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©FOUNDATION
A MAGAZINE OF BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM
Dennis W. Costella, Editor; Karel Beyer, Production Manager; Matt
Costella,
Copy Editor
M.H. Reynolds, Jr. (1919-1997), Founding Editor
The Blood of Jesus
by The Rev. William Reid, M.A.
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus," Hebrews 10:19
[This is a reprint of a book
published by James Nisbet & Co., London, England, in 1866. Liberty Bell
Press no longer prints this book and has granted permission to the FEA for
reprinting. This resource is available in a booklet from the FEA. Click
here to order].
©FOUNDATION Magazine, July-August 1998
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Forgiveness Of Sins Through The Blood Of Jesus
Chapter 2: How Our Sins Are Taken Away By The Blood Of Jesus
Chapter 3: The Blood Of Jesus, Not Conviction Of Sin, The Foundation
Of Our Peace And Joy
Chapter 4: A Letter About The Love Of Jesus
Chapter 5: Salvation Through The Blood Of Jesus, The Gift Of God
Chapter 6: The Blood Of Jesus Our Only Ground
Of Peace With God <= you are here
Chapter 7: Regeneration Through The Blood Of Jesus
Chapter 8: Faith In The Blood Of Jesus Essential To Salvation
Chapter 9: The Blood Of Jesus The Believer’s Life And Peace
Chapter 10: Faith In The Blood Of Jesus The Spring Of Holiness
Chapter 11: The Blood Of Jesus The Essence Of The Gospel
Chapter 12: The Holy Spirit’s Testimony To The Blood Of Jesus
Chapter 6
The Blood Of Jesus Our Only Ground Of Peace With God
Topics In This Chapter:
- Accepted In The Beloved
- Safety Through The Blood Of Sprinkling
- God’s Estimate Of The Blood Of Jesus
- The Spirit’s Work Not The Ground Of Peace
- Conscience Rests Where God Finds Rest
- Victory Through The Blood Of Jesus
WHEN YOU, WHO ARE ANXIOUS about your soul, are hearing much prayer offered by Christians for
the Holy Spirit, you may conclude that the first thing you also have to do is to pray for
the Holy Spirit; but Jesus himself sets you right in this matter when He says, "This
is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent," (John 6:29). If
you desire to do this at the throne of grace, by all means repair thither, but do not go
to it to do anything else at present. Believers in Jesus pray "in the Holy Ghost
" (Jude 20) that He may revive the work of God in themselves and in their
fellow-believers,-lead awakened souls to Jesus,-and convince sinners of their wickedness
and unbelief ; but as your only foundation for peace, pardon, purity, and glory, is to be
found in the blood-shedding of Jesus, your more immediate occupation is to "
behold the Lamb of God," (John 1:29). No doubt, the quickening presence of the
Holy Spirit is most essential to your seeing Jesus to the saving of your soul, and you
should by all means expect His gracious presence to be vouchsafed as you contemplate the
crucified Redeemer; but it is unscriptural to seek the sanctification of your heart
through the Spirit before the justification of your person through Christ; and it
is equally unscriptural to mix the two, and depend partly on the one and partly on the
other; for Jesus, and Jesus only, is the object on which your anxious eyes must
rest for peace with God and a change of heart. "It is Christ that died," (Rom
8:34); and the Spirit's office is to direct you to Him who said on Calvary, "It is
finished," (John 19:20). It is nowhere written in Scripture, "The work Of
GOD'S Holy Spirit cleanseth us from sin; but it is written that "The blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin," (1 John 1:7). What you are
called upon, then, more especially to do, is to receive Jesus as your Redeemer,
that you may "HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING
TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE," (Eph. 1:7): for it is written, "As many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name," (John 1:12). We are not required to be prepared as sons, and then
come and be accepted of God, be justified, and have our sins pardoned through Jesus; but
we are instructed to come to Jesus in order to our being justified freely by His grace,
and made sons through living union with Him who is the eternal Son
of God. We are justified freely as sinners, and being thus accepted in the
Beloved, we become sons of God, and have the nature, experience, and walk of His
children. Awakened sinner! Begin at the beginning of the alphabet of salvation, by
looking upon Him who was pierced on Calvary's cross for our sins-look to the
Lamb of God, and keep continually looking unto Jesus, and not at your repentings,
resolutions, reformations, praying, reading, hearing, or anything of yours as forming any
reason why you should be accepted, pardoned, and saved-and you will soon find peace, and
take your place among them that "worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh," (Phil. 3:3).
I do not know a more striking illustration of salvation by
the blood of Jesus alone, than that which is furnished by the sprinkling of the blood of
the passover lamb on the homes of the Israelites, on the eve of their redemption from the
bondage of Egypt. "The blood on the lintel secured Israel's peace."
There was nothing more required in order to enjoy settled peace, in reference to the
destroying angel, than the application of "the blood of sprinkling." God
did not add anything to the blood, because nothing more was necessary to obtain salvation
from the sword of judgment. He did not say, "When I see the blood and the unleavened
bread or bitter herbs, I will pass over." By no means. These things had their proper
place, and their proper value; but they never could be regarded as the ground of peace in
the presence of God.
It is most needful to be simple and clear as to what it is
which constitutes the- groundwork of peace. So many things are mixed up with the work of
Christ, that souls are plunged in darkness and uncertainty as to their acceptance. They
know that there is no other way of being saved but by the blood of Christ; but the devils
know this, and it avails them nought. What is needed is to know that -we are saved -absolutely,
perfectly, eternally saved. There is no such thing as being partly saved and partly lost;
partly justified and partly guilty; partly alive and partly dead; partly born of God and
partly not. There are but the two states, and we must be in either the one or the other.
The Israelite was not partly sheltered by the blood, and
partly exposed to the sword of the destroyer. He knew he was safe. He did not hope so. He
was not praying to be so. He was perfectly safe. And why? Because God hath said, "When
I see the blood, I will pass over you," (Exod. 12:13). He simply rested
upon God's testimony about the shed blood. He set to his seal that God was true. He
believed that God meant what He said, and that gave him peace. He was able to take his
place at the paschal-feast, in confidence, quietness, and assurance, knowing that the
destroyer could not touch him, when a spotless victim had died in his stead.
If an Israelite had been asked as to his enjoyment of peace,
what would he have said? Would he have said, "I know there is no other way of escape
but by the blood of the lamb; and I know that that is a divinely perfect way; and,
moreover, I know that that blood has been shed and sprinkled on my door-post; but somehow,
I do not feel quite comfortable. I am not quite sure if I am, safe. I fear I do not value
the blood as I ought, nor love the God of my fathers as I ought?" Would such five
been his answer? Assuredly not. And yet hundreds of professing Christians speak thus, when
asked if they have peace. They put their thoughts about the blood in place of the blood
itself, and thus, in result, make salvation as much dependent upon themselves as if they
were to be saved by works.
Now, the Israelite was saved by the blood alone, and
not by his thoughts about it. His thoughts might be deep or they might be shallow; but,
deep or shallow, they had nothing to do with his safety. He was not saved by his thoughts
or feelings, but by the blood. God did not say, "When you see the blood, I
will pass over you." No : but 'when I see.' What gave an Israelite peace was the fact
that Jehovah's eye rested on the blood. This tranquillised his heart. The blood was
outside, and the Israelite inside, so that he could not possibly see it; but God saw it,
and that was quite enough.
The application of this to the question of a sinner's peace
is very plain. Christ, having shed His blood as a perfect atonement for sin, has taken it
into the presence of God and sprinkled it there; and God's testimony assures the believer
that everything is settled on his behalf. All the claims of justice have been fully
answered, sin has been perfectly put away, so that the full tide of redeeming love may
roll down from the heart of God, along the channel which the sacrifice of Christ has
opened for it.
To this truth the Holy Ghost bears witness. He ever sets
forth the fact of God's estimate of the blood of Christ. He points the sinner's eye to the
accomplished work of the cross. He declares that all is done; that sin has been put far
away, and righteousness brought nigh-so nigh, that it is 'to all them that believe,' (Rom.
3:22). Believe what? Believe what God says ; because He says it, not because they feel it.
Now, we are constantly prone to look at something in
ourselves as necessary to form the ground of peace. We are apt to regard the work of the
Spirit in us rather than the work of Christ for us, as the foundation of our
peace. This is a mistake. We know that the operations of the Spirit of God have their
proper place in Christianity; but His work is never set forth as that on which our peace
depends. The Holy Ghost did not make peace ; but Christ did : the Holy Ghost is not said
to be our peace ; but Christ is, God did not send ‘preaching peace’ by
the Holy Ghost, but ‘by Jesus Christ,’ (comp. Acts 10:36; Eph. 2:14, 17;
Col. 1:20).
The Holy Ghost reveals Christ; He makes us to know, enjoy,
and feed upon Christ. He bears witness to Christ ; takes of the things of Christ, and
shews them unto us. He is the power of communion, the seal, the witness, the earnest, the
unction. In short, His operations are essential Without Him, we can neither see, hear,
know, feel, experience, enjoy, nor exhibit aught of Christ. This is plain, and is
understood and admitted by every true and rightly-instructed Christian.
Yet, notwithstanding all this, the work of the Spirit is not
the ground of peace, though He enables us to enjoy the peace. He is not our title, though
He reveals our title, and enables us to enjoy it. The Holy Ghost is still carrying on His
work in the soul of the believer. He 'maketh intercession with groanings which cannot
be uttered,' (Rom. 8:26). He labours to bring us into more entire conformity to the
Lord Jesus Christ. His aim is "to present every man perfect in Christ", (Col.
1:28). He is the author of every right desire, every holy aspiration, every pure and
heavenly affection, every divine experience; but His work in and with us will not be
complete until we have left this present scene, and taken our place with Christ in the
glory. Just as, in the case of Abraham's servant, his work was not complete until he
presented Rebekah to Isaac.
Not so the work of Christ for us: that is absolutely
and eternally complete. He could say, "I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do," (John 17:4); and, again, "IT IS FINISHED," (John
19:30). The blessed Spirit cannot yet say He has finished the work. He has been patiently
and faithfully working for the last eighteen hundred years as the true -the Divine Vicar
of Christ on earth. He still works amidst the various hostile influences which surround
the sphere of His operations. He still works in the hearts of the people of God, in order
to bring them up, practically and experimentally, to the divinely, appointed standard ;
but He never teaches a soul to lean on His work for peace in the presence of divine
holiness. His office is to speak of Jesus. He does not speak of Himself. 'He,' says
Christ, "shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you," (John 16:4).
He can only present Christ's work as the solid basis on which the soul must rest for ever.
Yea, it is on the ground of Christ's perfect atonement that He takes up His abode and
carries on His operations in the believer. ‘In whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,’ (Eph. 1:13). No power or energy
of the Holy Ghost could cancel sin; the blood has done that. 'The blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin,’ (1 John 1:7).
It is of the utmost importance to distinguish between the
Spirit's work in us and Christ's work for us. Where they are confounded, one
rarely finds settled peace as to the question of sin. The type of the passover illustrates
the distinction very simply. The Israelite's peace was not founded upon the unleavened
bread or the bitter herbs, but upon the blood. Nor was it, by any means, a
question of what he thought about the blood, but what God thought about it. This
gives immense relief and comfort to the heart. God has found a ransom, and He reveals that
ransom to us sinners in order that we might rest therein, on the authority of His word,
and by the grace of His Spirit. And albeit our thoughts and feelings must ever fall far
short of the infinite preciousness of that ransom, yet, inasmuch as God tells us that He
is perfectly satisfied about our sins, we may be satisfied also. Our conscience may well
find settled rest where God's holiness finds rest.
Beloved reader, if you have not as yet found peace in Jesus,
we pray you to ponder this deeply. See the simplicity of the ground on which your peace is
to rest. God is well pleased in the finished work of Christ - ‘well pleased for
His righteousness sake,’ (Isaiah 42:21). That righteousness is not founded upon
your feelings or experience, but upon the shed blood of the Lamb of God; and hence your
peace is not dependent upon your feelings or experience, but upon the same precious blood
which is of changeless efficacy and changeless value in the judgment of God.
What then, remains for the believer? To what is he called ?
To keep the feast of unleavened bread, by putting away everything contrary to the hallowed
purity of his elevated position. It is his privilege to feed upon that precious Christ
whose blood has cancelled all his guilt. Being assured that the sword of the destroyer
cannot touch him, because it has fallen upon Christ instead, it is for him to feast in
holy repose within the blood-stricken door, under the perfect shelter which God's own love
has provided in the blood of the cross.
May God the Holy Ghost lead every doubting, wavering heart to
find rest in the divine testimony contained in those words, ' When I see the blood, I
will pass over you,' (Exod 12:13)." (Things New and old, vol. I,
London: Morriah).
Until I saw the blood, 'twas hell, my
soul was fearing;
And dark and dreary in my eyes the future was appearing,
While conscience told its tale of sin,
And caused a weight of woe within.
But when I saw the blood, and look'd at
Him who shed it,
My right to peace was seen at once, and I with transport read it;
I found myself to God brought nigh,
And "Victory" became my cry.
My joy was in the blood, the news of
which bid told me,
That spotless as the Lamb of God, my Father could behold me,
And all my boost was in His name
Through whom this great salvation came.
And when, with golden harps, the throne
of God surrounding,
The white-robed saints around the throne their songs of joy are soundin ;
With them I'll praise that precious blood
Which has redeem'd our souls to, God.
Continue With: Chapter 7: Regeneration Through The
Blood Of Jesus
Back to: Chapter 5: Salvation Through The Blood Of Jesus, The Gift
Of God
Return to: Table of Contents
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