Chapter 2
THE BLOOD OF JESUS
"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."
– 1 John 1:7
Faith in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus is the touchstone by which
to test every man's religious faith and character. We hear a great deal of nice
talk about Jesus as our example and His beautiful life, but we must not stop
short of Calvary. Let us remember that blood is life, and the life of Jesus
reaches us only through His shed blood. Hence, a crimson salvation is the
only salvation. To reject Christ's blood is to reject the whole plan of salvation
and the three Divine Persons in the Godhead. Therefore, salvation or
damnation hinges on our attitude toward the shed blood. All the types and
shadows of the Old Testament pointed toward this. The bleeding sacrifices
and smoking altars were just God's kindergarten, leading up to Calvary; then
as we pass over into the New Testament, we still trace the crimson stream.
John hardly gets started in his letter, before, with a holy hush, he comes
to "The Blood." There are two outstanding things in his Epistles: One is the
dark stain of sin, and the other is the precious blood of Jesus. First, he
introduces us to the sin question. "The fact of sin is closely bound up with the
problem of redemption. Sin constitutes the necessity for redemption, and the
degree in which we realize the turpitude of sin will determine our view of our
need of a Saviour. In John's thinking, sin is not an accident, it is not a mistake,
it is not a slip in the cog of development, but it is an awful reality."
John has several things to say about the blood. First, that it cleanses. No
sweeter music ever fell on mortal ears than this comforting message. It is
sweeter than the sound of the evening bells or the note of the silver bugle
which announced the dawn or the birth of the Year of Jubilee, when all debts
were canceled and all slaves went free. Sin burdens the conscience, saddens
the life. Many a man would give his millions and even part with his right hand,
if by so doing, he could get rid of a stinging conscience. All kinds of methods
have been resorted to in order to purify the soul. In the dark ages, long whips
were plaited and faithfully applied to the bare body, thinking that sin would
evacuate the soul. But John says that it is the blood that cleanses. This verse
ought to cheer millions of human hearts. There is nothing in penance, tears,
suffering or punishing the body to cleanse the soul from sin. There never has
been a soul yet that was saved from all sin that did not come the blood route.
The Bible says that "The blood cleanseth." and that is enough whether we
understand the process or not. Is it not strange after God made such a
wonderful statement about the blood that men will look elsewhere for
cleansing! There is nothing in the flight of years to cleanse the soul. Time is no
Saviour. It is the blood, and the blood alone that cleanseth.
The second comforting thought made about the blood is that it cleanseth
from all sin. This goes further and deeper than the first statement. No matter
what the sin is or what caused one to sin, if they will bring it all to God with a
Godly sorrow, the blood will cleanse from the last and least remains of sin.
The blood can go deeper than the serpent trail has ever gone.
The third comforting thought made about the blood is that it cleanseth
from all sin now. Then, if it cleanseth now, why should one wait a week, day,
hour, or a single minute for the soul purification and restoration? This one
verse dashes to pieces the old Dark Age Theology, where Time, Bodily
Humiliation, Peter's Pence and Pilgrimages were invested with atoning, saving,
sanctifying power, and so Christ was robbed of His glory. To this day,
evangelical Christianity is burdened with these old, false, middle-age
teachings. God did not say when I see your good work, or how much you
have fasted and prayed and suffered, "I will pass over you," but the blood and
the blood alone cleanseth from sin. The heart that believes this is sure to find
light, liberty, purity, and everlasting victory.
The fourth comforting thought is that the blood atones for mistakes,
blunders and human failures. Numbers of God's people have made shipwreck
of their faith right here. Because of some mistake or blunder after they
received the light and blessing of sanctification, and for the lack of teaching on
this subject, they cast away their confidence, gave up in despair and went into
soul darkness. Let it be known that a soul does not forfeit its justification, nor
sanctification because of some failure, provided they will go at once to the
blood.
I will never forget, to the dying hour, some forty years ago, how I was
lifted out of doubt and despair, after going through almost the tortures of the
damned because I had grieved the Spirit in sharply rebuking a brother at a
prayer meeting. I apologized and asked for forgiveness, but Satan rushed in
like a dark cloud and tormented me with the thought that I had committed the
unpardonable sin. Through doubting, I lost the victory out of my soul. God
only knows the lonely hours I spent in prayer in the grove; not knowing the
secret of going to the blood. It was my thinking that it took suffering and agony
to get God's favor again. However, the way only grew darker, because I was
depending on my prayers, tears, and suffering to restore me. Great is the
mistake! It does not take suffering to restore us; the blood and nothing but the
blood does the work. There is nothing in the bodily mortification, and the
flight of years to cleanse the soul.
During these three months of darkness which hung over me like a thick
cloud, in the providence of God, someone presented me with that great book,
"Heart Talks," by that wonderful author, B. Carradine. When I came to the
chapter on "The Cleansing Blood," the writer went on to say,
"Deplorable as it is to fall into sin, yet God never intended that we
should sink in paralyzing despair and perish. In case of wrong
thought, word or deed, He would have His grieving child instantly
confess all to Him, promise to be more faithful in the future, and
believe that the blood of Christ cleanseth him from his most
humiliating of sins, a sin committed after the reception of grace
and light and Christ has become the Lord and Master of the heart
and life. Thank God for the blood that cleanseth even there!"
Such a wonderful statement was like a divine flash from the skies. Right
then and there my heart melted and a fountain of tears broke loose. Amidst
the falling tears, I looked up and cried out, "Lord, I do believe what thy word
says about the blood!" No sooner had I uttered these words than the Spirit,
like a flash of lightning, reappeared. All darkness and gloom was immediately
gone; the Heavenly choir began to sing and a peace like a river with
increasing power flowed through my soul.
Reader, that has been over forty years ago, and I have never quoted
that passage about the blood over once or twice without the warm spirit
answering to the blood.
Oh, when will men believe what God says about the precious blood? "If
the heavy hearts, silent lips, drooping souls, troubled consciences and
sin-defiled people around us could just let this wander into their minds and
hearts, that the blood cleanseth from all sin now, they would be transformed
in one moment into joyful-lipped, sunny-hearted Christians." Thank God for
the great remedy, the cleansing, keeping blood, the Omnipotent Grace in
Jesus Christ, which cleanseth now and will continue to cleanse till the clouds
part and He comes again. Right now, while I pen these lines, He is saving
thousands of souls throughout the world. With such a Redeemer and Saviour,
how can the heart sink and the faith fail? Let us leave our case in His hands,
who is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him, and present us
unblameable in love before the throne with great joy, in that Day.
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