ARE YOU WASHED IN THE BLOOD?
Friend, may I ask you a question? Are you 100% sure that you are not going to burn in hell forever? You know, most people think they’ll go to heaven because of their good works, their church membership, their baptism or some other human effort, but God’s word declares otherwise! “There is none righteous, no, not one:” (Romans 3:10), so God does not expect you to EARN your way to heaven. Sure God wants you to live a holy life, and sure he wants you involved in the work and worship of the church, but he never said once that such effort could SAVE anyone. These things have to do with SERVICE, not salvation.
So what DOES save a sinner? I would like for you to read very carefully as we study through several passages of scripture, because from the beginning of time God has been designing a master redemption plan.
First, let’s consider two verses from Genesis chapter three: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (verse 7) Here we see Adam and Eve immediately after they had sinned against God. They were ashamed, so they covered their nakedness in FIG LEAVES. Did this please God? No, it did not. In verse twenty- one we read “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Why do you suppose God preferred animal skin over fig leaves? Their nakedness was covered either way, so why did God prefer the skins? There’s only one answer: THE BLOOD. No blood had to be shed to make aprons of fig leaves, but God had to kill an innocent animal, probably a lamb, in order to make coats of skins. This pictured the BLOOD of Jesus Christ that would one day be shed for the sin of the world. Revelation 13:8 speaks about “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” That is, the blood shed in the beginning (Genesis 3) pictures Jesus Christ dying on the cross for your sins.
Let’s go to Genesis chapter four. Cain and Able decided to offer a sacrifice to God. Cain offers of “the fruit of the ground” (verse 3) and Abel offers of “the firstlings of his flock” (verse 4). God accepts Abel’s offering, but he does not accept Cain’s offering. Why not? Surely Cain worked very hard in the fields for his crop. Why would God not be pleased with it? There was NO BLOOD shed with Cain’s offering. Abel offered an animal sacrifice, but Cain did not, so God refused his offering. The same is true today. God refuses to save anyone on the merits of their own good works or good intentions. “. . . without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Heb. 9:22)
Now let’s move over to Exodus chapter twelve. At this point God had just performed many miracles of judgment against Pharaoh and the Egyptians for enslaving and abusing the Jews, yet Pharaoh refused to release God’s people. So the final day has come. God will now strike the Egyptians with one final judgment. He says in Exodus 12:12, “For 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.” God is going to kill all the firstborn children in Egypt, as well as the firstborn beasts. To protect his own people, the Jews, God tells them to kill a lamb and put its blood “ . . . on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses . . . “ (verse 7). He then says, “ 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 . . . “ (verse 13)
God did not say, “When I see your good works, or your church membership I will pass over you.” God said, “When I see THE BLOOD I will pass over you.” So it is today. God is looking for BLOOD. If you are covered by the BLOOD of Jesus Christ, then you are saved. If you are not under the BLOOD, then you are lost and on your way to Hell. Leviticus 17:11 says, “. . . it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
Now let’s come to the New Testament and see how the blood atonement finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Before Jesus appears publicly, John the Baptist is preaching to the Jews. Then one day John looks up and sees Jesus Christ. Do you know what he says? He doesn’t say, “Why, there’s Jesus!” He doesn’t say, “Behold, the Messiah!” He doesn’t even say, “Behold, the Son of God!” John takes one look at the Lord Jesus Christ and cries out, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The LAMB OF GOD! Friend, a lamb is for sacrifice! A BLOOD ATONEMENT! John was saying that Jesus would be sacrificed for the sin of the world.
In Matthew 26:28 Jesus said, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Jesus shed his BLOOD for you!
Romans 3:23-25 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God . . .” Faith in what? He said you need to have faith in his BLOOD.
Romans 5:8-9 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. How are you justified? By the BLOOD of Jesus Christ!
Consider Revelation 1:5, “ . . . Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Friend, if you are saved, it is because you have been washed in the BLOOD of Jesus Christ. There is no other way to be saved from your sins and from hell.
Now consider Hebrews 9:14: “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?” Would you like to know how YOU can come in contact with the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST and be washed from all your sins? It says THROUGH THE ETERNAL SPIRIT. If God’s Spirit is speaking to your heart about salvation, then the BLOOD of Jesus Christ is present and available to you RIGHT NOW. There is no other way to become a child of God and escape the damnation of hell. You must be born again (John 3:3) by God’s Spirit, and this can only be done by being washed in the BLOOD of Jesus Christ.
Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Why not confess to God right now that you are a sinner, and ask him to wash you in the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. Claim his word and trust him today.
(Available in tract form at http://www.biblebaptistpublications.org/orderonline.html)
