The Blood of Jesus Christ Cleanses Us From All Sin

The Scriptures tell us that, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23 KJV) and “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23 KJV).

How do we attain eternal life? The Bible answers: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (vs. 24). Justified means, “just as if” the sinner has not sinned at all. Redemption means “somebody buys the sinner back from the kingdom of the devil”. By whom and how? By Jesus Christ (vs. 24) “whom God (the Father) hath set forth to be a propitiation (or payment) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission (cancellation) of sins that are past, through the forbearance (forgiveness) of God” (vs. 25).

How does a sinner attain this righteousness for the remission of his sins? The answer is, “For he (God the Father) hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him [Jesus Christ] (2 Cor. 5:21 KJV). This is the scriptural law on substitution. Meaning, Jesus Christ is the substitute for the sinner-believer. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV).

Only Jesus was perfect, and that is why He could pay the price of our sins and take our punishment so that God could forgive us. Jesus fulfilled the Law and its requirement of death to the sinners. He died in our place so that we would not have to die. He voluntarily gave Himself to be crucified – He loves us that much! No one else has that kind of love - - voluntarily dying for someone. Neither Jose Rizal, our National hero, nor Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. voluntarily died. It was not their choice to die. They were “forced” to die, or even murdered!

What caused Jesus the greatest agony on the cross was not our sins, because He knew that we were going to be forgiven and saved by his substitutionary death. What broke His heart was his thought at the moment of his death that His Father had turned His back on Him. He went through an experience that, thank God, we will never have to go through – not just crucifixion, not just the agony of the body, but the agony of mind and spirit, feeling that God had actually deserted Him. “My God, My God,” He cried out, “why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). This proves that he was also a perfect human being. Had God forsaken Him? Yes, momentarily only, that He might die the death of a sinner, without God. His resurrection after three days as predicted by him is proof that he was also perfectly divine.

Jesus loved us more than we can imagine to give His own life for us and take the punishment of our sins upon Himself on that cross, so that we could be forgiven and be saved (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:10). He abolished the death penalty or penalty for any sin for that matter by his substitutionary death. That is why, there is no more penalty for big or small sin. All sins are forgiven for the true believer and who continues to his last breath to be so. Only believe and act accordingly and you shall be saved. There is a beautiful example in the Bible regarding salvation by believing.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God – he and his whole family.” (Acts. 16:25-34 NIV)

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)

Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Lev. 17:11). That was the Law, and that is why Jesus died for us sinners.

Jesus died on God’s altar, the cross, believed upon by every Christian, trusted by every son and daughter of God who believes through faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for sin. He was the ultimate Lamb of God, slain for the remission of our sins. He took the punishment of our sins in His own body on the cross, and that was the last sacrifice of blood for sin as far as God was concerned. That is why we, believers under the New Testament, no longer offer the sacrifice of blood of animals. The blood of Jesus Christ is more than sufficient or more than enough, there is no need for other kinds of blood to be shed. We do not have to die physically by crucifixion because Jesus Christ substituted for the believers by faith.

Our salvation is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8), but it cost God the Father and his only begotten Son, Jesus very dearly. That was the highest price anybody could have paid for our salvation, and only Jesus could do it because he is sinless. No matter how much we sacrifice and try to pay for salvation by our own good works, it is impossible; the price is too high! Significantly, the Bible tells us that, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV). However, take note that the Bible tells us also that “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10 NIV). This simply means that a true believer will do good works according to the talent that God has bestowed upon him. Any work in the Kingdom of God though how it may seem insignificant basta work well done is a good work!

Only the blood or life of a sinless one can pay or redeem us. God did not spare His own Son, Jesus Christ, but delivered him up and let Him die on the cross as our substitute (Rom. 8:32), and because “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). (FGBMFI Davao City Chapter Bulletin April 7, 2012)