3 Problems Only the Blood of Jesus Can Solve
Originally posted on the Bibles for America Blog.
In other posts, we discussed how believers in Jesus Christ can be fully assured they’re saved and can never lose their salvation.
When we received Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were forgiven and washed from our sins. But although our salvation is eternal, after we’re saved, we still commit sins. We disobey God or fail Him in many situations in our daily living.
After all, 1 John 1:8—which was written to believers—says:
“If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
When we sin, it results in three problems involving three parties—God, ourselves, and Satan. Let’s look at these problems and the unique solution to each: the blood of Jesus.
1. We’re separated from God
Isaiah 59:1-2 tells us what happens between us and God when we sin:
“No, Jehovah’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have become a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
Since God is holy and absolutely righteous, our sins separate us from Him. It doesn’t take committing a serious crime to separate us from God; even telling a little lie creates a barrier between us and Him. Only the blood of Jesus can remove this barrier.
Solution: The blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin
Let’s read what 1 John 1:7 and 9 say:
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin…If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We can be forgiven and cleansed from every sin by the blood of Jesus. This removes the separation between us and God.
But notice in these verses that for us to be forgiven, something is first required: we must confess our sins to God. When we confess, He is faithful and righteous to forgive and cleanse us because the blood of Jesus satisfies all God’s righteous requirements.
Note 2 on verse 9 in the New Testament Recovery Version says:
“God is faithful in His word (v. 10) and righteous in the blood of Jesus His Son (v. 7). His word is the word of the truth of His gospel (Eph. 1:13), which tells us that He will forgive us our sins because of Christ (Acts 10:43); and the blood of Christ has fulfilled His righteous requirements that He might forgive us our sins (Matt. 26:28). If we confess our sins, He, according to His word and based on the redemption through the blood of Jesus, forgives us because He must be faithful in His word and righteous in the blood of Jesus; otherwise, He would be unfaithful and unrighteous.”
Sometimes after we confess our sins to God, we may not feel forgiven. But our feelings don’t determine whether we’re forgiven; our forgiveness is based on the blood of Jesus. According to the Bible, if we confess our sins to God, we’re forgiven and have the right to come boldly to Him. The separation is removed, and we can enjoy fellowship with Him once more.
2. We have guilt in our conscience
Another huge problem created by sin is the guilt we feel inside. God is satisfied with the blood of Jesus as payment for our sins, but we may be plagued by guilt. This is because the sins we commit leave a stain on our conscience. The feeling of guilt comes from our stained conscience.
To have a guilty conscience is a serious matter. We all know the miserable effect a guilty conscience has upon us. And nothing we can do is capable of obliterating the stain on our conscience.
Solution: The blood of Christ purifies our conscience
But the Word of God gives us the answer to this problem. Hebrews 9:14 shows us the unique solution for a guilty conscience:
“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
The same blood that requires God to forgive us also purifies our conscience and washes away the stain of sin. The blood of Christ is truly powerful!
If a feeling of guilt remains after we confess our sins, we should simply stand upon the Word of God. We can pray, “Thank You, Lord Jesus, by Your blood I’m forgiven and cleansed. Lord, Your Word says that Your blood even purifies my conscience! Thank You, my sin is completely washed away by the blood of Jesus.” The more we stand upon the Word of God instead of trusting in our feelings, the more we’re assured that the stain on our conscience is cleansed away.
3. We’re accused by Satan
After we’ve dealt with our sins before God, we may encounter another problem: an inward feeling of accusation regarding our sins. This accusation can become like a giant cloud over our heads, robbing us of all peace. Even though we realize we’ve been forgiven by God and our conscience has been purified, we may be troubled by that lingering accusation and continue to blame ourselves for what we’ve done.
This feeling might drive us to confess our sin to God again, thinking we didn’t confess thoroughly enough the first time, or didn’t feel sorry enough. But no matter how many times we confess the same sin to God, the accusations just won’t go away.
Why is that? It’s extremely important to see where these accusations come from. They’re not from God. We’ve seen that God is bound by His faithfulness and righteousness to forgive us when we confess. The accusations don’t come from our conscience either. The blood of Jesus purifies our sin-stained conscience.
So where do such accusations come from? The Bible tells us that they come from Satan.
In fact, Revelation 12:10 says this about Satan:
“The accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night.”
Satan is God’s enemy and our accuser. He spends his time accusing the believers, even day and night. His goal is to weaken and even paralyze us. He wants to cheat us of our enjoyment of the Lord and all He’s done for us. If we accept his accusations, our fellowship with God will be hindered, and we’ll suffer great loss in our spiritual life.
Solution: We overcome Satan because of the blood of Jesus
But Revelation 12:11 tells us how to deal with these accusations from Satan:
“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb.”
Note 2 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version is enlightening:
“The blood of the Lamb, which is for our redemption, answers before God all the accusations of the devil against us and gives us the victory over him. We need to apply this blood whenever we sense the accusation of the devil.”
We certainly need to confess our sins to the Lord to be forgiven and have our conscience cleansed from the stain of sin. But after that, if we’re hounded by lingering accusations regarding that same sin, we must take further action. We have to say “NO!” to Satan’s accusations and declare to him the full effectiveness of the blood of Jesus. We have to point Satan, the one who accuses us, to the blood of the Lamb.
Instead of succumbing to Satan’s accusations, we must reject them. When he accuses us, we should simply declare, “Satan, I reject your accusations. Look at the blood of Jesus. God is satisfied by Christ’s redeeming blood, my conscience is purified with His cleansing blood, and you’re defeated by His overcoming blood!”
Experiencing the blood of Jesus
By believing in and experiencing the effectiveness of the blood of Jesus, our Christian walk will change.
We don’t ever have to remain separated from God, burdened by guilt, or tormented by Satan’s accusations. When we sin, we must confess our sins, believe God forgives us and purges our conscience from the stain of our sin, and even declare to Satan that we’ve been forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. The blood of Christ is truly precious!
To learn more about the power of the blood of Jesus, we recommend reading chapter 3 titled “The Precious Blood of Christ” in Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vol. 1, a book that has helped thousands of believers. If you’re an Australian resident, you can order the three-volume set for free here. You can also download these volumes from anywhere in the world here.
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