Christ's Blood Cleanses From Sin
“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” —1st John1:7
Joining a church DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Living a good life DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Being baptized in water DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Partaking of the sacraments DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Committing your life to Jesus DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS — HIS BLOOD ALONE — cleanses from sin!
“For THE WAGES OF SIN is death; but the GIFT OF GOD IS eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Sin pays singular wages: DEATH! Christ died for our sins "according to the Scriptures" (1st Corinthians 15:3).
It took the DEATH OF JESUS, and the shedding of HIS BLOOD, to pay sin's debt, and bring REDEMPTION FROM SIN.
“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).
We read in 1st Peter 1:18,19:
“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.”
And again in 1st John 1:7 we read:
“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.”
Romans 3:25 states, “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.” It is our faith in the shed blood of Christ that removes us from under the condemnation of God’s Law. God’s wrath is turned away and we obtain divine favor because of Jesus’ blood. It is “FAITH IN HIS BLOOD” that brings the forgiveness and cleansing of sins. Anyone who denies the importance of Jesus shed blood is a heretic.
Let’s read another Scripture concerning the blood, “In whom we have REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). The Bible is clear as can be—the blood of Jesus redeems! How can anyone be so foolish as to deny the power of the blood? “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are MADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST” (Ephesians 2:13). We are reconciled and brought back close to God by Christ’s blood. “In whom we have REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). There are a multitude of other references throughout the Bible teaching that Jesus’ blood is very important.
It is Jesus’ blood that cleanses away the sinners sins. “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). What a wonderful Savior! We owe Jesus a debt of gratitude which cannot be adequately expressed with words. Christ has paid the price to redeem us unto Himself. Only a fool would deny the necessity of the blood for redemption
The only way to have your sins forgiven (and your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life) is by the precious blood of Christ Jesus. How do you receive God's gift of eternal life?
Admit that you are a GUILTY sinner, under the condemnation of God's Law (Romans 3:19). You and I deserve to be punished in the flames of Hell for our sins. We are guilty and without excuse. No one ever got saved who didn't realize that he was a sinner. Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ Who DIED on the cross for our sins, was BURIED and physically RESURRECTED from the dead three days later. Receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for your sins and you are saved. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
That's it. It is one's faith in the Gospel, because of the redeeming power of Christ's literal blood, that saves a person. Please note that there are NOT steps to being saved. Salvation isn't a process. We are saved by coming to Christ to be forgiven of our sins. Repentance and belief are two parts of one step to be saved. The Bible says in Mark 1:15, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Believing the Gospel is the subject compliment of the verb believe. We are not saved by repenting, we are saved by BELIEVING; but no man has ever believed who didn't also repent. To “repent” simply means to change your mind or to turn. Repentance in the context of salvation means to turn from unbelief to belief, to turn from trusting in yourself or whatever false religion you believe in to trusting in the finished work of The Lord Jesus Christ alone.
No self-righteous works are required to be saved. In fact, adding anything to faith alone in Christ is no faith at all. Do not add or subtract from the gospel. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, plus or minus NOTHING!
You may have all sorts of questions, doubts, worries and fears, and that's ok, just so long as you place what faith you DO have in the Savior. It's normal to have some doubts. Just Enough Faith (faith is not the absence of doubt; but rather, the presence of believing). Even if you only have as much faith as a small seed the Bible says, that's ok, just so long as it's enough faith for you to believe on Jesus Christ to save your soul from sin and Hell (Romans 10:13). God does not require a degree of faith to be saved; no, rather, He just requires faith. Optimism is not faith. Saying you believe is not faith.
I like to use the illustration of a chair. I can say all day that I believe a chair will support my weight if I stand on it, but I haven't placed my trust in that chair until I actually stand upon it. Once I get up on the chair, even if I was 99% sure the chair WOULDN'T hold up, I have placed no less than 100% of my faith in that chair. Isn't that beautiful? That means I can still have 100% faith in Jesus Christ, even though I may still have 99% doubt in my heart. Faith is the presence of just enough trust to receive the gospel as full payment for my sins. If you've placed your hope in Christ's death, burial and resurrection, then you are saved. Hoping for the best is not faith. Faith is when you come as a sinner in need of a Savior, and you actively place your trust upon Jesus Christ to forgive and save you, because of the blood that He shed for you. Christ died, that's history; Christ died for my sins on the cross and raised up, that's salvation!
Old Testament Blood Sacrifice Proves That Lordship Salvation is a Lie
There is a sincere but dangerous group of false teachers who propagate a heresy known as, Lordship Salvation. This is the errant philosophy that believing on Jesus is insufficient to save anyone. Lordship Salvationists ADD to the gospel. They add a requirement for people to leave the act of sin, forsake the sinful world and cease from sinful bad habits to be saved. They require a person to commit to changing their sinful ways (reform) as a prerequisite to placing their faith in Christ to be born again (regeneration). Biblically, it's the other way around, that is, regeneration comes first and then reformation. It is a satanic lie to teach that a person must reform before they can be regenerated by the Spirit of God.
Did you ever wonder why Dr. John MacArthur and his followers don't teach the importance and necessity of Jesus' literal, physical, blood? The doctrine of the blood of Jesus totally blows up the heresy of Lordship Salvation. It's Christ's literal, physical, precious, blood that washes our sins away, and not our commitment to cleanse our own ways and turn over a new leaf as they say.
In the Old Testament, God required the high priest to kill a male lamb, a perfect lamb without blemish (which pictured Christ), and to apply the lamb's blood to the mercy seat in the holy place. The holy place was in the innermost court of the tabernacle. There was no stipulation or requirement in the Old Testament that the Israelites cease from sinful bad habits in order for the lamb's blood on the mercy seat in the holy place to be valid!
When the Lord brought the 10th plague upon Egypt, the firstborn died. The only way to protect the firstborn was to kill a lamb and apply it's physical, literal, blood to the homes doorpost. It wasn't enough for the lamb to be killed. The blood had to be applied! The Lord said in Exodus 12:13, “WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD, I WILL PASS OVER YOU”!!! It is the BLOOD that saves, not the death! It is Jesus' blood that saves, not the death only as John MacArthur errantly teaches! The people weren't required to give up their sins before the high priest entered into the holy place. In fact, it was because of their sins that the high priest needed to apply the lamb's blood in the holy place.
How ridiculous it is for anyone today to claim that sin must be forsaken in order to come to Christ for salvation. The entire purpose of the Old Testament holy place and sacrifice of the innocent lamb, and application of its blood to the mercy seat in the holy place was to atone (cover) for the sins of the people for that year. It was BECAUSE OF THEIR SINS that the blood needed to be applied! The people weren't required to reform themselves, or cleanse themselves, as a prerequisite to the priest applying the blood. If we look even casually at the meaning and purpose of the work of the Old Testament high priest, it plainly exposes the heresy of Lordship Salvation. No one in the Old Testament was required to declare “Jesus is Lord” to be saved; but rather, their faith in the Lord was COUNTED for righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
When Adam and Eve sinned, Adam went and gathered fig leafs, sewing them together to make clothing in an attempt to cover their nakedness. But God immediately rejected Adam's fig-leaf religion. Instead, God killed an innocent animal, shedding its blood to provide skins of clothing for Adam and Eve. The innocent animal represented the coming Messiah Who would one day bleed and die for OUR SINS, giving His precious blood to wash our sins away for ever. It was the BLOOD that atoned for sin! From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible proclaims the necessity and importance of Jesus' literal, physical, precious, blood that cleanses away our sins!
The LITERAL Blood of Jesus Had to be Applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven
The blood was to be sprinkled, remember, on the mercy seat right after the death of the substitutionary animal of sacrifice, Now Christ is, of course, our substitute. He was slain for us upon the Cross, and entered into death for us, and when He arose, He immediately went to heaven, entered into the holy of holies in heaven, sprinkled His precious blood upon the mercy seat before the throne of God, and forever settled the sin questions, and delivered us from the curse of the law. This is clearly taught in the New testament. Hebrews 9:12 is very definite on this:
"But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
The Bible also makes plain when He accomplished this. On the morning of the resurrection He meets Mary at the tomb. As soon as Mary recognized Him, she prostrated herself upon Him, and would have kissed His feet, but with shocking suddenness, Jesus emphatically says to her: "Touch me not"; and then He proceeds immediately to give the reason why Mary is not permitted to touch Him at all.
"For I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17)
Literally the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Touch me not; for I now am about to ascend unto my Father." We can understand this action when we remember the the high priest after he had offered the sacrifice, was to enter the holy of holies, before he did anything else, with the precious blood. No one was allowed to approach him. Everyone was shut out until this was completely done. And here in the record of the meeting with Mary we have the fulfillment of this type. Here Mary meets her great High Priest, just arisen from the tomb, but before He had entered the holy of holies with the reconciling blood. And so He says to her, "TOUCH ME NOT."
Jesus' Blood Sacrifice Is All Sufficient
Hebrews 9:24-26, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now ONCE in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Jesus' blood applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven is all-sufficient.
Thank you Lord for washing my sins away with your blood!
“For 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
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” —Hebrews 9:12
and THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN” —1st John1:7
Joining a church DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Living a good life DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Being baptized in water DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Partaking of the sacraments DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
Committing your life to Jesus DOES NOT cleanse from sin.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS — HIS BLOOD ALONE — cleanses from sin!
“For THE WAGES OF SIN is death; but the GIFT OF GOD IS eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Sin pays singular wages: DEATH! Christ died for our sins "according to the Scriptures" (1st Corinthians 15:3).
It took the DEATH OF JESUS, and the shedding of HIS BLOOD, to pay sin's debt, and bring REDEMPTION FROM SIN.
“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).
We read in 1st Peter 1:18,19:
“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.”
And again in 1st John 1:7 we read:
“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.”
Romans 3:25 states, “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.” It is our faith in the shed blood of Christ that removes us from under the condemnation of God’s Law. God’s wrath is turned away and we obtain divine favor because of Jesus’ blood. It is “FAITH IN HIS BLOOD” that brings the forgiveness and cleansing of sins. Anyone who denies the importance of Jesus shed blood is a heretic.
Let’s read another Scripture concerning the blood, “In whom we have REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). The Bible is clear as can be—the blood of Jesus redeems! How can anyone be so foolish as to deny the power of the blood? “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are MADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST” (Ephesians 2:13). We are reconciled and brought back close to God by Christ’s blood. “In whom we have REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). There are a multitude of other references throughout the Bible teaching that Jesus’ blood is very important.
It is Jesus’ blood that cleanses away the sinners sins. “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). What a wonderful Savior! We owe Jesus a debt of gratitude which cannot be adequately expressed with words. Christ has paid the price to redeem us unto Himself. Only a fool would deny the necessity of the blood for redemption
The only way to have your sins forgiven (and your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life) is by the precious blood of Christ Jesus. How do you receive God's gift of eternal life?
Admit that you are a GUILTY sinner, under the condemnation of God's Law (Romans 3:19). You and I deserve to be punished in the flames of Hell for our sins. We are guilty and without excuse. No one ever got saved who didn't realize that he was a sinner. Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ Who DIED on the cross for our sins, was BURIED and physically RESURRECTED from the dead three days later. Receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for your sins and you are saved. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
That's it. It is one's faith in the Gospel, because of the redeeming power of Christ's literal blood, that saves a person. Please note that there are NOT steps to being saved. Salvation isn't a process. We are saved by coming to Christ to be forgiven of our sins. Repentance and belief are two parts of one step to be saved. The Bible says in Mark 1:15, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Believing the Gospel is the subject compliment of the verb believe. We are not saved by repenting, we are saved by BELIEVING; but no man has ever believed who didn't also repent. To “repent” simply means to change your mind or to turn. Repentance in the context of salvation means to turn from unbelief to belief, to turn from trusting in yourself or whatever false religion you believe in to trusting in the finished work of The Lord Jesus Christ alone.
No self-righteous works are required to be saved. In fact, adding anything to faith alone in Christ is no faith at all. Do not add or subtract from the gospel. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, plus or minus NOTHING!
You may have all sorts of questions, doubts, worries and fears, and that's ok, just so long as you place what faith you DO have in the Savior. It's normal to have some doubts. Just Enough Faith (faith is not the absence of doubt; but rather, the presence of believing). Even if you only have as much faith as a small seed the Bible says, that's ok, just so long as it's enough faith for you to believe on Jesus Christ to save your soul from sin and Hell (Romans 10:13). God does not require a degree of faith to be saved; no, rather, He just requires faith. Optimism is not faith. Saying you believe is not faith.
I like to use the illustration of a chair. I can say all day that I believe a chair will support my weight if I stand on it, but I haven't placed my trust in that chair until I actually stand upon it. Once I get up on the chair, even if I was 99% sure the chair WOULDN'T hold up, I have placed no less than 100% of my faith in that chair. Isn't that beautiful? That means I can still have 100% faith in Jesus Christ, even though I may still have 99% doubt in my heart. Faith is the presence of just enough trust to receive the gospel as full payment for my sins. If you've placed your hope in Christ's death, burial and resurrection, then you are saved. Hoping for the best is not faith. Faith is when you come as a sinner in need of a Savior, and you actively place your trust upon Jesus Christ to forgive and save you, because of the blood that He shed for you. Christ died, that's history; Christ died for my sins on the cross and raised up, that's salvation!
Old Testament Blood Sacrifice Proves That Lordship Salvation is a Lie
There is a sincere but dangerous group of false teachers who propagate a heresy known as, Lordship Salvation. This is the errant philosophy that believing on Jesus is insufficient to save anyone. Lordship Salvationists ADD to the gospel. They add a requirement for people to leave the act of sin, forsake the sinful world and cease from sinful bad habits to be saved. They require a person to commit to changing their sinful ways (reform) as a prerequisite to placing their faith in Christ to be born again (regeneration). Biblically, it's the other way around, that is, regeneration comes first and then reformation. It is a satanic lie to teach that a person must reform before they can be regenerated by the Spirit of God.
Did you ever wonder why Dr. John MacArthur and his followers don't teach the importance and necessity of Jesus' literal, physical, blood? The doctrine of the blood of Jesus totally blows up the heresy of Lordship Salvation. It's Christ's literal, physical, precious, blood that washes our sins away, and not our commitment to cleanse our own ways and turn over a new leaf as they say.
In the Old Testament, God required the high priest to kill a male lamb, a perfect lamb without blemish (which pictured Christ), and to apply the lamb's blood to the mercy seat in the holy place. The holy place was in the innermost court of the tabernacle. There was no stipulation or requirement in the Old Testament that the Israelites cease from sinful bad habits in order for the lamb's blood on the mercy seat in the holy place to be valid!
When the Lord brought the 10th plague upon Egypt, the firstborn died. The only way to protect the firstborn was to kill a lamb and apply it's physical, literal, blood to the homes doorpost. It wasn't enough for the lamb to be killed. The blood had to be applied! The Lord said in Exodus 12:13, “WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD, I WILL PASS OVER YOU”!!! It is the BLOOD that saves, not the death! It is Jesus' blood that saves, not the death only as John MacArthur errantly teaches! The people weren't required to give up their sins before the high priest entered into the holy place. In fact, it was because of their sins that the high priest needed to apply the lamb's blood in the holy place.
How ridiculous it is for anyone today to claim that sin must be forsaken in order to come to Christ for salvation. The entire purpose of the Old Testament holy place and sacrifice of the innocent lamb, and application of its blood to the mercy seat in the holy place was to atone (cover) for the sins of the people for that year. It was BECAUSE OF THEIR SINS that the blood needed to be applied! The people weren't required to reform themselves, or cleanse themselves, as a prerequisite to the priest applying the blood. If we look even casually at the meaning and purpose of the work of the Old Testament high priest, it plainly exposes the heresy of Lordship Salvation. No one in the Old Testament was required to declare “Jesus is Lord” to be saved; but rather, their faith in the Lord was COUNTED for righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
When Adam and Eve sinned, Adam went and gathered fig leafs, sewing them together to make clothing in an attempt to cover their nakedness. But God immediately rejected Adam's fig-leaf religion. Instead, God killed an innocent animal, shedding its blood to provide skins of clothing for Adam and Eve. The innocent animal represented the coming Messiah Who would one day bleed and die for OUR SINS, giving His precious blood to wash our sins away for ever. It was the BLOOD that atoned for sin! From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible proclaims the necessity and importance of Jesus' literal, physical, precious, blood that cleanses away our sins!
The LITERAL Blood of Jesus Had to be Applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven
The blood was to be sprinkled, remember, on the mercy seat right after the death of the substitutionary animal of sacrifice, Now Christ is, of course, our substitute. He was slain for us upon the Cross, and entered into death for us, and when He arose, He immediately went to heaven, entered into the holy of holies in heaven, sprinkled His precious blood upon the mercy seat before the throne of God, and forever settled the sin questions, and delivered us from the curse of the law. This is clearly taught in the New testament. Hebrews 9:12 is very definite on this:
"But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
The Bible also makes plain when He accomplished this. On the morning of the resurrection He meets Mary at the tomb. As soon as Mary recognized Him, she prostrated herself upon Him, and would have kissed His feet, but with shocking suddenness, Jesus emphatically says to her: "Touch me not"; and then He proceeds immediately to give the reason why Mary is not permitted to touch Him at all.
"For I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17)
Literally the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Touch me not; for I now am about to ascend unto my Father." We can understand this action when we remember the the high priest after he had offered the sacrifice, was to enter the holy of holies, before he did anything else, with the precious blood. No one was allowed to approach him. Everyone was shut out until this was completely done. And here in the record of the meeting with Mary we have the fulfillment of this type. Here Mary meets her great High Priest, just arisen from the tomb, but before He had entered the holy of holies with the reconciling blood. And so He says to her, "TOUCH ME NOT."
Jesus' Blood Sacrifice Is All Sufficient
Hebrews 9:24-26, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now ONCE in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Jesus' blood applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven is all-sufficient.
Thank you Lord for washing my sins away with your blood!
“For 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
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” —Hebrews 9:12
