The DeGRAFF FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH
State Route 235/ 100 East Miami Street
DeGraff, Ohio 43318
Phone: (937) 585-4463
James R. Roby, Pastor
The Blood of Jesus Christ
by Pastor James Roby
The entire Word of God centers around the doctrine of the Cross of Jesus Christ and the blood that He shed there as an atonement for our sin. This is THE MOST VITAL TRUTH in the entirety of the Bible. It is not an accident that a couple of decades ago modernists began to remove the "blood songs" from their hymnals. At first there was a great outcry from some of their church members. But, as time went on, the controversy subsided and the modernists won! After all, none of them wanted to be associated with a "slaughter-house religion." One media preacher of the day even stated that "the blood of Jesus Christ was of no more value than the blood of a hog." Next, the modern version Bibles began to take the blood of Jesus out of key scriptural passages like Colossians 1:14. "The Good News For Modern Man" Version changed references to the "blood of Christ" to the "death of Christ" in most verses. After messing with the hymnal AND the Bibles, the final step was to get preachers and whole denominations to dilute and pervert the message of the blood of Jesus Christ. This is happening at the present hour and is far more sweeping than in just the modernist churches! Many evangelical and fundamentalist groups are actually spearheading this latest attack. How vital is the truth about the blood of Jesus Christ? It is SO IMPORTANT that a man cannot be saved apart from the blood! This is not just a matter of opinion. It is not a 'two-sides-to-every-story' type of issue. Unless a person has the blood of Jesus Christ applied by faith, he will burn in Hell for eternity. "...without the shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22). It is absolutely vital that we get this doctrine right. Without the blood of Jesus Christ, there can be no cleansing from sin because "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7), there can be no overcoming power for the believer because "they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 12:11), and there can be no life because "the blood of it is the life thereof" (Leviticus 17:14). Without the truth about Jesus' blood, a church is no more than a barren fig tree, a well without water, a dead witness, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:5). There can be no peace with God apart from the blood of Jesus! "And having made peace through the blood of His cross..." (Colossians 1:20). Justification can only be secured through His blood. "Much more then, being now justified by His blood..." (Romans 5:9). Sanctification (spiritual growth) is only available through Christ's shed blood. "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate." (Hebrews 13:12). We have constant access to the presence of God, all because of His shed blood. "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 10:19). Our future home in Heaven and our glorified bodies are made possible because of His blood."...for Thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." (Revelation 5:9). Actually, the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the cross has purchased for us everything that we will ever need! Despite this precious truth, there are many who have decided to demean the blood and relegate it to a mere human substance. This is a tragedy and will cause many to reap eternal consequences. The men propagating the false doctrine of Jesus' blood being merely human have taken their lead from a heresy espoused by popular media preacher, John MacArthur. In one of his publications, MacArthur makes this statement, "Jesus was 100% human; He had human blood and He shed human blood. There was nothing in the chemicals of His blood that could save. This is the historic position. There was nothing in Christ's blood that could save. It was not the blood, but the death of Christ that saves. It is not His bleeding which saved me, but His dying." ('Not His Bleeding But His Dying,' Grace Today, May 1976, pg.10).
It is sad that many have followed this line of reasoning, and have divorced His bleeding from His dying. The Bible MAKES NO SUCH DISTINCTION! In fact, the Word of God speaks of both His bleeding AND His dying on the cross to pay the price for our sin debt. These two actions are inseparable, and men like McArthur make a horrible mistake in muddying the waters here. Jesus said, "For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28). "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things...but with the precious blood of Christ, as a Lamb without blemish or spot." (1 Peter 1:19-20). "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood." (Revelation 1:5). Many other scriptures, as well, confirm with clarity that we are indeed saved by Jesus' blood...despite Mr. MacArthur's objections. Those who have bought into J. Mac's heresy (begun in the 1970's), have been on a downslide of degrading the blood to the point, where now, some have even compared our Lord's precious blood to human feces and human bodily functions. They claim that there is NO DIVINE QUALITY to the blood of Jesus Christ. We must remember, however, that Jesus Christ was BOTH 100% human and 100% God. The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ was God Who took on human flesh and became a man. (John 1:14). The Bible clearly states that Jesus' blood was not only human, it was GOD'S BLOOD.
1.) In Acts 20:28, it says, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood." Notice it was God Who purchased the church with His own blood! "the church of GOD, which He (GOD) purchased with His (GOD's) own blood. Nothing could be any clearer.
2.) The blood of Jesus Christ is ETERNAL in its' impact. "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do His will..." (Hebrews 13:20). The blood of Jesus brought about an everlasting covenant! It purchased eternal life for whosoever believeth on Him. Mere human blood could not do this. Eternality is an attribute of God. For the blood of Jesus Christ to bring about eternal consequences, then, it would have to be GOD'S BLOOD! To shed blood and DIE, Christ would have had to be human, for God cannot die. To shed blood that would have an eternal impact (it is still saving lost souls today, still sanctifying believers, 2000 years after it was shed!) it would have to be GOD'S BLOOD.
3.) 1 Peter 1:19-20 says, "...ye were not redeemed with corruptible things...but with the precious blood of Christ..." proving that the blood shed on the cross was NOT CORRUPTIBLE! Anything HUMAN corrupts. We rot, decay, decompose because we are corruptible. But, the blood of Jesus Christ is incorruptible because it is the blood of Almighty God! I was asked by a preacher the other day, 'What happened to the blood of Jesus when it spilled from His body on the cross?' At first I really didn't know where he was heading with such a question, but it became evident when he continued. He went on to say, 'I believe that the only sane thing to say is that it rotted in the ground and was consumed by insects and later became insect waste.' This is honestly how far some preachers and denominations are going in showing their utter contempt for the precious blood of the Lamb! It makes me physically sick! Preachers are becoming so depraved that there is just about no extreme that they will not go in their perverse claims. They are coming very close to counting the blood of Jesus Christ an unholy thing. (Read Hebrews 10:29-31). Here is the Bible truth about what happened to the INCORRUPTIBLE BLOOD of Jesus Christ after He shed it on the Cross. First of all, the blood that poured forth from the riven body of Jesus Christ ran down the cross and stained the sand upon the hill of Golgotha...BUT IT DID NOT REMAIN IN THE SAND TO BE EATEN BY WORMS AND BUGS. It is clear from the scriptures, that the blood shed by our Lord IS NOW IN HEAVEN! "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, which are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, AND TO THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 12:22-24). This passage is listing things that are IN HEAVEN! Angels, the assembly of just men who have died and gone home, God the Father, Jesus Christ our Mediator, AND THE BLOOD THAT JESUS CHRIST SHED ON THE CROSS, are all declared in the Bible to be in Heaven. Jesus, after His resurrection, had to appear before God the Father with the sinless blood that was shed on the cross. "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" (Hebrews 9:24). Jesus did not enter into the earthly Jewish temple as the high priests had done in the past. The temple and all of its features were merely figures (types, pictures, portrayals) of Heaven and what would happen there after the Savior had died on the cross, paying the price for our sins. This is why He told Mary not to touch Him after He had risen from the dead. He was saying, "Don't restrain Me because I have to ascend to the Father." "Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John 20:17). It is notable that later, after He had ascended and taken care of the task of sprinkling His blood on the Heavenly mercy seat, He encouraged Thomas to touch Him! (see John 20:24-28). God had required the Jewish High Priests of the Old Testament to perform a ceremonial sacrifice once a year to atone for the sins of the Israelites. The sacrifice was a picture of the coming Messiah Who would die on the cross for the sins of the whole world. This practice ceased when Christ died on the cross and shed His blood there. The Old Testament type had been FULFILLED IN CHRIST'S ATONING WORK. The shadow of things to come had now become a reality. "Who serve unto the EXAMPLE AND SHADOW of Heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed thee in the mount" (Hebrews 5:8). The Old Testament tabernacle was a mirror image of the tabernacle in Heaven, where the Lord Jesus would present the blood that He shed...applying it to the Heavenly mercy seat. To teach that Jesus' blood was not important and that God merely left it in the ground to rot (corrupt), be consumed by insects and expelled as waste, is a horrible injustice to our Savior and all that He suffered for us! Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of our sins. (Hebrews 9:22). He washed us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5). We are not redeemed with corruptible things, BUT with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). Why men insist on demeaning and degrading His blood can only be answered by them and God. Christian, please don't listen to the new evangelical rantings of men like John MacArthur. Return to contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, without fear or favor! jrr
