It is most needful to be simple and clear as to what it is which constitutes the groundwork of peace. So many things are mixed up with the work of Christ, that souls are plunged in darkness and uncertainty as to their acceptance. They know that there is no other way of being saved but by the blood of Christ; but the devils know this, and it avails them naught. What is needed is to know that we are saved- absolutely, perfectly, eternally saved. There is no such thing as being partly saved and partly lost; partly justified and partly guilty; partly alive and partly dead; partly born of God and partly not. There are but two states, and we must be in either one or the other.
The Israelite was not partly sheltered by the blood and partly exposed to the sword of the destroyer. He knew he was safe. He did not hope so. He was not praying to be so. He was perfectly safe. Why? Because God had said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." He simply rested on God's testimony about the shed blood. He "set to his seal" that God was true. He believed that God meant what He said, and that gave him peace.
If an Israelite had been asked as to his enjoyment of peace, what would he have said? Would he have said, "I know there is no other way of escape but the blood of the lamb, and I know that to be a divinely perfect way; and, moreover, I know that the blood has been shed and sprinkled on my doorpost; but somehow I do not feel quite comfortable. I am not quite sure that I am safe. I fear I do not value the blood as I ought, nor love the God of my fathers as I ought"? Would such have been his answer? Assuredly not. And yet hundreds of professing Christians speak thus when asked if they have peace. They put their thoughts about the blood in place of the blood itself, and thus, in result, make salvation as much dependent on themselves as if they were to be saved by works alone.
Now the Israelite was saved by blood alone, and not by his thoughts about it. His thoughts might be deep or they might be shallow; but, deep or shallow, they had nothing to do with his safety; he was not saved by his thoughts or feelings, but by the blood. God did not say, "When you see the blood, I will pass over you." No; but, "When I see." What gave an Israelite peace was the fact that Jehovah's eye rested on the blood. God saw it, and that was quite enough.
The application of this to the question of a sinner's peace is very plain. Christ's blood has been shed as a perfect atonement for sin, and God's testimony assures the believer that everything is settled on his behalf. All the claims of justice have been fully answered, and the full tide of redeeming love rolls down from the heart of God along the channels which the sacrifice of Christ has opened for it.
To this truth the Holy Ghost bears witness. He ever sets forth the fact of God's estimate of the blood of Christ. He points the sinner's eye to the accomplished work of the cross. He declares that all is done; that sin has been put far away and righteousness brought nigh-so nigh that it is to all them that believe. Believe what? Believe what God says because He says it, not because they feel it.
Now we are constantly prone to look at something in ourselves as necessary to form the ground of peace. We are apt to regard the work of the Spirit in us rather than the work of Christ for us, as the foundation of our peace. This is a mistake. We know the operations of the Spirit of God have their proper place in Christianity, but His work is never set forth as that on which our peace depends. The Holy Ghost did not make peace, but Christ did. The Holy Ghost is not said to be our peace, but Christ is. God did not send "preaching peace" by the Holy Ghost, but "by Jesus Christ" (compare Acts 10:3636The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) (Acts 10:36); Eph. 2:14, 1714For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (Ephesians 2:14)
17And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. (Ephesians 2:17); Col. 1:2020And, 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)).
The Holy Ghost reveals Christ; He makes us (who are sheltered by the blood of Christ) to know, enjoy, and feed upon Christ. He bears witness to Christ takes of the things of Christ and shows them to us. He is the power of communion, the seal, the earnest, the unction. In short, His operations are essential. Yet, notwithstanding all this, the work of the Spirit is not the ground of peace. He is not our title, though He reveals our title, and enables us to enjoy it. He is the author of every right desire, every holy aspiration, every pure and heavenly affection, every divine experience; but His work in us and with us will not be complete until we have left this present scene and taken our place with Christ in glory. Not so the work of Christ for us. That is absolutely and eternally complete.
It is of the utmost importance to distinguish between the Spirit's work in us and Christ's work for us. Where they are confounded, one rarely finds settled peace as to the question of sin. The type of the passover illustrates the distinction very simply. The Israelite's peace was not founded on the unleavened bread or the bitter herbs, but upon the blood. Nor was it, by any means, a question of what he thought about
ill° blood, but what God thought about it. This gives immense relief and comfort to the heart. God has found a ransom, and He reveals that ransom to us sinners, in order that we may rest therein on the authority of His word and by the grace of His Spirit. And albeit our thoughts and feelings must ever fall far short of the infinite preciousness of that ransom, yet, inasmuch as God tells us that He is perfectly satisfied about our sins, we may be satisfied also. Our conscience may well find settled rest where God's holiness finds rest.