Fundamental Truths of Salvation

By Edward Dennett

Chapter 3

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

SUPPOSING now that those of whom we speak --- ' anxious ones ' - have bowed to the judgment of God upon their condition, their immediate concern will be to know by what means they can obtain the pardon of their sins. The blood of Christ is the only way by which the guilt of sin can be re moved. “ Without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Heb. ix. 22.) Herein lies the necessity for the death of Christ; the need, in fact, for the whole work of redemption. And hence it is of the first importance that this truth should be rightly understood.

We have already pointed out that death has passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. v. 12.) Adam first incurred the penalty through his disobedience to God. He had been warned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; “ for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ” (Gen. ii. 16, 17.) Adam disregarded the divine command, and fell under the awful sentence of death - the penalty which God had annexed to disobedience. Thus " by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. v. 12. There is therefore no difference; all alike are sinners; and hence every child of Adam's race is subject to the penalty of sin, which is death. Yea, death already reigns (see Rom. v. 13-21) over the whole human family: every individual member of it (saving those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ) being under the righteous judgment of death, because of sin. “ But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ” (Rom. v. 8.) He “ so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever lasting life. ” (John iii. 16.) Being rich in mercy, He sent His own Son to die, “ the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. ” (1 Peter iii. 18.) Just as when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, God provided a lamb to be offered up in his stead, that Isaac might be rescued and live (Gen. xxii.), so God has provided a Lamb to be offered up in the sinner's room and stead, “ the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. ” (John i. 29.) This is the secret and meaning, in this aspect, of the death of Christ. He died as the sinner's substitute, bore the sinner's judgment, expiated the sinner's guilt.

The marvellous efficacy of the blood of Christ, as meeting the sinner's need, flows from the character of His person and the nature of His death. His blood is the symbol of His death, of His life poured out; for the life is in the blood (see Lev. xvii. 10-14), and hence His blood cleanses from sin, because of the value of His death before God in the sinner's place and behalf. God has con descended to teach us this by type and illustration, as well as by direct statement. Look at the Israelites in the land of Egypt on the passover night. God was about to execute judgment upon the land of Egypt; and when once He began to deal in righteousness, Israel was as much amenable to the penalty of sin as the Egyptians. How then spare the former when the latter were to be judged? “ I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and 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.” (Ex, xii. 12, 13; also vv. 21-23.) The only ground (mark it well) of difference on this night between Israel and Egypt was THE BLOOD. It was not what Israel was in comparison with the Egyptians, but it was the blood that stayed the destroyer's hand —the blood on the outside of their houses; for the Lord had said, When I see the blood, I will pass over you. The blood of the lamb — for the lamb had been slain cleansed them typically from guilt, so that God could righteously spare Israel while He righteously destroyed Egypt. The same lesson is taught by the great day of atonement, of which we have the record in Leviticus xvi. For Aaron was directed to sprinkle the blood of the bullock, and of the goat of the sin - offerings, both upon the mercy seat and before the mercy - seat, where God dwelt between the cherubim; "for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ” (Lev. xvi. 30.) All these things were but shadows of the efficacy of the blood of Christ. Thus we read: “ Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us ” (1 Cor. v. 7); and again, “ 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 if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. ix. 12–14.) Accordingly we are taught, that " the blood of Jesus Christ His (God's) Son cleanseth us from all sin. ” (1 John i. 7.)

We may, then, now point out distinctly the teaching of Scripture as to the blood of Christ in relation to sin. (1.) It is the only means of cleansing from guilt. This is the divinely appointed and the divinely given way. It is there fore exclusive of all other methods. “ Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much sope, thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God." (Jer. ii. 22.) " If I wash myself with snow - water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. ” (Job ix. 30, 31.) It is only the blood of Christ which can make the sinner whiter than snow. (2.) It is the blood in and by itself alone which possesses this efficacy. There cannot be any addition to it. It is not the blood and something else. Add to it in any way, whether by feelings, prayers, penitence (all of which have their proper place), and you mar its cleansing power. (3.) God has provided the blood. It is He who has delivered up His Son to death. This provision for the sinner's need is one therefore entirely of God's grace, and consequently a pro vision outside of the sinner altogether. God in His infinite mercy, and because He so loved the world, provided the Lamb for the sacrifice; and now the precious blood of that Lamb avails for every one who believes. (John iii. 16.) There is no limit whatever in its application, excepting in the sinner's unbelief. It is provided for all, and everyone may be the subject of its blessed cleansing power through faith.

Beloved reader, you have confessed your need of cleansing, and God has provided that which alone can meet your need. Do you ask, But how am I to obtain the application of the blood to myself? Solely and entirely by the obedience of faith. Let us go back to the passover night. (Ex. xii.) It was not enough that the lamb was slain, and that the blood was in the basin; but the Israelite was directed to sprinkle the blood for himself upon the lintel and the two side-posts of his door. With the bunch of hyssop in his hand, the sign of his humiliation before the righteous judgment of God, he sprinkled the blood, thereby confessing his own desert of death, and his faith in the blood as the means to avert the stroke of the destroyer, of sheltering him from the wrath of the Righteous Judge. So now. The Lamb has been provided, and slain; His blood has been shed. But the fact of His blood -shedding does not secure your safety. The question is, Are you under the shelter of the blood? Do you again ask, How can this be? By bowing in humiliation, like the Israelite, before the judgment which God has pronounced against sin; that is, by taking the place of a sinner, and by looking to the blood of Christ to secure you from the righteous doom and meed of sin. The moment you do this, the blood of Christ is upon you in all its value, between you and judgment, sheltering you completely and for ever from the consequences of sin; for the blood has met and satisfied all the claims that a holy God had against you. For God hath set forth Christ a propitiation through faith in His blood. (Rom. iii. 25.) There is therefore absolutely nothing for you to do; not even have you to gather the hyssop and sprinkle the blood. You have simply to believe the word of God, to look in faith to the blood already shed, as the only means of protection from death and judgment, and God instantly sees you as covered with all its efficacy and value -- cleansed from guilt, and whiter than snow. Delay not, then, to seek the protection of the precious blood of Christ. At midnight the Lord smote all the first- born in the land of Egypt; and as suddenly and unexpectedly will judgment overtake the rejecter of Christ, for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon then, and they shall not escape. (1 Thess. v. 3.) To-day, then, hear the entreating voice of the love of God, which bids you to flee from the wrath to come, and to “ behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. ” (John i. 29.)  

“When first o’erwhelmed with sin and shame,
To Jesus ' cross I trembling came,
Burdened with guilt, and full of fear,
Yet drawn by love, I ventured near,
And pardon found, and peace with God,
In Jesus' rich atoning blood.

“My sin is gone, my fear is o'er,
I shun His presence now no more;
He sits upon the throne of grace,
He bids me boldly seek His face;
Sprinkled upon the throne of God,
I see that rich atoning blood.

“Before His face my Priest appears;
My Advocate the Father hears;
That precious blood, before His eyes,
Both day and night for pardon cries;
It speaks, it ever speaks to God
The voice of that atoning blood.

“By faith that voice I also hear;
It answers doubt, it stills each fear:
Th' accuser seeks in vain to move
The wrath of Him whose name is Love;
Each charge against the sons of God
Is silenced by th ' atoning blood.

“Here I can rest without a fear;
By this to God I now draw near;
By this I triumph over sin,
For this has made and keeps me clean;
And when I reach the throne of God,
I'll praise that rich ATONING BLOOD. "

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