The Blood and Forgiveness of Sin

Scripture Reading: Matthew 26

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace — Ephesians 1:7

Forgiveness means to pardon and release, to treat the person as if the sin had never been committed.

Receiving the forgiveness of God can be difficult. There are two groups of people who have a hard time receiving the forgiveness that God offers. On one hand there are those who think forgiveness for them is impossible, that their sins are beyond God’s grace. They think, “I have sinned so badly that God can’t forgive me.” On the other hand, there are those who think forgiveness is no problem, that God will simply say, “I forgive you” and drop the matter. They think that their sin is no big deal. Their hearts are hardened so that they are oblivious to the problem of their sin. But sin is a problem…

Carnegie Simpson stated, “Forgiveness is to man to the plainest of duties; to God it is the profoundest of problems.” How does a perfect Holy God release sinners from their sin? An impartial judge cannot simply overlook sin. Anselm observed in the eleventh century that if anyone imagines that God can simply forgive as we forgive others, that person “has not yet considered what a heavy weight sin is.”¹

On Thursday in the upper room at the last Passover of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He established the Lord’s Supper. As He spoke of the cup and what it represented, He said, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). The blood of Jesus secures our forgiveness.

The shed blood refers to Christ’s death for us on the cross and the new covenant given to us by His death. In the Old Testament the people of Israel were prohibited from eating blood (Lev. 17:10), because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11). The blood was a symbol of life, and so the shedding of blood meant death, and not only death, but violent death. If you do a word study of the phrase “shedding blood” in the Bible, you will find that it always refers the taking of a life, to violent death.

The New Testament declares, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Heb. 9:22 NASB) And John writes, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)

Perhaps that is exactly what you long to feel in your personal experience — washed, clean, and pure. Perhaps you cannot ever seem to feel that clean. That kind of clean, that kind of forgiveness, does not come from analyzing your past or by improving your performance, it comes from the blood of Jesus! Trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse, to forgive all your sins. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Stuart Townend, and Keith Getty have written a beautiful Communion Hmyn:

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us – and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.

The body of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
Torn for you – eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of love
Around the table of the King.

The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you – drink and remember
He drained death’s cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of grace
Around the table of the King.

And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond, – and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.
As we share in His suffering
We proclaim Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King²

1 Both cited by John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ, IVP, 1986, Chapter 4, Page 87-88

2 Stuart Townend, Keith & Kristyn Getty Copyright © 2007 Thankyou Music

The Blood and Our Relationship with God

Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:13-23

“and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” — Colossians 1:20

They were getting on up in years. Both were grandparents. But the two sisters had a falling out. It was over something silly — silly, at least, in comparison to the value of their relationship. But they weren’t speaking to one another. Perhaps each wished the other would call to apologize. But it never happened. Then suddenly and tragically, one of the sisters died. The second tragedy was that they died unreconciled. Sad as that story is, it is even more tragic that many people die without being reconciled with God.

Reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel. The word “reconcile” means to renew a friendship or to restore to a right relationship. Paul told the church at Colossae that if anybody was going to be saved—reconciled to God—it must be through Christ. He is the only one who can renew our relationship with God.

Our sin makes us the enemies of God. Leon Morris observes:

“It is plain the New Testament speaks of God and sinners as enemies. Now an enemy is not simply someone who falls a little short of being a good and faithful friend. He belongs in the opposite camp. He is opposed to what the one is doing. Sinners are putting their effort into the opposite direction of God. We should be clear on this. The sin we do inevitably arouses the hostility of God.” ¹

Yet it was “… when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son …” (Romans 5:10). Even though He was the offended party, God took the initiative. He has removed the offense that separated us. As Colossians 1:21-22 says, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”

Before we were saved, we were not close to God. Our relationship with Him was broken. We were enemies of God. But in the blood of Christ God has provided a way for us to draw near to Him, to be close to God, to be reconciled. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)

How close are you to God? Have you applied the blood of Jesus to reconcile you to God? Can you sing,

Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

I am so wondrously saved from sin,
Jesus so sweetly abides within;
There at the cross where He took me in;
Glory to His name!

Glory to His name,
Glory to His name:
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!  — Elisha Hoffman

Read through Colossians 1 and meditate on how the blood of Christ has reconciled you to God.

1 Leon Morris, The Atonement: its Meaning & Significance, IVP, 1983, Chapter 6, Page 136-137

The Blood and the Power of Sin

Scripture Reading: Romans 6

“… knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Romans 6:6

“… To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Revelation 1:5

In Romans 6 the Apostle Paul is driving home a truth: As believers in Jesus Christ, as those who have been justified through faith, we no longer have the same relationship to sin we once had. In other words, when a person comes to Christ, not only are we acquitted of our guilt of sin, but we are transformed into a new person who does not continue to live in sin.

Salvation is not just being released from the penalty of sin; but also from the power of sin. Before we came to Christ we were slaves to sin, it ruled over us. In John 8:34, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”

In Bible times, the way out of slavery was either redemption or death. As believers in Christ, we have both. Romans 6:6 again says, “… knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” When we were saved what we used to be died with Christ. Our old life of slavery to sin ended so that we died to sin. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17).

Furthermore, not only are we now a new person, but we also belong to a new Master. Peter writes, “… knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct 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). The word “redeemed” relates to slavery. It means that someone paid the price to buy a slave out of bondage and set them free. Peter says two things about our redemption: first, the blood of Jesus was the purchase price of our freedom, and second, we were redeemed, not just from hell, but from our aimless conduct, our empty way of life!

So Paul writes in Romans 6:22, “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Redeemed people don’t think, “It’s my life” or “I can do what I want” or “It’s my own body” or “It’s my choice” … because they know it isn’t. In Heaven, the redeemed saints sing this to Jesus, “You are worthy … For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood …” (Rev. 5:9). The ownership issue is settled. We have been bought with a price and freed from sin!

One verse of Charles Wesley’s great hymn, O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing, praises Jesus our great redeemer with these words,

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

Read through Romans 6 today and see how Christ has freed you from the power of sin by His blood.

Jesus’ Blood and Our Standing Before God

Scripture Reading: Romans 5

“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” — Romans 5:9

I want you to imagine two young men. They could not be more different. One was wealthy, the other a lowly thief. One came to Jesus calling Him good teacher. The other hurled insults at the Lord. One could say he kept God’s commandments since he was a boy. The other admitted he was being justly executed for his heinous crimes. Although Jesus loved him, the first man walked away from Jesus sad, forfeiting the kingdom of God for his wealth (Luke 18:18-23). The second simply said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He was granted a pardon and paradise (Luke 23:39-43).

Now imagine this. A nun spends her life working in a slum in a poor country, feeding the poor, helping the sick and dying, and caring for the orphans. As she nears death, you ask her why God should let her into heaven. She replies, “Because I have devoted my life to serving others. I have denied myself for decades. I hope that I have added enough merits that God will accept me.” She dies and faces God’s eternal wrath because her faith was in her own good works, not in the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone.

Meanwhile, on death row a murderer awaits execution. He mercilessly tortured and killed a young woman. A chaplain visits this killer and finds that he has been reading the Bible. God has convicted him of his terrible sins, so that he despairs about dying and facing God. He knows that he deserves eternal torment in hell. The chaplain tells him the gospel, that if he will believe in Jesus Christ, who died for the ungodly, God will forgive all his sins and credit Christ’s righteousness to him. He does believe, is filled with joy, and goes to his execution at peace with God. He spends eternity in the unspeakable joy of heaven.

How do you feel about these stories? Do you feel like the first young man and the sweet, selfless old nun deserve to go to heaven? Do the thief and the murderer deserve to burn in hell?

In Romans 4:5, Paul says, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” God justifies the ungodly. What an amazing statement. In other words, we trust Jesus, not our own good works, to save us. On the cross, Jesus carried our sin and paid the penalty for us. When we believe on Jesus, His perfect righteousness is “credited to our account.”

So to be “justified” means that God treats me just-if-I’d never sinned. By virtue of Jesus’ blood, we have been justified before God, we have been declared “not guilty.” When we trusted in Christ and His shed blood to save us, God banged the gavel and declared, “Not guilty! The penalty has been paid by My Son!”

For us, the key to receiving this gift of right standing with God is faith. For God, however, the key to procuring this standing was the blood of Jesus. On the cross Jesus took on our sin and suffered our punishment — we have now been declared righteous by His blood.

Romans 5:9 again says, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”  The “much more” is this: If God loved us so much that Christ died for us ungodly sinners, won’t He also now save us from the wrath to come?

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure. — Toplady

 The Blood and the Wrath of God

Scripture Reading: Romans 3:9-26

“whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” Romans 3:25

Propitiation is almost a foreign word to us in our culture, but an act of propitiation is a sacrifice that turns away wrath.

God’s holy wrath is turned against our sin. Can God be angry with us? Of course God has the right to be angry at our sin, to take our betrayal and rejection personally. It is personal! We have sinned not just against “the rules,” but against God. Yet God’s anger is not like our anger. God doesn’t throw a tantrum or seek revenge. God’s wrath is His firm opposition to sin and His righteous determination to punish the sinners responsible. His wrath is an expression of His holiness and His love. “God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ died for us because God loved us. If it is God’s wrath that needed to be propitiated, it is God’s love that did the propitiating.”¹

In pagan religions people offer a gift or sacrifice to appease the anger of their god or gods. Not so in the New Testament. God provided His own sacrifice. Jesus Christ is our propitiation. When Jesus shed His blood, His sacrifice was the gift that satisfied God’s righteous wrath. All our sins were placed on Christ and all of God’s wrath was unleashed on Him. That’s why Jesus cried out on the cross (Mark 15:34), “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Don’t miss the importance of the shed blood of Jesus. When God sees the blood of Jesus, that blood satisfies His justice and turns away His wrath against our sin. The propitiation does not procure God’s love or appease Him; it covers our guilt and renders it justified for God to exercise His loving mercy towards sinners.

Over 200 years ago, William Cowper was deeply depressed and lived under the fear of God’s wrath. One day he flung himself into a chair by a window and saw a Bible there.  He wrote: “I opened it up and my eyes fell on Romans 3:25, which says of Christ, ‘Whom God has made a propitiation through faith in his blood.’ Then and there I realized what Christ’s blood had accomplished and I realized the effects of His atonement for me…and then and there I trusted Jesus Christ and a great burden was lifted from my soul.”  Looking back on that day, Cowper wrote a hymn several years later with these words:

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

Today, take some time to read through Romans 3. Ask God to show you the deadly disease of sin and the all-sufficient cure in the blood of Jesus Christ.

1 John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ, IVP, 1986, Chapter 7, Page 174