“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
YOU ARE A SINNER. This is not a matter of opinion; it is the steadfast declaration of the holy scriptures (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:10), authored by a God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Because you are a sinner, you are condemned under the law of God (Romans 3:19, Galatians 3:10), and because you can do nothing to cleanse yourself of sin (Job 14:4, Isaiah 64:6), you face eternal punishment in the fires of hell (Revelation 20:15). Disbelieve this as you may, it remains true. If you die in your sins, you will burn in hell for eternity.
But you need not despair, 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. He commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Because Christ is the only one without sin (Hebrews 4:15), he was the only one qualified to die in our place, crucified on the tree so he could bear the punishment we deserve, and pay the debt of our sins with his precious blood, without blemish and without spot.
“But why the blood?” you ask. “Isn’t it enough that Jesus died in my place on the cross? What difference does his blood make?”
The difference his blood makes is the difference between heaven and hell. Revelation 20:15 tells us that “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” A man cannot avoid the lake of fire unless his sins are forgiven (Acts 26:18), yet we find in Hebrews 9:22 that “without shedding of blood is no remission.” Your sins cannot be remitted, or forgiven, simply on the basis of Jesus dying at Calvary and bodily resurrecting unto your justification. He must also have shed his blood to pay for your sins, and sprinkle his blood on the heavenly mercy seat to complete your redemption.
The only price which can pay for your sins, and for my sins, and for the world’s sins, is the precious blood of Jesus Christ. But the right price must be taken to the right place; in this case, the right price of Christ’s blood, must be taken to the right place of the heavenly mercy seat.
We see this truth foreshadowed in Exodus 12, when God instructed the Israelities to slay a lamb without blemish (a picture of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world) and spread its blood on the doorposts of their houses so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn. Of this, Jehovah said, “when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13).
This story once again demonstrates that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Merely killing the lamb as a sacrifice was not sufficient, because God said he needed to see the blood. Moreover, its blood could not simply be shed; it also had to be sprinkled, or applied. Had the Israelities relied upon God’s omniscience, and been satisfied simply to kill the lamb, without sprinkling its blood, their firstborn would have been slain. Details man considers to be of little importance, as the difference between the blood shed and the blood sprinkled, are of great significance to the Almighty.
In the case of Christ, who is our lamb, his death on Calvary’s cross is not sufficient to remit our sins. His blood must first be shed, but that itself is not sufficient, either. If Christ’s blood merely soaked into the ground at Calvary and stayed there, as accursed false prophets like John MacArthur deceitfully insist, there would be no remission, because it is not the shedding of the blood that saves, but the sprinkling, or application, of the blood.
This, too, is foreshadowed in the Old Testament, when the high priest, himself a symbol of Jesus, was to enter the holy of holies once each year, and apply the blood of bulls and goats on the mercy seat as a temporary atonement for the sins of the people (Hebrews 7:27, 10:11). After Christ, who is our high priest (Hebrews 7:26), rose from the dead, he took his blood into heaven and sprinkled his blood on the heavenly mercy seat to complete our redemption once for all (Hebrews 9:12).
The scriptures inform us that blood speaks. God told Cain in Genesis 4:10 that “the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” The “blood of sprinkling” which Jesus applied to the heavenly mercy seat does not merely rest upon that surface; it “speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). It testifies that redemption has been completed, and that every man who receives Christ as his Savior has been washed in the blood and redeemed from all iniquity. This is why my text speaks of “the precious blood of Christ” – nothing is so precious as the blood which he shed to pay for my sins, and the blood which he sprinkled to secure my redemption.
Consider now these scriptures on the subject, all cited, as always, from the pure King James Bible:
Romans 3:24-25: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 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 5:9: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Acts 20:28: “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.”
Ephesians 1:7: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
Colossians 1:14: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”
Revelation 1:5: “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 5:9: “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;”
I have gone at length to say these things, because this crucial doctrine of Christ’s literal, physical, liquid, saving blood, is under attack by many so-called “great men of God” and the modern Bible translations they cite in propagating their false doctrines. I have mentioned the dishonorable John MacArthur above because of his vehemence in denying the power of Christ’s blood (and, secondarily, his fervency in preaching the accursed false gospel of “Lordship Salvation”, and damning many to hell by his pernicious ways). But I would be remiss if I failed to mention the modern Bible perversions gladly provide the “proof” necessary to support these lies.
Colossians 1:14 in the NIV, NASB, and ERV all delete “through his blood”. The earlier versions of the misnamed “Good News Bible” replaced “blood” with “death” in practically all of the verses listed above. And John 20:17 is corrupted so odiously by the NIV that it may well be the most preposterous verse in that foul book. The modern versions never cease to amaze in just how depraved they can be, in changing the truth of God into a lie.
But while the disgraceful stench of John MacArthur’s damnable heresies is in the air, I should inform you who think you can earn your way to heaven that your only hope for redemption lies in Christ’s blood. It does not lie in your keeping sacraments and being confirmed and baptized. It does not lie in your making Jesus the “Lord” of your life and vowing to turn away from your sins in obedience to his will. It does not lie in your faithfully attending church, supporting it with tithes, praying without ceasing, studying the Bible, giving to the poor, telling others about Jesus, or doing other wonderful works. It does not lie in anything but being redeemed through the precious blood of Christ, which he shed on the cross, which he sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat.
The vain conversation and tradition of your fathers cannot redeem you, dear reader. Neither can silver and gold, for salvation was purchased with something far more precious than the wealth of this world. Only the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot can wash away your sins, can justify you before God, can redeem you from the curse of the law of sin and death. Will you now receive Jesus Christ as your Savior? I pray that you do so. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.