I read an article that
got "the gears of my mind” turning. It mentioned putting "faith in
the blood of Jesus," a phrase loosely based on Romans 3:25. (It
never ceases to amaze me how I can read a particular scripture, any scripture,
over and over again, and yet in a split moment have a lightbulb turn on that
never turned on before.)
We all know we should
put faith in God and in Jesus. But how in the world do we put faith in the
BLOOD of Jesus? That phrase seems to carry a significantly different meaning.
So I began to reflect if there was ever a time before where people had to
put (or demonstrate) faith in the value of blood. As I researched different
websites, one in particular extended the phrase "put faith in the blood of
Jesus" to include the words "through actions." Then the
lightbulb turned on. The Israelites preparing to exit Egypt were told to splatter blood on their doorposts. Those that put faith in that instruction and acted on it,
were spared the life of their firstborn. Those that did not obey lost the life
of their firstborn.
For the early Christian
congregations, who were predominantly offspring of Abraham, they were under
command to remember their deliverance from Egypt in a commemoration known as
the Passover. For them to accept that "The Law" (handed down from God
through Moses) and related Jewish customs were no longer needed, was a huge
issue. Yet Paul mentioned that it was a necessary transformation. At Galatians
3:13 Paul reasons that we must now put faith in Christ, that is, that Christ
purchased us (through his sacrificial blood) and thus released Christian
converts "from the curse of the Law."
But faith in the blood
of Jesus goes beyond removal of a curse. It was a huge breath of fresh air, a
"new covenant," just as prophesied at Jer 31:31-34. This
will help obedient ones appreciate that true loyalty to God goes beyond
perfunctory observations of rituals. It is something deep in the heart of a
sincere person. It is no longer "I'm required to obey," but rather
"I desire to, I want to obey." God becomes more than some unseen,
distant entity. He now becomes "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15-17
So for the early
converts to Christianity, putting faith in the blood of Jesus (at least in
part) came down to accepting that works of the Mosaic Law would not win them
approval with our Creator. Back then, as well as today, trust that his Son,
Jesus Christ, provides the ransom and the scriptural instruction we need to
live a truly godly life is what is paramount for all to realize.
(I do not intend this
essay to be an exhaustive consideration of the meaning of our putting “faith in
the blood of Jesus.” The intent here was to provide a snippet of thought in
appreciation that putting faith in anything requires demonstrable action.)
Glad to see you writing again Bart!
ReplyDeleteI understand what people mean when they speak of “faith in the blood of Jesus”, but it’s a bit of a misnomer. Rather, it’s what the phrase signifies; Jesus’ blood is the propitiation for our sin (Rom 3:25), which also fully satisfied God’s just requirement that sin be punished & paid for in blood. Christ offered Himself willingly, bearing humanity’s filth & sin in His body (foreshadowed by the O.T. scapegoat) as a substitutional sacrifice (in OUR stead, on OUR behalf, and for OUR sakes), and His precious blood was accepted as payment-in-full of the penalty incurred by us as sinful law-breakers. And while it was sufficient in atoning for the sins of the whole of humanity, it is only efficacious for those who accept Him and the reality of what He accomplished by faith.
And the one who accepts this reality (receives it by faith), trusting their life & eternal destiny wholly in what Jesus accomplished can know with assurance that His blood continually cleanses us from all sin (1John 1:7). And so, we can be certain that when we confess our own sins, God is faithful & just to forgive us of ALL of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9).
Additionally, when we trust by faith in Jesus and what He did for us, God can then ‘justify’ us/declare us ‘righteous’ (Rom 3:26) - even though we are plainly unrighteous - and that righteousness He grants us was earned by His Son’s 33+ years of perfect, sinless obedience to the Father (also for our sakes, and also integral to the Gospel message, which coincidentally has nothing to do with the ‘good news of the kingdom’ message). How mind-bogglingly awesome it all is!
Conversely, if one rejects what Jesus accomplished by way of His blood, then it is highly unlikely God will hear one’s confessions & request for forgiveness…because the only possibility for the sinner to know forgiveness & justification is by trusting by Faith in Jesus. Otherwise, the human has absolutely no way to atone for his/her own sin, let alone make themselves acceptably ‘righteous’ in God’s sight (only God can declare the unrighteous sinner to be righteous).
Albert
Albert: I intend my following comments as a gentle tease: When you wrote "How mind-bogglingly awesome it all is!", I thought to myself, "Good grief, what is mind-boggling is everything in 1st three paragraphs." (LOL)
ReplyDeleteYou went in a direction that was completely different than the intent of my article. You last paragraph came very near to my intent, namely, that more than mere cursory acknowledgement, more than merely appreciating Christ's message or the kind-hearted person he was, what it means to be Christian is acceptance of his sacrifice for our lives and all that it requires of us.
Just as the Israelites needed to "act" on the notification of splattering blood on their doorposts just before their exodus of Egypt; just as the early Jewish (Israelite) converts to Christianity needed to fully accept that Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law covenant; our accepting faith in "the blood of Jesus" means acceptance of God's direction for us.
What was the eye-opener for me was that I had never really considered how "faith in the blood of Jesus" differed from faith in general. Perhaps the biggest realization for me was that particularly for the early Jewish converts to Christianity, the notion of faith in the blood of Jesus must have been a monumental psychological hurtle. They had centuries of ingrained teachings and social structure to overcome. This would explain the battle they had in accepting that the practice of circumcision was unnecessary. It would also give insight to Paul's words at Colossians 2:16; Romans 14:3,17.
Today, most people claiming Christianity are "men of the nations," not former Jews. We don't face the internal and social struggles our early brothers did back when Christianity was struggling to get a foothold. However, it is possible for us to miss the vital importance of Paul's words at Romans 3:25.