The Cleansing Blood

There is no such thing as sanctification without the blood of Christ, for in Hebrews 13:12 we read: “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.” It will thus be seen that the blood of Christ, shed for the remission of sins, plays its part in the process of sanctification. Furthermore, it is declared that we are “justified by (or in) his blood” (Romans 5:9). Speaking of Christ, Paul in Ephesians 1:7, says: “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” The same truth is affirmed in Colossians 1:14: “in whom we have redemption through his blood.” John declares (1 John 1:7), “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,” “and,” says the writer of Hebrews (9:22, R.V.), “apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.”

This makes Christ, as 1 John 2:2 puts it, “the propitiation for our sins; and not for our’s only, but for the sins of the whole world.” Further along in this epistle (1 John 4:10) the same fundamental truth is reiterated: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.” Or, in other words, Christ was offered for our sins, paying the price of our redemption, thus bringing about the reconciliation between man and God, by having us, when still enemies, “reconciled to God.” This is affirmed to have been done in “the death of his Son” (Romans 5: 10).

This is what we understand by the doctrine of the atonement–the bringing of man back to God-brought about through Christ, the Propitiation for our sins, who shed his blood for the sins of the whole world, and in whose blood there is remission of sins. And so it follows, as stated by Peter, “that ye have not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Hence man’s redemption must be ascribed to the blood of Christ, shed for the remission of sins. It is by his atoning blood that we are cleansed, through faith and obedience to his Word.