Washed In Blood

Washed in Blood

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7

Our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean.

Hebrews 10:22

These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

Revelation 7:14

When you want to get a piece of clothing really clean, what do you do? Maybe you rub in some spot remover or pour some bleach in the washer along with the detergent. How about when you want a clean conscience? How do you wash away regret and shame? How do you get rid of the stains that inappropriate thoughts, bad attitudes, jealousy, and fear have left on the record of your life?

The Bible says, “The blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It seems strange, doesn’t it? We think of blood as something that causes stains rather than washing them. But the blood of Jesus is the only thing that can clean a guilty conscience. The blood of Christ takes away our desire to hide the spots and stains sin has left on our hearts and minds. When the blood of Jesus covers our hearts, it washes our sins away and makes us completely clean before God. So we don’t have to carry around the guilt of what we’ve done and who we’ve been. All of that is gone. The cleansing power of Christ’s blood sets us free. With his own blood, Jesus writes in large red letters across our lives, “Forgiven! Clean! Mine!”

All the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament were just a shadow of the final sacrifice of God’s Son. The blood of Jesus reaches back to cover all the sins of God’s people before Jesus’ death and all the sins that come after. That’s how valuable and powerful and necessary the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood really is.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What does it mean to have a guilty conscience?

How is having your conscience a good gift from God?

What do you think it means that the blood of Jesus covers us?