The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. – 1 John 1:7
In this verse we glimpse something of the love of God. Let’s not forget that if our Lord had chosen not to rescue us, He would have remained altogether glorious. He owed us nothing. If He had left us to die in our sins, He would have been entirely justified yet He chose, by an act of His own free will, to cleanse us from all sin. What mercy!
It is astonishing to see that the God whom we had attacked and offended would come to this earth in the person of His Son and pour out His blood for us. It is astounding to see Him descending from heaven to be buried in and by the hatred of men (Phil 2:5 ff). How He must love us, to have sought us out even when we hated Him and loved our sin (John 7:7; 3:19). Yet, when we were His enemies the Lord Christ, graciously went to the cross and washed us in His own blood!
We are dealing with sublime truths here, truths that if received give a peace that passes understanding (Phil 4:7). False religion can not give us a peace based on God’s righteousness. False gods teach that we can get rid of our sin by trying harder or by being good or by being suitably religious. The One true and living God says, however, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22). Without Him we didn’t stand a chance. Knowing our helpless state, Yahweh in His great compassion united His infinite love and almighty power in one mammoth, victorious campaign to save and rescue us by His blood.
Notice how in our text (1 John 1:7) there is no mention of rites and rituals cleansing us from sin. Notice how also there is not one drop of water in the text. It is the blood alone that cleanses from all sin. Nothing less than the blood will do, but nothing more than the blood is required. There is no talk here of how the blood plus baptism cleanses us from all sin. There is no mention of the taking of Church sacraments or the making of confession to receive cleansing from all sin. Why? Because it is the blood alone that cleanses us from all sin.
There’s a story told of an old Irish woman who, as she lay sick, heard for the first time the gospel of her salvation. She was told of God’s love and how the blood of Christ alone cleansed from sin. God opened her heart and she looked by faith to the crucified and risen lamb and was saved. Then putting her hand beneath her dressing gown, she took out a little crucifix which she had always worn on a chain around her neck, and said to the preacher, “Pastor, I now believe the gospel and I no longer need nor want this.”
The message that God sent from heaven about our sin is a message that He will not change, and here‘s the message, “There is no hope other than Christ and His shed blood thus there is no other way to heaven but by Christ alone.”
Jesus Christ, in His glorious once for all act at Calvary, paid our purchase price, ransomed us from destruction and cleansed us entirely by His blood.
And that’s the Gospel Truth The Wednesday Word, March 7, 2012: Cleansed by the Blood: Part 3
“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” – I John 1:7
This verse tells us that the blood cleanses us, not just from some sin, but “from all sin.” Where is our original sin (Romans 5:12), our sin received from the Fall of Adam?—it’s gone! How? The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Where is our inherited sin, the sin with which we were born (Psalm 51:5)? It is gone! How? The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin! Where is our actual sin, those vile disturbances of filth that erupt from deep within. They are gone! How? The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin.
The blood cleanses from all sins, big sins, small sins, sins of commission, sins of omission, deadly sins, sins of lust, sins of adultery, sins of lying, stealing, pride and arrogance--the blood of Jesus cleanses them all. Surely this one verse, when believed, will deliver us from the madness of working hard to appease God as we make our futile efforts to scrub out our record of sin.
The Reformer, Martin Luther, once dreamed that Satan stood before him holding up a great scroll on which was written all his sins and wickedness. Luther didn’t argue with the devil or his list, in fact he admitted to each and every charge without denial. In his dream, he simply scrawled 1 John 1:7 across the long and terrible list: “The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1;7 is a really marvellous verse. Notice how, based on that one time act of Calvary, the blood continues to cleanse us. We have already been legally and judicially cleansed once for all, yet there is a continuing cleansing by blood. This does not men that Christ’s work is unfinished. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Our problem is that, although we are legally clean, we are not yet sinless and sin breaks fellowship with God. To walk in continued fellowship with the Father we, therefore, continually need the merits of Calvary applied to us. As imperfect sinners we can walk in the light because the once for all shedding of the blood continues to be applied to us and keeps us in fellowship with God. It is, therefore, not wrong to continually go, by faith, to our High Priest and ask for cleansing in His blood. We were judicially and totally cleansed at the cross, and based on that once for all finished work we are being cleansed experientially today and will be again tomorrow!
Each day we come into contact with sin both within and without. Yet our fellowship with the Father is protected because the blood of Jesus our Saviour cleanses us from all sin. In addition, old long forgotten sins sometimes surface and condemn us, yet the blood of Jesus continues to deal with every wicked action from our past and returns peace to our conscience. The righteousness of Christ is continually applied and reckoned to us so that we can stand, not only perfectly clean, but also in un-broken fellowship before our Father. What power and authority there is in the blood of Jesus! Guilt is gone and fellowship restored through the blood!
“Bowed down beneath a load of sin, By Satan sorely pressed, By wars without and fears within, I come to Thee for rest.
Be Thou my shield and hiding place, That, sheltered near Thy side, I may my fierce accuser face, And tell him Thou hast died!”
And that’s the Gospel Truth