Churchwork
04-14-2006, 09:40 PM
The Blood and the Cross: Their Meanings and Effects
The Blood Gives Us Forgiveness and Aquittal; The Cross Gives Us Release and Deliverance
What is the difference between the meaning and the effect of the blood with that of the cross? Why does the Bible never say we shed blood with the Lord, but only says we were crucified with the Lord?
Answer:
At the outset, we need to address ourselves to the following question. If our sins have been taken away before God, why do we still have sin in us? We need to answer whatever doubt is raised by this question first.
The Bible indicates to us in many places how our Lord shed blood and in many other places how our Lord was crucified. Is the meaning and effect of the blood the same as that of the cross? Are they interchangeable? Can we, for example, change the reading of Hebrews 9.22—"Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission"—to "Apart from being crucified on the cross there is no remission"? Moreover, can we in Romans 6.6 alter the words "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him" to read: "Knowing this, that our old man shed blood with him"? If their meanings and effects are the same, then they are interchangeable. If they are not interchangeable, they must be different.
Hence what are the meaning and the effect of the blood? And also, of the cross?
Let us first look at the blood side. The Bible mentions a great deal about the blood, in over four hundred places in fact. Why does God require the blood? Why will He slay all who dare to approach Him without the blood? The following verse will be helpful: "The life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life" (Lev. 17.11). This verse plainly tells us that the blood is for atonement. Where does it atone? On the altar. The work of the blood is before God, it is not in the first instance directed toward us. The blood atones for us before God that He might reckon our sins as taken away; it does not cleanse the sins inwardly in us.
But, some will ask, does not 1 John 1.7 say that "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin"? Indeed, that Scripture passage so says, but we still need to remember that the cleansing of sins by the blood always refers to a cleansing before God. What are the words which precede these words in this verse? "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another"; and then there follows, "and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin"—thus showing that the cleansing is before God. The effect of the blood is wholly Godward. It is God who demands the blood, and hence the blood is brought before Him.
Yet some may further inquire about the verse in Hebrews 9 which declares this: "How much more shall the blood of Christ . . . cleanse your conscience" (v.14). Let us realize that the cleansing here refers to the cleansing of the conscience, not the cleansing of the sinful nature. Our sinful nature is never cleansed by the blood. The word of God never says that the blood cleanses the old nature, or the flesh. The blood only cleanses us from our sins before God. It only cleanses our conscience that we may have boldness before Him. "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission." With the blood sins are forgiven, and therefore we have peace. By the blood of the Lord Jesus we have boldness to enter the holy place through the way which He dedicated for us, that new and living way (Heb. 10. 19,20). Hence it is the blood which is brought to heaven; the cross is not brought to heaven. The Bible affirms that the Lord Jesus shed blood, not that we ever shed blood with the Lord. It is well if we lay hold of this fact that the blood secures for us forgiveness before God because it takes away our sins.
Many people do not have liberty and boldness before God because they misunderstand the effect of the blood, taking it as cleansing the sin within them. As a consequence they fail to see the efficacy of the blood. The cleansing in 1 John 1.7 does not apply to the sin within, as though it cleanses even the root of sin. This verse is only speaking of the cleansing before God. He alone demands the blood; and the blood of the Lord Jesus alone satisfies God’s heart. Because of this, we freely draw nigh to Him by the blood at any time. No matter how we feel about our sins—whether they are great or small, rough or refined, forgivable or unforgivable—all these sins have been cleansed before God. "Though your sins be as scarlet," says the Bible, "they shall be as white as snow" (Is. 1.18). What does this mean? It means God is able to erase every scar and trace of sins as though you had never sinned. This of course points to your condition before Him. Although you are still no good inside, yet before God your sins are all taken away from before His eyes.
By reading Numbers 20.2-9 and 21.4-9 we can readily perceive how bad was the condition of the children of Israel in the wilderness. They sinned and they murmured against God. Yet what does Numbers 23 say about them? "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob; neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel" (v.21). Now this was a reality, for we must notice that the matter of sin is dealt with in two distinct areas: one is before God, the other is in us. The blood cleanses our sins before God so that He sees nothing unrighteous with us.
Does the Bible ever state that we are justified by the cross? Never, because justification is through the blood. With the blood before Him, God is able to justify us. What is this justification, that is, what is this righteousness? This righteousness is that which makes us fit to dwell in heaven together with God. The blood of the Lord Jesus gives us a place in heaven that we may dwell with God. We may enter heaven boldly by the blood. God truly knows how valuable is the blood!
"On this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before Jehovah" (Lev. 16.30). This plainly tells us that all sins are cleansed before God, not cleansed within us. As regards us, the blood is confined to the cleansing of our conscience that we may no longer be conscious of sins and that there may therefore be no distance between us and God. The blood clears our conscience from the accusation which stems from all the sins we have committed, but it does not take away our consciousness of the root of sin. In His death the Lord bore our sins before God; hence His blood cleanses us before God. Blood is to atone for our sins; it is not for the purpose of eradicating the sinful nature in us.
In fact, in the phrase "taketh away the sin of the world" of John 1.29 and in the phrase "cleanseth us from all sin" of 1 John 1.7, the word "sin" in both cases is singular in number. This is because as a collective term it refers to the whole problem of sin (for an earlier discussion of this subject see Question 7 above). In neither case can the "taketh away" or "cleanseth us" be applied to the matter of taking away the root of sin or a cleansing us from the root of sin. Both verses are in reference to how the blood of the Lord solves our sin problem.
Moving on next to the second part of the question, we must see that the meaning and the effect of the cross is quite different from that of the blood. Blood is before God, the cross is in us. Blood solves our sin problem, the cross solves the problem of the old man. God has not only given us liberty before Him through the blood, He has also given us the cross that we may have our corrupt self or flesh dealt with.
The flesh is dealt with by the cross: "They that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof" (Gal. 5.24). Does it say the blood cleanses the flesh? No, it says crucified the flesh. Cleansing is of no avail here. Let us illustrate it this way. Both a living child and a clay doll become dirty. After the living child is washed he is clean. But no matter how the clay doll is washed it is never clean because it is made of clay. The corrupted flesh is like the clay doll. It has become so corrupted throughout that even the blood of the Lord cannot cleanse it. The only way to deal with the flesh is to have it crucified.
God uses the blood to cleanse us from our sins, but He uses the cross to crucify our flesh. We cannot have our sins cleansed before God by the cross, nor can we cleanse our flesh by the blood. "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin" (Rom. 6.6). In the original Greek, "done away" in this passage and "cumber" in Luke 13.7 are the same word. It does not mean an annihilating of the body of sin, rather does it signify rendering it useless or powerless. It can therefore also be translated as "unemployed". After God has crucified the old man, the body which always is in subjection to sin is rendered powerless, and thus is no longer in bondage to sin—just as if it were unemployed. We Christians ought not to sin; yet the way of victory lies not in our own conception but according to the word of God. Today we need not ask Him to do the work of sanctification for us, we are instead to thank Him that He has already crucified us on the cross. We need not to believe that God will do but to believe that He has done it. While promise is to be obtained through prayer, fact is to be gained through simple faith. The crucifixion of the old man with the Lord is an accomplished fact. It is well if we believe it. Simply believe, and no temptation can then touch us. The only way of victory is to abide in the Lord by faith, abiding in the accomplished fact in the Lord. Any deviation will curtail the progress.
"I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2.20). Here it does not declare that I have shed blood with Christ. Instead it announces that this no good I of mine has been crucified with Christ. Let us be absolutely clear: the blood deals with sins, the cross deals with the flesh. The blood gives us forgiveness and acquittal; the cross gives us release and deliverance from the power of sin that we may no longer be in bondage to sin. Blood is related to salvation, the cross is linked to victory. Blood solves our sins before God; the cross dissolves our very selves. Just as we believe in the blood let us also believe in the cross. And it is well if we believe in both daily.
"Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6.11). "Neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but . . . your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (v.13). We now are doing two things: the one is to stand daily on verse 11, believing that we have died and that therefore the body of sin has become unemployed; the other is to present our members as instruments of righteousness to God. If our presenting is inadequate, we will yet fall. If we do not do what God wants us to do, we still may falter. We must trust on the one hand and obey on the other. Trusting what has already been accomplished and obeying what God is asking will spontaneously bring in victory.
The Blood Gives Us Forgiveness and Aquittal; The Cross Gives Us Release and Deliverance
What is the difference between the meaning and the effect of the blood with that of the cross? Why does the Bible never say we shed blood with the Lord, but only says we were crucified with the Lord?
Answer:
At the outset, we need to address ourselves to the following question. If our sins have been taken away before God, why do we still have sin in us? We need to answer whatever doubt is raised by this question first.
The Bible indicates to us in many places how our Lord shed blood and in many other places how our Lord was crucified. Is the meaning and effect of the blood the same as that of the cross? Are they interchangeable? Can we, for example, change the reading of Hebrews 9.22—"Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission"—to "Apart from being crucified on the cross there is no remission"? Moreover, can we in Romans 6.6 alter the words "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him" to read: "Knowing this, that our old man shed blood with him"? If their meanings and effects are the same, then they are interchangeable. If they are not interchangeable, they must be different.
Hence what are the meaning and the effect of the blood? And also, of the cross?
Let us first look at the blood side. The Bible mentions a great deal about the blood, in over four hundred places in fact. Why does God require the blood? Why will He slay all who dare to approach Him without the blood? The following verse will be helpful: "The life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life" (Lev. 17.11). This verse plainly tells us that the blood is for atonement. Where does it atone? On the altar. The work of the blood is before God, it is not in the first instance directed toward us. The blood atones for us before God that He might reckon our sins as taken away; it does not cleanse the sins inwardly in us.
But, some will ask, does not 1 John 1.7 say that "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin"? Indeed, that Scripture passage so says, but we still need to remember that the cleansing of sins by the blood always refers to a cleansing before God. What are the words which precede these words in this verse? "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another"; and then there follows, "and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin"—thus showing that the cleansing is before God. The effect of the blood is wholly Godward. It is God who demands the blood, and hence the blood is brought before Him.
Yet some may further inquire about the verse in Hebrews 9 which declares this: "How much more shall the blood of Christ . . . cleanse your conscience" (v.14). Let us realize that the cleansing here refers to the cleansing of the conscience, not the cleansing of the sinful nature. Our sinful nature is never cleansed by the blood. The word of God never says that the blood cleanses the old nature, or the flesh. The blood only cleanses us from our sins before God. It only cleanses our conscience that we may have boldness before Him. "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission." With the blood sins are forgiven, and therefore we have peace. By the blood of the Lord Jesus we have boldness to enter the holy place through the way which He dedicated for us, that new and living way (Heb. 10. 19,20). Hence it is the blood which is brought to heaven; the cross is not brought to heaven. The Bible affirms that the Lord Jesus shed blood, not that we ever shed blood with the Lord. It is well if we lay hold of this fact that the blood secures for us forgiveness before God because it takes away our sins.
Many people do not have liberty and boldness before God because they misunderstand the effect of the blood, taking it as cleansing the sin within them. As a consequence they fail to see the efficacy of the blood. The cleansing in 1 John 1.7 does not apply to the sin within, as though it cleanses even the root of sin. This verse is only speaking of the cleansing before God. He alone demands the blood; and the blood of the Lord Jesus alone satisfies God’s heart. Because of this, we freely draw nigh to Him by the blood at any time. No matter how we feel about our sins—whether they are great or small, rough or refined, forgivable or unforgivable—all these sins have been cleansed before God. "Though your sins be as scarlet," says the Bible, "they shall be as white as snow" (Is. 1.18). What does this mean? It means God is able to erase every scar and trace of sins as though you had never sinned. This of course points to your condition before Him. Although you are still no good inside, yet before God your sins are all taken away from before His eyes.
By reading Numbers 20.2-9 and 21.4-9 we can readily perceive how bad was the condition of the children of Israel in the wilderness. They sinned and they murmured against God. Yet what does Numbers 23 say about them? "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob; neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel" (v.21). Now this was a reality, for we must notice that the matter of sin is dealt with in two distinct areas: one is before God, the other is in us. The blood cleanses our sins before God so that He sees nothing unrighteous with us.
Does the Bible ever state that we are justified by the cross? Never, because justification is through the blood. With the blood before Him, God is able to justify us. What is this justification, that is, what is this righteousness? This righteousness is that which makes us fit to dwell in heaven together with God. The blood of the Lord Jesus gives us a place in heaven that we may dwell with God. We may enter heaven boldly by the blood. God truly knows how valuable is the blood!
"On this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before Jehovah" (Lev. 16.30). This plainly tells us that all sins are cleansed before God, not cleansed within us. As regards us, the blood is confined to the cleansing of our conscience that we may no longer be conscious of sins and that there may therefore be no distance between us and God. The blood clears our conscience from the accusation which stems from all the sins we have committed, but it does not take away our consciousness of the root of sin. In His death the Lord bore our sins before God; hence His blood cleanses us before God. Blood is to atone for our sins; it is not for the purpose of eradicating the sinful nature in us.
In fact, in the phrase "taketh away the sin of the world" of John 1.29 and in the phrase "cleanseth us from all sin" of 1 John 1.7, the word "sin" in both cases is singular in number. This is because as a collective term it refers to the whole problem of sin (for an earlier discussion of this subject see Question 7 above). In neither case can the "taketh away" or "cleanseth us" be applied to the matter of taking away the root of sin or a cleansing us from the root of sin. Both verses are in reference to how the blood of the Lord solves our sin problem.
Moving on next to the second part of the question, we must see that the meaning and the effect of the cross is quite different from that of the blood. Blood is before God, the cross is in us. Blood solves our sin problem, the cross solves the problem of the old man. God has not only given us liberty before Him through the blood, He has also given us the cross that we may have our corrupt self or flesh dealt with.
The flesh is dealt with by the cross: "They that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof" (Gal. 5.24). Does it say the blood cleanses the flesh? No, it says crucified the flesh. Cleansing is of no avail here. Let us illustrate it this way. Both a living child and a clay doll become dirty. After the living child is washed he is clean. But no matter how the clay doll is washed it is never clean because it is made of clay. The corrupted flesh is like the clay doll. It has become so corrupted throughout that even the blood of the Lord cannot cleanse it. The only way to deal with the flesh is to have it crucified.
God uses the blood to cleanse us from our sins, but He uses the cross to crucify our flesh. We cannot have our sins cleansed before God by the cross, nor can we cleanse our flesh by the blood. "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin" (Rom. 6.6). In the original Greek, "done away" in this passage and "cumber" in Luke 13.7 are the same word. It does not mean an annihilating of the body of sin, rather does it signify rendering it useless or powerless. It can therefore also be translated as "unemployed". After God has crucified the old man, the body which always is in subjection to sin is rendered powerless, and thus is no longer in bondage to sin—just as if it were unemployed. We Christians ought not to sin; yet the way of victory lies not in our own conception but according to the word of God. Today we need not ask Him to do the work of sanctification for us, we are instead to thank Him that He has already crucified us on the cross. We need not to believe that God will do but to believe that He has done it. While promise is to be obtained through prayer, fact is to be gained through simple faith. The crucifixion of the old man with the Lord is an accomplished fact. It is well if we believe it. Simply believe, and no temptation can then touch us. The only way of victory is to abide in the Lord by faith, abiding in the accomplished fact in the Lord. Any deviation will curtail the progress.
"I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2.20). Here it does not declare that I have shed blood with Christ. Instead it announces that this no good I of mine has been crucified with Christ. Let us be absolutely clear: the blood deals with sins, the cross deals with the flesh. The blood gives us forgiveness and acquittal; the cross gives us release and deliverance from the power of sin that we may no longer be in bondage to sin. Blood is related to salvation, the cross is linked to victory. Blood solves our sins before God; the cross dissolves our very selves. Just as we believe in the blood let us also believe in the cross. And it is well if we believe in both daily.
"Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6.11). "Neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but . . . your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (v.13). We now are doing two things: the one is to stand daily on verse 11, believing that we have died and that therefore the body of sin has become unemployed; the other is to present our members as instruments of righteousness to God. If our presenting is inadequate, we will yet fall. If we do not do what God wants us to do, we still may falter. We must trust on the one hand and obey on the other. Trusting what has already been accomplished and obeying what God is asking will spontaneously bring in victory.