It is of the first importance, beloved readers, that everyone should understand the light in which God regards the precious blood of Christ. The one lesson written on almost every page of Scripture, and told out in symbol, type, and fact, is, that “without shedding of blood is no remission” (see Hebrews 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)); i.e. no remission of sins. The reason of this is plain. Man is a sinner. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)), and hence all men as sinners are under the sentence and condemnation of death. (Romans 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)) Now blood represents the life. As we read in Scripture, “The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:1111For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)) Inasmuch, therefore, as man is a sinner, and is under the penalty of death, he can find no escape except through the shedding of blood, the rendering up to God of a life in the stead of his own. Failing to find such a method of deliverance, he himself must bear the doom of his sin, for “the soul that sinneth it must die.” Now the blood of Christ is God’s own way of saving the sinner; for the blood of Christ signifies the offering up of His life to God, in death upon the cross, as an atonement for sin. Hence He Himself says, “The Son of man came... to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:2828Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28))
The aspects, however, in which the blood of Christ is presented are many, and it is only by a consideration of these that we can obtain any conception of its unspeakable preciousness and value—its preciousness and value before God—and its efficacy on our behalf.
Let us then examine a little together into what the Scripture teaches on this subject. One remark, however, must first be made. Even the blood of Christ, we shall find, would have no value apart from what He was. It is the truth of His person that imparts to it its efficacy. Had he only been man, His death could not have availed for all; had He only been God, He could not have died; but being what He was, “very God and very Man,” He not only was qualified as the spotless Man to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin, but His divinity added such efficacy to His precious blood that it suffices for the need of all who believe in His name Understand it well, then, that it is not the blood of Christ apart from Himself that avails before God; it is Christ Himself rather in the efficacy of His blood. It is on this account, for example, that the apostle speaks after this manner, “In who in we have redemption through. His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7))
As a general remark it may be said that the blood of the sacrifices in the old dispensation, and therefore the blood of Christ which this typified, was wholly for God. That is, while, as we shall see, there are blessed applications to, and efficacies for, the believer, the blood was offered before all to vindicate the glory and to meet the claims of God on the sinner Accordingly the first aspect of the value of the blood of Christ is that of PROPITIATION. The meaning and truth of this may be gathered from the action of Aaron with the blood of the sin-offering on the day of atonement. It is said, “And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward,” &c. In like manner he was to act with the blood of the goat of the sin-offering. (Leviticus 16:14,1514And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. 15Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: (Leviticus 16:14‑15)) In addition to this, the blood was to be sprinkled before the mercy-seat, and here seven times because it was for the eye of man. Once was enough for the eye of God. That this spoke of the blood of Christ is shown from the statement of the apostle. He says, “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth a propitiation (a mercy-seat) through faith in His blood.” (Romans 3:24,2524Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom 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 3:24‑25)) What, then, did the sprinkling of the blood on the mercy-seat accomplish? To answer this question it must be borne in mind that the mercy-seat in the tabernacle in the wilderness represented God’s throne—the throne of Jehovah in the midst of Israel. Hence, He was said to dwell between the cherubim. (Psalms 80:11<<To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim-eduth, A Psalm of Asaph.>> Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. (Psalm 80:1), &c) The blood put upon the mercy-seat met, therefore, the claims of God’s throne upon the sinner. It answered all the claims of a holy God (we speak now of the blood of Christ) upon guilty sinners. It was the vindication of His holy government, and inasmuch as it both satisfied His righteous claims upon man as a sinner, and glorified Him in every attribute of His character, it laid the ground on which He could righteously pardon every sinner that approached Him trusting in the value of the sprinkled blood. This was propitiation—the propitiation which is the foundation on which God can now deal in grace with the whole world, and thus send out, through His ambassadors, the entreating message to all the vilest and the guiltiest—to be reconciled to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:20,2120Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:20‑21)) Hence, too, John, speaking of Christ, says, “And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:22And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2))
Such was the unspeakable value of the blood of Christ before God. It answered all His governmental claims upon a guilty world, so that He has been publicly vindicated, yea, glorified, concerning the question of sin, and in the very place where we had publicly dishonored His name by our sin and rebellion. And let it never be forgotten that He Himself in His wondrous love provided the propitiation. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us” (as believers can say), “and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:1010Herein 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)) If thus His holiness demanded, His love furnished the propitiation; and hence He can now be proclaimed throughout the whole world as the God of grace; for He now sits as it were on the mercy-seat, waiting to receive, to pardon, and to save every poor sinner who comes through faith in the blood of Christ.
Propitiation having been made, God was free both in grace and righteousness to bless the sinner. Hence the apostle speaks of “being now JUSTIFIED by His blood” the blood of Christ. (Romans 5:99Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5:9)) Every one, indeed, who approaches God through faith in Christ is justified. For in virtue of that blood which met all God’s claims, all the claims of His holy government upon the sinner on account of his sin, all the claims of His outraged majesty, and all the claims of His glory, He is able righteously to justify every believing soul. This is distinctly shown in Romans 3 “By the deeds of the law” it is conclusively proved; no flesh can be justified before God. Strive as a man may, and live as upright and moral a life as he may, he can never answer the claims of a holy God. Whoever is on, or takes, the ground of works as a means of salvation is hopelessly lost. Man cannot in any shape or form save himself; and should he seek to obtain righteousness by putting himself under the law, he will only find that “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” What, then, we ask, is man’s resource when it is demonstrated that he is a helpless, guilty sinner? It is in the righteousness of God, which, “without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:21-2321But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:21‑23))
But how, it may further be inquired, can God’s righteousness be possessed? The answer is given in the same scripture. The apostle proceeds, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth a propitiation (mercy-seat) through faith in His blood... to declare at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (vv. 24-26) Can anything be more divinely simple? The blood of Christ is the foundation. It is through its virtue, through its value before God as making propitiation, that He can be just, that He can act in perfect harmony with all that He is, in perfect consistency with His holy being, and justify, righteously justify, everyone “which believeth in Jesus.” We are therefore justified by, through the virtue of, the blood of Christ. We are also “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;” for it was God, acting from His own heart, in the exercise of pure, sovereign, and blessed grace, who provided the sacrifice whose precious blood made atonement for sin, so adequate and complete, that God could come out of His place, seek and bring back the sinner to Himself, pardon his sins, and righteously justify him on the exercise of faith in the blood of Christ. Hence it is only believers who are justified. But the moment a soul receives God’s testimony to the value of the blood, His testimony to His own appreciation of it, and, trusting in it, comes into His presence, that soul is justified, justified in the righteousness of God, even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:33For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3)) Scripture likewise teaches that believers are SANCTIFIED through the blood of Christ. “Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.” (Hebrews 13:1212Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. (Hebrews 13:12); see also 10: 29) These passages doubtless have a special application, but beyond this they teach a most precious truth. The sanctification of which they speak is neither practical nor progressive, this being effected by the Holy Ghost through the Word, but indicates the setting apart of believers to God as His people on the earth. That is, everyone who comes through faith under the shelter of the blood of Christ, is thereby separated from all the world, and set apart to God. The nature of this sanctification may be illustrated by the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the office of the priesthood. We read that Moses took of the blood of the rain of consecration, and “put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot” (Exodus 29:2020Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. (Exodus 29:20)) Thereby they were set apart to hear, to act, and to walk for God according to the perfection of the blood of Christ. It is so with believers now; and the blood in this aspect sets forth privilege and responsibility rather than actual blessing received, reminding the believer that he belongs to God, according to the value of the blood under which he is sheltered.
Another illustration of this may be gathered from Exοdus 24 When Moses had read to the people the covenant which was made by the Lord at Sinai, he sprinkled half of the blood of the sacrifices upon the people (having sprinkled the other half upon the altar), saying, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning these words.” (v. 8) This will explain the words in Hebrews concerning an apostate, who is said to have “counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing.” (10: 29) The blood sprinkled upon the people, while it set forth death as the penal sanction of the law, brought them thereby under the obligation of obedience. It was for this they were set apart. (Compare 1 Peter 1:22Elect 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)) So to the eye of God all His people now on the earth are seen, as it were, sprinkled under the value of the blood of Christ, and thus set apart to Him for His service. They are sanctified through the blood.
Another aspect of the blood of Christ is, that it CLEANSES FROM SIN. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all” (or every) “sin.” (1 John 1:77But 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)) In like manner John, giving a voice to the adoration of the whole Church, cries, “Unto Him that loved” (or rather loveth) “us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,” &c. (Revelation 1:55And 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)) The same idea, speaking generally, is conveyed when forgiveness, or remission of sins, is spoken of as procured by the blood of Christ.
The difference is, that in this case it is God who has been wronged by our sins, who forgives, and absolutely forgives, whereas in the latter it is a question of the sinner being cleansed from his guilt, and made meet for His presence. Two or three specific statements will explain how this process of cleansing is effected.
As before stated, God sees every believer as sprinkled with, under the value of, the blood of Christ. When the priests were consecrated, and when the leper was cleansed, this truth was symbolized by their being sprinkled with blood. Both alike were first washed with water, figure of the new birth through the water (the Word) and the Spirit, sprinkled with blood, typical of cleansing from guilt; and then., lastly, anointed with oil to set forth the anointing of believers of this dispensation with the Holy Ghost. It needs scarcely be said that sinners now are not actually sprinkled; but on faith in Christ, in His atoning sacrifice, there is the application to them of all the cleansing value of the blood. Their guilt, therefore, is gone according to the efficacy of the blood of Christ before God.
It will thus be perceived that God sees no guilt where He sees the value of the blood, and He sees it on every believer. The blood has made propitiation for their sins. The effect, therefore, of the application of the blood of Christ to the soul—and let it be repeated that it is applied to all who believe—is, that they are without spot or stain. Borrowing the figurative language of the Apocalypse, they have washed their robes, and made them White in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7)
“White in His blood most precious,
Till not a spot remains.”
So white, indeed, that they are spotless in purity before the all-searching eye of a holy God.
It should be added that Scripture knows nothing of a reapplication of the blood of Christ to the believer. Once cleansed, he is cleansed forever. This is the whole point of the argument in Hebrews 10:1-141For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:1‑14). The efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ abides forever in contrast with the necessity for repeated sacrifices under the law, and hence the blood, once shed and presented before God, is ever there in all its value for our souls, so that the question of guilt can never more be raised against us.
“Though the restless foe accuses,
Sins recounting, like a flood,
Every charge our God refuses;
Christ hath answered with His blood.”
The believer may sin, as, alas! he does, and contract defilement; but guilt, in virtue of the precious blood, under the value of which he stands, is never imputed. If he does not judge himself and confess his sin, God will deal with and chasten him; for He loves His people too well to allow them to go on in sin; and in His grace He has made provision for cleansing these defilements by the washing of water by the Word. (Ephesians 5; John 13) But while this is true, and should never be forgotten, we must never lose hold of the precious and momentous truth, that once cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, we are cleansed once and for all—made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, eternally fit for the presence of God.
E. D.