God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
Biblical significance of the blood of Jesus: 1. Redemption. a. Acts 20:28 – “church of God purchased with His own blood.” b. Eph. 1:7 – “we have redemption through His blood.” c. 1 Pet. 1:9 – “redeemed...with precious blood.” d. Rev. 5:9 – “purchased for God with His blood, men from every tribe.” 2. Propitiation. a. Rom. 3:25 – “God displayed Jesus as a propitiation in His blood.” 3. Cleansing. a. Heb. 9:14 – “blood of Christ...will cleanse your conscience.” b. 1 John 1:7 – “blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” c. Rev. 7:14 – “washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.” 4. Forgiveness. a. Eph. 1:7 – “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.” b. Heb. 9:22 – “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” c. Rev. 1:5 – “released us from our sins by His blood.” 5. Access to God. a. Eph. 2:13 – “brought near to God by the blood of Christ.” b. Heb. 10:19 – “confidence to enter Holy Place by blood of Jesus.” 6. Reconciliation. a. Col. 1:20 – “reconciled, made pace through the blood of the cross.” 7. Justification. a. Rom. 5:9 – “having been justified by his blood.” 8. Sanctification. a. Heb. 13:12 – “that He might sanctify the people through His blood.” 9. Conquest of evil. a. Rev. 12:11 – “overcame...because of the blood of the Lamb.” 10. Basis of new covenant. a. Heb. 13:20 – “through the blood of the eternal covenant.” 11. Lord's Supper. a. Matt. 26:28 – “This is the new covenant in My blood.” b. I Cor. 10:16 – “the cup of blessing...a sharing in the blood of Christ.”
The more that God's Word is removed from our lives, the more inhibited our spiritual progress becomes. Nothing else can do the work that the truth does. There is no sanctifying power in human wisdom, intuition, insight, or experience. It is only in the Word of God. Only the truth revealed in Scripture sanctifies – sound teaching accurately interpreted, understood, and applied. As divine revelation is embraced, spiritual progress is made. There are no alternative routes to godly character and holy living.
