Why, When, And Where Was The Atoning Blood Shed
Part Five of Five
If Jesus was knocking on the door, would you have to rush around to change the channel, change the conversation, or make any "adjustments" before opening the door? Don't bother, He already knows of it all!
Belief in His blood sacrifice settles the issue of your salvation once and for all (Roman 8: 1), but the experiential (1Cor. 3: 12 - 15) outcome of one's post salvation spiritual life is yet to be determined. This heavenly outcome results in one receiving or forfeiting the rewards and privileges that are reserved for advancing disciples.
I do not know of one born again believer that does not still have areas (priorities, entertainment, relationships, work, home, school, finances, etc.) of their daily lives that still need to be conformed (or better conformed) to the like-mindedness of Christ (Romans 8: 29). Salvation is a done deal, but as far as discipleship is concerned, we will always be a work in progress.
Surrendering our (whole) lives to Christ is the ideal we should be pursu-i-n-g, but as we progress, we would be wise not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought (Romans 12: 3). Satan promotes the sins of pride and arrogance that makes it easy to see the sin the lives of others while being blind to our own (Matt. 7: 3).
The Romans 8:29 conformity IS an essential part of discipleship (James 1: 22), but if such or conformity were necessary for one to either obtain or retain salvation (eternal life), that would make faith in His blood sacrifice on the cross insufficient. Such a position is not merely incorrect, it is blasphemy, degrading the significance, integrity, and efficacy of blood sacrifice that He made.
Post (after) salvation SIN that we commit does NOT undo the results (John 3: 16) of the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus that He performed on cross in our behalf. Nor does post salvation sin reverse or diminish the integrity or efficacy of the sealing (Eph. 4: 30) and regenerating (Titus 3: 5) Work that God (not human clergy) performed at the moment of our individual salvation.
That being said, know that post salvation sin in the lives of Church Age believers invites divine discipline (Hebrews 12: 6) here on Earth.
Divine Discipline can result in anything from living with a guilty conscience, up to and including physical death (Acts 5). Further note that the quality, assessed by the fruit produced during one's post salvation spiritual life DOES impact how eternity will be experienced. All born again believers have a home in Heaven, but not all born again believers will receive the rewards (1Cor. 3: 12- 15) and privileges (Rev. 2, Rev. 3) reserved for advancing disciples.
No one can serve two competing interests or two masters at the same time (Math. 6: 24). One can live to please him/herself OR God, but NOT both at the same time. One can live prioritizing the things of THIS world (Luke 4: 6) OR the things of the world (Rev. 21: 1) to come. These are daily choices that WE make. Over time, the accumulated results of these daily choices are what defines the quality of our post salvation spiritual lives. The quality of our post salvation spiritual life does NOT change WHERE a born again believer will experience eternity, but it will determine HOW he/she will experience eternity (1Cor. 3: 14, 15).
It is only to the extent that we submit our priorities, thoughts, and moment to moment activities of our daily lives to the will of God that we can truthfully say that He is Lord of our (entire) life. This applies 24-7, no matter where we are or what we may otherwise be doing. This principle is what gives spiritual meaning to EVERYTHING we do, no matter where we are, or what we are otherwise doing.
One can glorify God in the worst case scenario that the world can generate (Heb. 7: 35b-38), and we can engage in mental attitude sin while sitting in Church (Romans 12: 3/Luke 18: 9 - 14).
"What then? Shall we sin (and expect no consequences) because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness Romans 6: 15, 16 NASB parentheses mine)."
Keep in mind, pursuing one's own plan in life (if/when contrary to God's plan) is the sin of independence!
Imagine if your child were to say that when he/she grew up, he/she wanted to be like God. In light of the character, love, and mercy of God, that might sound like a noble undertaking. After all, are we not commanded to be confirmed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8: 29)?
But when one considers that desiring to be like God when seeking one's own advancement and not for the glory of God, the scenario takes on a much different imagery. To be admired, acknowledged, successful, creative, productive, powerful, surrounded by glory and luxury, BUT independent of God was what was behind the devil's rebellion (Isa. 14: 13, 14)!
The same can be said for many self-centered, conceited, educated, prosperous, popular, influential, rich, famous, but INDEPENDENT (of God and things of God) people among us. A 2Cor. 13: 5 self examination may add our own names to the indictment!
To do one's OWN thing, be it good or bad, in one's OWN way, while independent of ALL authority, is the foundation on which a rebel's heart is based. The rebel says, "No one is going to TELL, TEACH, or MAKE me do anything! This principle can be hauntingly familiar to many of us, as there is a little rebellion (Romans 7: 21 - 23) and a spirit of independence in all of us that needs to be managed.
. . .
To be prosperous WITH God is a blessing (3John 1: 2), but prosperity without God is meaningless and may even become a stumbling block. The devil will use everything from the religious traditions of man to the pursuit of earthly prosperity to take capture our focus of attention.
We all have desires.
To lust is to have an u-n-r-e-s-t-r-a-i-n-e-d desire for something or someone to the extent that we are willing to risk losing anything or anyone else to achieve our own objective. We can lust for what would otherwise be legitimate and beneficial, as well as what is sin and evil.
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (what our fallen nature desires) and the lust of the eyes (what we see, desire, but do not have) and the boastful pride of life (elevating one self), is NOT from the Father, but is from the world (and will be used by the devil to accomplish his purposes (1John 2: 16 parentheses mine)."
Scripture (1Cor. 6: 20/1Cor. 7: 23) teach that we were bought with a price, and that the price was paid for by the blood of Christ while on the cross. For the advancing disciple, his/her life is not his/her own. One can not have a "surrendered" life to Christ and then claim to retain ANY part of it as his/her own.
Advancing disciples deny themselves daily (Luke 9: 23), sacrificing their will/plans in order to seek and to do His execute His. By this standard, it is clear that although so-called Christians claim Jesus Christ as their Savior, many have not made Him the Lord of their daily lives.
...
During an extended period of time, beginning around 1500 BC, the priesthood of that day made countless animal (blood) sacrifices in the Tabernacle and on the altar of the Temples that were constructed during the Old Testament period for that very purpose. These animal blood sacrifice foreshadowed the ultimate blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross (Matt. 5: 17).
"Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9: 18 - 22 NASB)."
The blood of the New Covenant (God's plan of salvation for Church Age Believers) was/is the blood of the HUMANITY (body) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ clearly made this point when He introduced The Lord's Supper (Communion) during the last Passover Meal that He celebrated with His closest disciples (Matt. 26: 28).
"for this is My blood of the (new) covenant, which is (to be) poured out (on the cross) for many (1John 2: 2)) for forgiveness of sin (Matt. 26: 29 NASB (parentheses mine)."
The why, when, where the blood of Christ HAD to be shed was necessary in order to fulfill the old Testament Law (Matt. 5: 17) and to provide the actual means of eternal salvation.
The WHY part is easily said, but not so easily understood. To the natural (spiritually dead) individual, the things of God sound foolish (1Cor. 2: 14). Never-the-less, the Biblical answer to the WHY part is that, "...without the shedding of (His) blood, there was/is no forgiveness (Heb. 9: 22 NASB parentheses mine)."
Here we see a chain of events. Without each link, the chain would not exist. If there was no shedding of His blood, there would be No forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there could be no reconciliation. Without reconciliation, there would be no relationship with God. Without a relationship with God, the gates of Heaven would remain closed.
No wonder why the devil, who, "...prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1Pet. 5: 8)," downplays the need to establish a personal relationship with God by being born again (John 3: 5, 7) that the blood sacrifice of Christ made possible.
The WHERE part is ON THE CROSS, as it was ON THE CROSS that God the Father placed the sin debt on Jesus' humanity, as He bled THERE, making atonement (payment) for the sin debt of the ENTIRE human race (1John 2: 2).
Details of the crucifixion were prophesied in such passages as Psalms 22 centuries before the crucifixion took place.
. . .
To eliminate what he perceived to be a political rival, Herod ordered the slaughter of all babes in Bethlehem in an attempt to address reports he received of a newly born king. Jesus avoided physical death at that time and under those circumstances by being taken to Egypt by Joseph and Mary.
Q. Had He been so slaughtered, would the shedding of His blood during that event made atonement?
A. No. The bloodshed had to take place ON THE CROSS.
Just before the start of Jesus' public ministry, Satan tried to destroy or compromise His Humanity by having Him leap off a highpoint in the temple complex to prove God's willingness and ability to protect Him.
Q. Would the shedding of His blood (by taking the leap) have provided the atoning blood sacrifice?
A. No. The bloodshed had to take place on the cross.
The devil had another reason behind the temptations in the wilderness that is often overlooked. The devil has a better understanding of what God and Scripture had/has to say about the blood sacrifice than what many who call themselves disciples of Christ do.
Just as the devil (speaking through the serpent) refuted what God has said to Man in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3: 4), He tried to put a different spin on Scripture during our Lord's temptations recorded in Matthew 4 and Luke 4.
What worked in the Garden, failed in the wilderness, even though he (the devil) chose to handle this attack personally.
Why?
The Lord, in His humanity, responded with an accurate application of Scripture concerning the stone and the leap. But the devil was not done yet.
It was not simply the changing of the stone to bread to feed His hunger, or the proving that He trusting in God's protection if He leaped or receiving worldly position or prosperity that was behind the devil's strategy. The devil knew that if He did not prevent the Lord from reaching the cross, he (the devil) could also defeat God's purpose if Jesus were to use the power of His deity to perform any miraculous activity outside of the Father's plan, such as for his (Jesus') own benefit, OR if Jesus were to sin in His humanity by bowing down to the devil. If Jesus had turned the stone to bread, taken the leap, or bowed down to Satan to receive prosperity, He would have disqualified Himself as the spotless Lamb of God, rendering whatever blood sacrifice He later made on the cross null and void.
The devil was not concerned about the shedding of His blood that would have resulted from the leap off the highpoint of the temple, as the devil knew the atoning blood sacrifice had to take place on the cross.
. . .
Jesus shed His blood when He was beaten (Matt. 26: 67), scourged (Mark 15: 15), had a crown of thorns forced down onto his head (John 19: 2), and when His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. Yet, His blood sacrifice had still not been made. It was not made until God the Father placed the sin debt on His bleeding humanity during the last three of His six hours on the cross.
No past, present, or future ceremony or ritual of Man can reproduce either the body, blood, or the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished when He shed His blood on the cross. The stated purpose for eating the bread AND drinking the wine during the celebration of the Lord's Supper (Communion) is to bring into OUR remembrance (1Cor. 11: 24, 25) the blood sacrifice that HE made (past tense) on the cross. It was not and is not for the purpose of making a new sacrifice or reproducing His humanity and blood.
The 1Cor. 3: 24 - 26 commands to repeat the celebration of the Lord's Supper is NOT done to obtain, retain, or to regain salvation. It is done to bring into remembrance and to proclaim the significance of His spiritual/physical deaths until He returns.
This ritual is for born again believers of the Church Age that have ALREADY received salvation (eternal life) that can NOT be lost (Romans 8: 1).
When celebrated according to Scripture, God is glorified and keeps the believers focused on the rock foundation of the faith.
Those who BELIEVE (that is to place their personal and total trust and confidence) , in Him and the blood sacrifice that He made on the cross, have the forgiveness of their sin and the irrevocable gift (Romans 11: 29) of eternal life.
END of Part Five of Five, completing our study.
Part Five of Five
If Jesus was knocking on the door, would you have to rush around to change the channel, change the conversation, or make any "adjustments" before opening the door? Don't bother, He already knows of it all!
Belief in His blood sacrifice settles the issue of your salvation once and for all (Roman 8: 1), but the experiential (1Cor. 3: 12 - 15) outcome of one's post salvation spiritual life is yet to be determined. This heavenly outcome results in one receiving or forfeiting the rewards and privileges that are reserved for advancing disciples.
I do not know of one born again believer that does not still have areas (priorities, entertainment, relationships, work, home, school, finances, etc.) of their daily lives that still need to be conformed (or better conformed) to the like-mindedness of Christ (Romans 8: 29). Salvation is a done deal, but as far as discipleship is concerned, we will always be a work in progress.
Surrendering our (whole) lives to Christ is the ideal we should be pursu-i-n-g, but as we progress, we would be wise not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought (Romans 12: 3). Satan promotes the sins of pride and arrogance that makes it easy to see the sin the lives of others while being blind to our own (Matt. 7: 3).
The Romans 8:29 conformity IS an essential part of discipleship (James 1: 22), but if such or conformity were necessary for one to either obtain or retain salvation (eternal life), that would make faith in His blood sacrifice on the cross insufficient. Such a position is not merely incorrect, it is blasphemy, degrading the significance, integrity, and efficacy of blood sacrifice that He made.
Post (after) salvation SIN that we commit does NOT undo the results (John 3: 16) of the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus that He performed on cross in our behalf. Nor does post salvation sin reverse or diminish the integrity or efficacy of the sealing (Eph. 4: 30) and regenerating (Titus 3: 5) Work that God (not human clergy) performed at the moment of our individual salvation.
That being said, know that post salvation sin in the lives of Church Age believers invites divine discipline (Hebrews 12: 6) here on Earth.
Divine Discipline can result in anything from living with a guilty conscience, up to and including physical death (Acts 5). Further note that the quality, assessed by the fruit produced during one's post salvation spiritual life DOES impact how eternity will be experienced. All born again believers have a home in Heaven, but not all born again believers will receive the rewards (1Cor. 3: 12- 15) and privileges (Rev. 2, Rev. 3) reserved for advancing disciples.
No one can serve two competing interests or two masters at the same time (Math. 6: 24). One can live to please him/herself OR God, but NOT both at the same time. One can live prioritizing the things of THIS world (Luke 4: 6) OR the things of the world (Rev. 21: 1) to come. These are daily choices that WE make. Over time, the accumulated results of these daily choices are what defines the quality of our post salvation spiritual lives. The quality of our post salvation spiritual life does NOT change WHERE a born again believer will experience eternity, but it will determine HOW he/she will experience eternity (1Cor. 3: 14, 15).
It is only to the extent that we submit our priorities, thoughts, and moment to moment activities of our daily lives to the will of God that we can truthfully say that He is Lord of our (entire) life. This applies 24-7, no matter where we are or what we may otherwise be doing. This principle is what gives spiritual meaning to EVERYTHING we do, no matter where we are, or what we are otherwise doing.
One can glorify God in the worst case scenario that the world can generate (Heb. 7: 35b-38), and we can engage in mental attitude sin while sitting in Church (Romans 12: 3/Luke 18: 9 - 14).
"What then? Shall we sin (and expect no consequences) because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness Romans 6: 15, 16 NASB parentheses mine)."
Keep in mind, pursuing one's own plan in life (if/when contrary to God's plan) is the sin of independence!
Imagine if your child were to say that when he/she grew up, he/she wanted to be like God. In light of the character, love, and mercy of God, that might sound like a noble undertaking. After all, are we not commanded to be confirmed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8: 29)?
But when one considers that desiring to be like God when seeking one's own advancement and not for the glory of God, the scenario takes on a much different imagery. To be admired, acknowledged, successful, creative, productive, powerful, surrounded by glory and luxury, BUT independent of God was what was behind the devil's rebellion (Isa. 14: 13, 14)!
The same can be said for many self-centered, conceited, educated, prosperous, popular, influential, rich, famous, but INDEPENDENT (of God and things of God) people among us. A 2Cor. 13: 5 self examination may add our own names to the indictment!
To do one's OWN thing, be it good or bad, in one's OWN way, while independent of ALL authority, is the foundation on which a rebel's heart is based. The rebel says, "No one is going to TELL, TEACH, or MAKE me do anything! This principle can be hauntingly familiar to many of us, as there is a little rebellion (Romans 7: 21 - 23) and a spirit of independence in all of us that needs to be managed.
. . .
To be prosperous WITH God is a blessing (3John 1: 2), but prosperity without God is meaningless and may even become a stumbling block. The devil will use everything from the religious traditions of man to the pursuit of earthly prosperity to take capture our focus of attention.
We all have desires.
To lust is to have an u-n-r-e-s-t-r-a-i-n-e-d desire for something or someone to the extent that we are willing to risk losing anything or anyone else to achieve our own objective. We can lust for what would otherwise be legitimate and beneficial, as well as what is sin and evil.
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (what our fallen nature desires) and the lust of the eyes (what we see, desire, but do not have) and the boastful pride of life (elevating one self), is NOT from the Father, but is from the world (and will be used by the devil to accomplish his purposes (1John 2: 16 parentheses mine)."
Scripture (1Cor. 6: 20/1Cor. 7: 23) teach that we were bought with a price, and that the price was paid for by the blood of Christ while on the cross. For the advancing disciple, his/her life is not his/her own. One can not have a "surrendered" life to Christ and then claim to retain ANY part of it as his/her own.
Advancing disciples deny themselves daily (Luke 9: 23), sacrificing their will/plans in order to seek and to do His execute His. By this standard, it is clear that although so-called Christians claim Jesus Christ as their Savior, many have not made Him the Lord of their daily lives.
...
During an extended period of time, beginning around 1500 BC, the priesthood of that day made countless animal (blood) sacrifices in the Tabernacle and on the altar of the Temples that were constructed during the Old Testament period for that very purpose. These animal blood sacrifice foreshadowed the ultimate blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross (Matt. 5: 17).
"Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9: 18 - 22 NASB)."
The blood of the New Covenant (God's plan of salvation for Church Age Believers) was/is the blood of the HUMANITY (body) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ clearly made this point when He introduced The Lord's Supper (Communion) during the last Passover Meal that He celebrated with His closest disciples (Matt. 26: 28).
"for this is My blood of the (new) covenant, which is (to be) poured out (on the cross) for many (1John 2: 2)) for forgiveness of sin (Matt. 26: 29 NASB (parentheses mine)."
The why, when, where the blood of Christ HAD to be shed was necessary in order to fulfill the old Testament Law (Matt. 5: 17) and to provide the actual means of eternal salvation.
The WHY part is easily said, but not so easily understood. To the natural (spiritually dead) individual, the things of God sound foolish (1Cor. 2: 14). Never-the-less, the Biblical answer to the WHY part is that, "...without the shedding of (His) blood, there was/is no forgiveness (Heb. 9: 22 NASB parentheses mine)."
Here we see a chain of events. Without each link, the chain would not exist. If there was no shedding of His blood, there would be No forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there could be no reconciliation. Without reconciliation, there would be no relationship with God. Without a relationship with God, the gates of Heaven would remain closed.
No wonder why the devil, who, "...prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1Pet. 5: 8)," downplays the need to establish a personal relationship with God by being born again (John 3: 5, 7) that the blood sacrifice of Christ made possible.
The WHERE part is ON THE CROSS, as it was ON THE CROSS that God the Father placed the sin debt on Jesus' humanity, as He bled THERE, making atonement (payment) for the sin debt of the ENTIRE human race (1John 2: 2).
Details of the crucifixion were prophesied in such passages as Psalms 22 centuries before the crucifixion took place.
. . .
To eliminate what he perceived to be a political rival, Herod ordered the slaughter of all babes in Bethlehem in an attempt to address reports he received of a newly born king. Jesus avoided physical death at that time and under those circumstances by being taken to Egypt by Joseph and Mary.
Q. Had He been so slaughtered, would the shedding of His blood during that event made atonement?
A. No. The bloodshed had to take place ON THE CROSS.
Just before the start of Jesus' public ministry, Satan tried to destroy or compromise His Humanity by having Him leap off a highpoint in the temple complex to prove God's willingness and ability to protect Him.
Q. Would the shedding of His blood (by taking the leap) have provided the atoning blood sacrifice?
A. No. The bloodshed had to take place on the cross.
The devil had another reason behind the temptations in the wilderness that is often overlooked. The devil has a better understanding of what God and Scripture had/has to say about the blood sacrifice than what many who call themselves disciples of Christ do.
Just as the devil (speaking through the serpent) refuted what God has said to Man in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3: 4), He tried to put a different spin on Scripture during our Lord's temptations recorded in Matthew 4 and Luke 4.
What worked in the Garden, failed in the wilderness, even though he (the devil) chose to handle this attack personally.
Why?
The Lord, in His humanity, responded with an accurate application of Scripture concerning the stone and the leap. But the devil was not done yet.
It was not simply the changing of the stone to bread to feed His hunger, or the proving that He trusting in God's protection if He leaped or receiving worldly position or prosperity that was behind the devil's strategy. The devil knew that if He did not prevent the Lord from reaching the cross, he (the devil) could also defeat God's purpose if Jesus were to use the power of His deity to perform any miraculous activity outside of the Father's plan, such as for his (Jesus') own benefit, OR if Jesus were to sin in His humanity by bowing down to the devil. If Jesus had turned the stone to bread, taken the leap, or bowed down to Satan to receive prosperity, He would have disqualified Himself as the spotless Lamb of God, rendering whatever blood sacrifice He later made on the cross null and void.
The devil was not concerned about the shedding of His blood that would have resulted from the leap off the highpoint of the temple, as the devil knew the atoning blood sacrifice had to take place on the cross.
. . .
Jesus shed His blood when He was beaten (Matt. 26: 67), scourged (Mark 15: 15), had a crown of thorns forced down onto his head (John 19: 2), and when His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. Yet, His blood sacrifice had still not been made. It was not made until God the Father placed the sin debt on His bleeding humanity during the last three of His six hours on the cross.
No past, present, or future ceremony or ritual of Man can reproduce either the body, blood, or the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished when He shed His blood on the cross. The stated purpose for eating the bread AND drinking the wine during the celebration of the Lord's Supper (Communion) is to bring into OUR remembrance (1Cor. 11: 24, 25) the blood sacrifice that HE made (past tense) on the cross. It was not and is not for the purpose of making a new sacrifice or reproducing His humanity and blood.
The 1Cor. 3: 24 - 26 commands to repeat the celebration of the Lord's Supper is NOT done to obtain, retain, or to regain salvation. It is done to bring into remembrance and to proclaim the significance of His spiritual/physical deaths until He returns.
This ritual is for born again believers of the Church Age that have ALREADY received salvation (eternal life) that can NOT be lost (Romans 8: 1).
When celebrated according to Scripture, God is glorified and keeps the believers focused on the rock foundation of the faith.
Those who BELIEVE (that is to place their personal and total trust and confidence) , in Him and the blood sacrifice that He made on the cross, have the forgiveness of their sin and the irrevocable gift (Romans 11: 29) of eternal life.
END of Part Five of Five, completing our study.