DRAWING NEAR Think of the declared effectiveness of the blood of Christ. The presence of this potency explains WHY we can boldly and confidently enter into the presence of the Lord. We are brought within the proximity of Deity – made nigh – "by the blood of Jesus Christ" (Eph 2:13). That confirms that Christ's blood is honored in heaven as well as upon the earth. God the Father Himself has respect to the blood of the Lamb. It therefore makes perfect sense for us to avail ourselves of that blood.
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Heb 10:19-22)
Devotion 5 of 16
This blood is so powerful, it can "purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb 9:14). That is, it can free the conscience from the bondage and the defilement of guiltiness. Guilt drives one from the presence of the Lord, as it did Adam and Eve. It also stands as a ruthless sentinel, forbidding its possessor to serve the living God. How precious, therefore, that the blood of Christ cleanses, yea eradicates, the conscience from those works that are characterized by death and alienation from God. "Dead works" are works that cannot stand before God. They cannot survive Divine scrutiny. They are works that tie men to the order that is passing away.
Never has there been such a powerful spiritual effect upon the sons of men. No philosophy, regardless of its supposed superiority, has ever been able to purge the conscience! Those who take their defiled consciences to the psychiatrist couch find that repeated returns are necessary. They are only given the meager salve of human wisdom, which is like applying a drop or two of water upon a gapping and mortal wound. No human effort, regardless of how arduous it is, has ever been able to produce a conscience that is at ease in the presence of the Almighty! The paltry offerings of men may bring a night's sleep, but they cannot bring confidence in the presence of the Almighty God.
We have been "redeemed" by Christ's blood from the empty and vain way of life received by powerless traditions from our fathers. Thus it is written, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were 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 Pet 1:18-19). The magnitude of this redemption is seen in the multitudes of religious people who remain in the grip of religious tradition – just like many of the Jews during the early days of the church. There is no need for those in Christ to remain enslaved to vain traditions – to lifeless and unsatisfying religion. The blood of Christ has redeemed us from such a past, and brought us into the glorious freedom for which Christ has made us free (Gal 5:1).
In further elaboration of this redemption, the Spirit testifies, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph 1:7). Sins were like a vast accrued debt, compounded over the entirety of our lives outside of Christ. Our own efforts could not free us from this massive debt, nor could the efforts of our peers. However, Christ's blood removed the debt, detached the weight of sin, and provided a clean and clear record before God.
The election of God, according to His foreknowledge has been implemented through the convicting and separating power of the Holy Spirit, combined with the blood of Jesus. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto (in order to) obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 1:2). As mighty as God is, and as determined as He was to save those foreknown by Him, He still needed a reason to do so – a reason that would enable Him to be both the Just and the Justifier of the one who believes in Jesus (Rom 3:26). The blood of Christ provided that reason.
As we walk in the illumination provided through the Gospel – walking in the light "as He is in the light" – the blood of Christ continually cleanses us from all sin. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). This is a most remarkable provision, revealing the glorious extent of salvation.
Faith in this blood produces a covering for sin. "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" (Rom 3:25). This is nothing less that "being now justified by His blood" (Rom 5:9; Col 1:14). Peace has been made through "the blood of His cross" (Col 1:20), thereby allowing us to fellowship with God and with one another. It has provoked God to rip the veil in two that separated men from Him, and batter down the wall that stood between Jew and Gentile – the only ethnic classes God has ever made or honored.
Truly, the blood Christ "speaks better things than that of Abel" (Heb 12:24). Abel's blood "cried out" from ground, demanding vengeance against Cain, who slew him (Gen 4:10). Christ's blood shouts redemption, salvation, peace, justification, and reconciliation to every soul who believes and obeys the Son. There is no reason why you cannot enter into the "Holiest" through "the precious blood of Christ" (1 Pet 1:19). Do it, child of God! Do it!
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the blood that cleanses from all sin. I praise You that, although I caused the shedding of that blood, it was not my blood that You required to save me.
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