4 Key Verses About the Blood of Jesus Christ
Originally posted on the Bibles for America Blog.
The Bible tells us we believers have an excellent remedy that’s more than able to deal with the sins we commit: the blood of Jesus Christ.
When we first believed in Jesus as our Savior, God forgave us and washed us of our sins. This is because the blood Christ shed on the cross satisfied all God’s righteous demands that were upon us.
And the same is true after we’re saved. We’re forgiven of our sins not because of anything we can do but because of the precious blood of Jesus.
But have you ever wondered whether you were really forgiven after you sinned? Have you felt troubled by the fear that the stain of your sin would be with you forever?
To address this problem, we need to see the powerful effectiveness of the blood of Christ in dealing with our sins. For this, we need to know the truth from the Word of God regarding this matter. Then we’ll put our complete faith in the blood of Jesus.
The blood of Christ is truly precious, and the Bible reveals many marvelous aspects of what it does for us. In this post, we’ll focus on just four of these aspects by looking at verses and notes from the Recovery Version. This will fortify our faith in the blood of Jesus and its effectiveness for our whole Christian life.
1. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin
In order for us to experience God’s forgiveness and cleansing when we’ve sinned, we need to confess our sins to God. To confess means we admit what we’ve done and agree with God that it is sin. This is an indispensable requirement.
First John 1:9 says:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When our conscience alerts us that we’ve done something wrong, we can simply say something like, “Yes, Lord, I’ve sinned in that way. Forgive me.” And when we confess, the result is that we’re forgiven and cleansed.
What are we cleansed by?
First John 1:7 tells us:
“The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.”
So when we confess our sins to God, we’re forgiven of our sins and cleansed from them by the blood of Jesus. This is a marvelous fact!
2. The blood of Christ purifies our conscience
None of us can go through the day without getting our hands dirty. Similarly, none of us can live a single day without committing a sin, whether it’s big or small. Just as we must wash our hands when they’re dirty, we should confess our sins whenever our conscience tells us we’ve offended God.
Hebrews 10:22 says:
“Let us come forward to the Holy of Holies with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
When we sin, our conscience is weighed down by guilt, which negatively affects our faith. We simply don’t have the assurance that we can come to God; we may think we have no right to.
But this verse tells us we can come forward to the Holy of Holies, that is to God, with the full assurance of faith when our hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience. What sprinkles our heart from an evil conscience?
Hebrews 9:14 says:
“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 Word of God assures us that the pure and sinless blood Christ shed on the cross sprinkles our heart from an evil conscience and even purifies our conscience.
So we confess our sins, and the blood of Christ thoroughly purifies our conscience from any guilt or stain! This wonderful fact should give us the full assurance of faith to come to God.
3. The blood of Christ speaks for us
The blood of Jesus is powerful and effective in cleansing us from our sins when we confess. Did you know the blood of Christ even speaks to God for us? This is the speaking that God hears and takes heed to.
Hebrews 12:24 says:
“And to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaks something better than that of Abel.”
In Genesis 4, Cain killed his brother Abel. God then told Cain, “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.” Hebrews 12:24 tells us that today the blood of Jesus speaks something better than Abel’s blood.
What does the blood of Christ speak to God? Let’s read the first part of note 3 on this verse in the Recovery Version:
“The blood of Christ not only redeems, sanctifies, and purifies; it also speaks. It is the speaking blood, speaking something better than the blood of Abel. Abel’s blood speaks to God for accusation and vengeance (Gen. 4:10-15), whereas Christ’s blood speaks to God for forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, and redemption.”
Nothing we speak can ever justify us before God. But the blood of Christ powerfully speaks to God of forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, and redemption for us, taking care of our problems before God.
And that’s not all. The blood of Christ speaks even more. Let’s read the second part of the note:
“Moreover, this precious blood speaks to God on our behalf, saying that by the blood (as unveiled in this book [Hebrews]) the new covenant, which is eternal, has been enacted, and that in this new covenant God must give Himself and all His blessings to the believers in Christ who receive this covenant out of faith.”
A covenant is something binding. The Lord’s blood speaks to God that He must give Himself and all His blessings to us, not because we’re worthy, but because Jesus enacted the new covenant by the shedding of His blood.
Just before Jesus went to the cross to die, He told the disciples in Matthew 26:28, “For this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
Note 2 on covenant in this verse explains:
“Some MSS insert, new. The Lord’s blood, having satisfied God’s righteousness, enacted the new covenant. In this new covenant God gives us forgiveness, life, salvation, and all spiritual, heavenly, and divine blessings. When this new covenant is given to us, it is a cup (Luke 22:20), a portion for us. The Lord shed His blood, God established the covenant, and we enjoy the cup, in which God and all that is of Him are our portion. The blood is the price that Christ paid for us, the covenant is the title deed that God made for us, and the cup is the portion that we receive from God.”
Today the blood of Christ also speaks that the new covenant has been enacted. God’s righteousness has been completely satisfied by the blood of Jesus, and we’re the beneficiaries. Because of this, we can enjoy God and forgiveness, life, salvation, love, peace, grace, and all other spiritual blessings in the new covenant.
The wonderful blood of Christ does so much for us! Surely we can and should rest on this fact seen in the Bible.
4. The blood of Jesus Christ releases us
Perhaps after we’ve confessed our sins, we still feel as if we’re bound and subdued. We don’t feel free from them.
Instead of relying on how we feel, we should believe and stand upon this clear word in Revelation 1:5:
“And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood.”
We are released from our sins by the Lord’s blood that He shed for us on the cross. Jesus paid the full penalty for all of our sins by dying for us. When we confess our sins, we must realize that we’re no longer held by them, because the blood of Jesus frees us.
The blood of Jesus is a releasing blood! We can declare this great fact found in the Word of God:
“Lord Jesus, thank You for releasing me from my sins by Your blood! Because of Your blood, they no longer hold me!”
Believing and standing on the Word of God
When we confess our sins, we should believe in the Word of God and put our trust in it, not in our unreliable thoughts or feelings. Since the blood Christ shed for us is enough for God, it should be enough for us.
God wants us to come to Him all the time to enjoy Him as our life and everything, and the blood of Christ is our way to do that. His Word is unchanging and trustworthy and tells us the blood of Christ cleanses us, purifies our conscience, speaks for us, and releases us. We can have absolute confidence in it.
Instead of being filled with fear and doubt, let’s stand upon God’s Word and declare the facts in it. This will fill us with faith and thanks to the Lord!
In this post, we only briefly discussed four wonderful aspects of what the blood of Jesus Christ does on our behalf. We hope these verses and notes have helped you. If you live in Australia, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here to read all the notes and cross-references on this crucial subject.
To learn more about the precious blood of Jesus, you can also read 3 Problems Only the Blood of Jesus Can Solve.
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