Morning By Morning #33

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Hebrews 9:22

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

This is the voice of unchangeable truth. In Jewish ceremonies sins were never removed, even symbolically, without the actual shedding of blood. Without exception sin cannot be pardoned without that sin debt being satisfied through Christ’s atonement—there is no other way. It should be clear then that there is no hope for me except for Christ, for no blood but His is worth even a second thought when it comes to atoning for sin.

Am I then trusting in Him alone? Is the blood of His atonement truly applied to my soul? All people are on an equal level in their need of Him. No matter how moral, generous, likable, or patriotic we may be, this truth will not be altered to make an exception for us. Sin will never yield to anything less powerful than the blood of Him whom God has sent to be our propitiation—the sacrifice that satisfies the wrath of God. What a blessing we have in this, the only path to forgiveness! Why should we seek another way?

People who simply practice the rituals of religion cannot understand how believers can rejoice that all our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Yet their works, prayers, and ceremonies give them very little comfort—and rightly so—for they are “ignor[ing] such a great salvation” (Heb. 2:3)—the one great and true salvation. They are seeking forgiveness “without the shedding of blood.”

Dear soul, sit down and behold the justice of God that must punish sin and see that punishment being carried out on your Lord Jesus. Then fall before Him in humility and joy and kiss the dear feet of Him whose blood has atoned for your sin.

It is a vain exercise to find comfort in feeling sorry for your sin when your conscience has been pricked, for this is simply a habit we learned when we were in bondage in “Egypt.” The only cure for a guilty conscience is to catch sight of Jesus suffering on the cross.

The Levitical law teaches, “The life of every creature is its blood” (Lev. 17:14). May we rest assured it is also the blood of Christ that is the life of faith, joy, and every other gift of God’s holy grace.

Oh! How sweet to view the flowing
Of my Savior’s precious blood;
With divine assurance knowing
He has made my peace with God.

Richard Lee, 1780?-18??

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

We often speak of “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19), but do we really comprehend the meaning of the word precious? Dictionaries define the term as meaning “of great value.” But to truly know the value of something, don’t we have to have something to compare it to?

Yet nothing in the universe compares to the blood of Jesus and its saving power! Thus, in this case the word precious must mean: beyond our ability to value it or place a price on it. His blood is worth far more than anyone could ever afford. After all, “what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).