. The heathen used to think there was some sort of effect like that. They would have a large grate on which a bull or some other animal was killed and as the blood gushed down, a devotee would be under the grate to be “washed” by it. We are told in the Bible that blood can purify or purge in some degree so we can be saved.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:   Hebrews 9:13

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.Hebrews 9:22

Yet we are also told that animal blood can never take away sin; only Jesus’ blood can do that.

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Hebrews 10:4

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  Hebrews 9:14

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  1 John 1:7

Is this because of the quality of His blood? Is it somehow a better cleansing agent?

There are many passages in the New Testament regarding what Jesus’ blood accomplishes. Let us explore some of these statements for a deeper perspective on one of the many incredibly complex subjects that God’s people will continue to study throughout eternity; and remember that only God can fully explain these things.

Let us begin this exploration with a basic concept of the nature of sin. Sin has two distinct facets – the root and the fruit. The root of sin is in the mind – an attitude of rebellion against God and His ways. It is an issue of personal relationship with God. When this root is present (and we are all born with it), it will produce the corresponding fruit – evil thoughts and actions. Much of the fruit of sin is an issue of our relationship with those around us. There are several lists of the fruits of sin in the New Testament. (Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 1:9, 10; Revelation 21:8, etc.)

All through the Bible we are told what God does not want us to do. If one chooses to do any of those things, he is rebelling against God and that is sin.

In James 4:17 we are reminded that not doing what we know we should do is also sin, simple and pure disobedience.

Another facet of sin that is often overlooked is what Paul alludes to in Romans 14 where he talks about the issues of what foods to eat and which days to “esteem.” The chapter concludes with the admonition that doing something in doubt brings damnation, implying that if a person believes something is wrong and chooses to do it anyway, it is sin for him because he is doing what he believes God does not want him to do. He is going against what he believes God wants, and that is rebellion as much as going against what he knows God wants.

The opposite of a life of sin is a life of faith. Often faith is thought of as belief, trust, confidence. It begins at this point but it includes much more as it develops and goes deeper. It is total persuasion, absolute conviction, full reliance on God and His word; it includes affection, love, commitment to Him; there will be loyalty, endurance, perseverance through whatever may come; there will be obedience and submission to whatever He asks. Faith continues to grow and become stronger as we stay connected to Him. All of this produces the fruit of faith–good works.

Both faith and sin are issues of a relationship with God, but acting in opposite ways: faith is connection with God, sin is disconnection; faith is drawing toward God, sin is drawing away from God; faith is cooperation, sin is rebellion; faith acts out in good works, sin acts out in sins; faith is righteousness, sin is unrighteousness.

As we explore the issue of what Christ’s blood has to do with all of this we will begin with some basics and build from there. God makes a very direct statement in Leviticus 17:11 that the life is in the blood. When blood is shed, life is taken away. Murder is taking someone’s life, shedding their blood. The apostle John shares a very interesting and meaningful statement by Jesus regarding His death:

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.  John 10:17, 18

When Jesus died, it was an act of His will. He was not killed, though that was the intention of the Jewish leaders. He gave His blood, His life; He died by choice. Everything that was accomplished because of His death was by His initiative and we receive the benefits as a gift of love.

There are many verses in the New Testament that refer directly to what His blood accomplishes for us. We can group some of them into categories to get a somewhat simpler picture of what is meant:

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;  Romans 3:25

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.  Ephesians 2:13

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  Colossians 1:20

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,  Hebrews 10:19

These verses describe how our disrupted, broken relationship with God has been repaired because of Jesus’ blood. He did what was necessary to bring reconciliation. One of the more significant points to notice in this is that Jesus was a propitiation, a concept that many Christians don’t give much thought to nor comprehend.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1 John 4:10

For most of us, the word “propitiation” is not part of our vocabulary, and we read over the verses in the Bible that talk about it with hardly a pause to get the real message. But propitiation, as it relates to our salvation, is a very significant factor and needs to be understood.

What is a propitiation? A dictionary might define it as something offered to win or regain the good will or favor of another. It is given for purposes of placation, conciliation, appeasement, calming. Typically the propitiation is offered by one who has offended another in order to repair the relationship, to persuade the offended one to think well of the offender again. In the Old Testament we have a classic example of a propitiation in the story of Jacob. As he was returning to Canaan with his large family, he was alerted to the fact that his brother was approaching with a large band of armed men with the apparent intent of getting revenge for Jacob’s treachery in stealing the birthright. In an attempt to sooth his brother’s anger, Jacob sent several large gifts to Esau prior to actually meeting him. These gifts were a propitiation.

But in the gospel we have a very unique situation in regard to propitiation. Man’s rebellion and all the evil that resulted is a heinous offense against God in heaven, yet we see our gracious Father giving us a propitiation – His Son. What an incredible demonstration of love and mercy! The offended one, the great God of all the universe, sends a propitiation in an attempt to restore a broken relationship with those who have offended Him. This action on God’s part goes far beyond forgiveness.

The word in the New Testament that is translated as “propitiation” comes from a Greek word that is part of a family of words that carry the idea of mercy, good will, and cheerfulness, and from which we get our word “hilarious.” When Paul says, “God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7), he is using one of the forms of this word. Propitiation describes God’s attitude and the process He goes through to demonstrate His positive, gracious, merciful, forgiving attitude toward sinful humans. That is why the angels at the time of Jesus’ birth could say, “Peace on earth; good will toward men.”

Jesus was God’s token of good will toward the human race. His blood, His death, stands as irrefutable proof to us that God will go to any length to express and demonstrate His love for us in spite of who we are or what we have done. God truly was “in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) He did all He could possibly do, He gave what was most valuable in the universe, in an attempt to convince us to return to Him after we had rejected Him. It is not a situation where Jesus gave Himself as a propitiation to God on our behalf in an attempt to sooth His ill will toward us. No, God Himself loved us and gave Jesus.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  Acts 20:28

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  Ephesians 1:7

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Colossians 1:14

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  1 Peter 1:18, 19

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;Revelation 5:9

These verses imply that, in some way, a payment was made when Jesus died. The question arises, Who received that payment and for what purpose?

It seems rather pointless for God to pay Himself. And in reality, forgiveness of a debt means that nobody should need to pay.

Again, did the Heavenly government pay itself? And if a large fine for a heinous act is paid by a substitute, is society any safer?

Was this some kind of bargain where Satan demanded a high fee and God had to come up with something that would fulfill that demand?

Though these scenarios may explain some aspects of the situation to some extent, they bypass a very critical part of the issue. Someone needed to be convinced that enough had been paid so they would relent and release the “goods.” One who has the ultimate authority over me has to decide who I will belong to. But this payment was not merely a legal maneuver in some distant courtroom where others make the decision while we humans sit idly by and wait for the outcome. Each individual is intimately involved.

I would like to propose that the one who has the ultimate authority in this case is ME. I make the decision of whether I will belong to God or not. No one in the universe will tamper with that choice. Satan is not allowed to control that choice, though he will employ all his evil powers of persuasion to influence it. God will not control it (though He is fully capable) but He also uses all His power of persuasion to influence it. When a person chooses Satan as his master, God will not hold him back though it causes Him great anguish. If one chooses God as the Lord of his life, Satan cannot prevent him though he may threaten and cajole and bribe and tempt.

We as individual humans are actually the ones who received this payment because we needed to have our hearts changed, we needed to have our opinions and concepts of God changed so we would be willing to return to Him after being rebels. We needed to have our whole nature changed. As long as we were in rebellion, He could not save us. We were outlaws, dangerous to the welfare of the whole universe. He had no other safe option than to destroy us. But if and when He can convince us to give up our rebellion and come as penitent, cooperative subjects, then He can pardon and change us and ultimately save us.

In our modern system of justice, we follow the general principle of making the retribution for a crime somewhat equivalent to the seriousness of the criminal act. We have various categories and subcategories of crimes – felonies or misdemeanors, class A or B, etc. Murder demands capital punishment or life imprisonment, whereas petty theft may be punished with a short time in jail and time spent doing community service. We make the punishment fit the crime.

God’s way is different. In His system, there are only two categories of people – sinners and saints. Jesus states this basic fact.

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.  Matthew 12:30

Those categories do not necessarily reflect the seriousness of anything the person may have done during their lifetime because He goes on to say,

All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.  Matthew 12:31

A sinner is one who is in rebellion against God and chooses to remain that way. A saint is one who has chosen to repent and cooperate with God. A sinner may appear to be a “good” person, but if he will not choose to be in harmony with God, he faces eternal destruction. A saint may have done all manner of “bad” things during the time he was at odds with God, but when he turns from that life, genuinely chooses to repent, and lives a life in harmony with God, he is forgiven, his “criminal record” is cleared, and he receives the gift of eternal life. God makes the punishment fit the criminal. One who is no longer a rebel is no longer a criminal and does not receive a criminal’s sentence.

Another perspective to consider in this issue of “payment” has to do with the perceived value of what is being paid for. When we purchase an item, we are willing to exchange something of value (money) for what we consider to be of equal or greater value (the “goods”). If someone offered an old pen for the price of $1000, most of us would refuse the offer. But if it could be proved that that pen was used by Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, we might reconsider. The perceived value of the object determines what we are willing to pay for it. The opposite is also true – the price paid shows just how valuable the object is to the purchaser.

In the transaction that we are considering here – the price paid for our salvation was the life of the Son of God – we can get some concept of what our value is in Heaven’s perspective. Any individual on this sinful planet is as valuable to Heaven as Jesus Himself. When this fact sinks into our consciousness, we can exclaim with reverent amazement,

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  Psalm 8:4

When God can persuade us to love and trust Him rather than hate and fear Him, then He can pour out His grace and finish the work of changing and saving us. John, in his Gospel, tells us specifically that what Jesus did in His life on earth was for the purpose of awakening faith, an attempt to draw us toward the Father in trust and love, to persuade us to stop our rebellion, so that we could be granted the gift of life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.   For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.   He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  John 3:16-18

These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.  John 20:31

Jesus’ blood, His life, was given as a payment – the ultimate price – to convince us to change our attitude and our allegiance, to leave the devil’s ranks and give ourselves back to God. Eternal life is granted to us as a free gift but it comes at an incredibly enormous cost to heaven.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  Romans 5:9

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.  Hebrews 9:22

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  1 John 1:7

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,  Revelation 1:5

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Revelation 7:14

These verses declare that our position in relation to God’s Law has changed for the better – our record is cleared, we are considered clean, we are righteous – because of Jesus’ blood. Is this merely a legal maneuver in God’s record-keeping system? Is it like paying a fine or a tax?

“It doesn’t matter who puts up the money, only that the proper amount is paid.”

“It doesn’t matter who dies for sin, just so someone dies.”

Is that the principle behind God’s justification? As was mentioned earlier, this is not merely an impersonal transaction in some distant, heavenly office that is accomplished with a swift stroke of a pen (or an eraser). If that were the case, every person in the world would be justified because 1 John 2:2 tells us that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world; but then there could be no basis for judgment because no one would be held guilty of anything and we would live in a universe where evil would exist forever. God could never solve the problem of sin and evil by simply pardoning everyone. That would be somewhat like a Governor declaring that he would arrange to have his son murdered as a substitute for everyone who was incarcerated so that he could eliminate the prison system.

The only way that God can solve the sin problem is to change sinners and He will only do that with their personal consent. Every human is individually, intimately, personally involved in this transaction and process. We cannot and will not be justified unless we want to be right with God and His Law and choose His way. Jesus’ blood, as a symbol of His death, is one of the “tools” God uses to draw me toward a right relationship with Himself so that I will not want to be an “outlaw” anymore.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.  1 Peter 1:2

This verse speaks of being sanctified – purified and dedicated – to obedience because of His blood. After an individual has been brought to a faith relationship with God so that he is on the “right side of the Law” instead of being an outlaw, then God works on his character, implanting His Spirit in that person to overcome his old human nature with all its tendencies to evil and rebellion, and helping him to live his daily life in obedience and cooperation with Him. He has given us the promise in Philippians 2:13 that He will work in us to enable us, to energize us, “both to will (to choose) and to do (to accomplish) of His good pleasure.” When He can persuade us to want what He wants, to have an attitude of obedience, then He can provide the power to actually make the obedience a reality.

The sprinkling of the blood is an allusion to the time when the first Covenant between God and His people was ratified shortly after He spoke the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai, and also the occasion of the last meal Jesus had with His disciples before His death when He instituted what we call the Lord’s Supper using bread and grape juice as symbols of His body and blood which ratified the new Covenant.

And he (Moses) took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.  Exodus 24:7, 8

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  Matthew 26:26-28

Sacrificing an animal and sprinkling the blood when entering into a covenant with God was the equivalent to our modern practice of having a notarized signature on a document – it becomes official, legally binding, at that point in time. God comes to us, as He came to His people 3500 years ago, with an offer: “If you will agree to these terms, I will be your God and you will be my special people. As I have begun to bless you, I will continue. I guarantee these terms by my personal signature – the blood of my Son.” Again, this is not a situation where we approach God and attempt to negotiate some sort of agreement with Him to allow us into paradise. He took the initiative; He is trying to persuade us to come to Him; He spelled out the terms of our privileges and responsibilities if we accept the arrangement; and He guarantees its complete fulfillment with His “signature” – Jesus’ blood. It is left with us to accept His offer and enter into a covenant relationship with Him.

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  Hebrews 9:14

We can simplify this verse by removing what is between the commas. It will then read:

Our conscience is our inner sense of right and wrong, integrity and guilt. In one sense, our conscience is clean or clear when we know we are blameless; it is defiled when we know we are guilty. As sinful humans we are all guilty and our condition is very much like the debtor in Jesus’ parable who owed 10,000 talents. (see Matthew 18:23+) That was an enormous sum of money, possibly equal in modern terms to $10 billion. On the normal wages earned in that era, it would take him over 300,000 years to pay it off. He expressed very noble intentions in verse 26 but they were totally worthless – they were “dead works” – because it was an impossible task. It is the same for us. We can never make amends for the guilt of our sin, our heinous crime of high treason against the Ruler of the Universe. All our efforts in that direction are “dead works.”

If our conscience is sensitive as God intends it to be, we will be aware of this guilt; but we can very easily become depressed and discouraged in the realization that there is nothing we can do to make it right. It is like the hopelessness of the debtor knowing that he can never pay off his debt. But, Praise the Lord! Our King is willing to cancel the debt and free us not only from the doom of destruction but also from the despair and hopelessness of that heavy load of guilt. Jesus has died as our Substitute and His blood stands as a reminder to us that our debt is canceled, our guilt is erased, our record is clear, and we can have a clean conscience.

Another aspect of having our conscience purged from dead works is that our sense of what is right and wrong, good and evil, must be changed so that we want to do what leads to life instead of death. One of the things that happened at the cross was that humanity was given a vivid demonstration of the fact that SIN KILLS. We are all headed toward that destination unless we turn from it and choose the way that leads to life. Jesus’ death is a motivating factor in reprogramming our conscience to make that choice.

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 16:25

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.  Matthew 7:13, 14

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Revelation 12:11

We can overcome the powers of evil through His blood. Our human nature, our innate selfishness, leads us to make decisions and do things that will result in further degradation and ultimately death. In and of ourselves, we do not have the ability to reverse that downward trend. But again, our wonderful Savior can provide the strength, the ability, to overcome the power of sin in our nature and point us to the way of life. His blood is the symbol of the work He has done in our behalf to break the power of sin and Satan.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Romans 8:2-4

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.  Hebrews 2:14, 15

The cross and Jesus’ blood are a continuing symbolic reminder of all that He has done and wants to do to save us. He came to reconcile us to God, to redeem us from our own selfishness, to justify and sanctify us, to change our way of thinking, to give us victory over the power of sin. Jesus’ blood is intended to convert us from being rebels against God and His ways to being willing subjects of His kingdom. Anything that we gain from being a Christian comes to us at great cost to Him. He paid the ultimate price for our salvation. We must recognize the value of the gift that we are being offered and the cost at which it has been provided. Then we are likely to accept and truly appreciate it. When God has changed our minds, when He has gotten us to choose Him, then He can proceed with all the other processes of change that need to happen to make us fit to live with Him for eternity.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

In this verse we are told that the gospel is the power of God to save us. The “good news” is God’s power to save. It is not His raw, dynamic, brute force of strength that saves us. He has the ability to do anything He decides, but He will not even attempt to save us from eternal destruction without our consent. Someone has said, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” It would not be safe for the universe to save unchanged sinners. The gospel – the message of who God is, what He is like, and what He has done for us – has power. If we allow that message to sink into our minds, it will change us and then God can save us.