NO ORDINARY BLOOD

This Friday is Good Friday. As we commemorate Good Friday, we cannot but think of the blood our Lord shed for us. It is important for us to understand the doctrine of the blood. What does the blood of Jesus mean?

There are some who say that the blood of Jesus simply and only means His death. This is the view of John MacArthur, a popular Bible commentator. MacArthur believes that it was not Jesus’ blood but His death that saved us from our sins. He said, “It is not His bleeding that saved me, but His dying”. In his Bible commentary, MacArthur sees the “blood” of Christ only as a figure of speech. To him, “blood” means “death”. As such, he does not think that whenever the blood of Jesus is mentioned in the Bible, it should be understood literally as the actual blood (ie the liquid or fluid). He wrote, “the blood of Christ … is an expression that refers not simply to the fluid, but the whole atoning sacrificial work of Christ in his death. Blood is used as a substitute word for death (cf. Matt 23:30, 35; 27:6, 8, 24, 25; John 6:54-56; Acts 18:6; 20:26)”.

Let us examine MacArthur’s statements on the blood of Christ in the light of Scripture. It is vital that we know the worth and power of the blood of Christ. Know that (1) the blood of Christ and the death of Christ are required to save us from our sins; (2) the blood of Christ is to be understood literally and not figuratively; (3) the blood of Christ was not merely human blood but also divine blood—the blood of the One who was uniquely both God and Man.

Blood and Death Are Both Necessary for the Atonement

First, it must be categorically stated that it was necessary for our Lord both to shed His blood and to die on the cross. If Jesus had simply shed His blood without dying on the cross, the shedding of His blood would have been in vain. Or if He had died in any other way save by crucifixion which required the shedding of blood, His death would have been worthless.

The Bible is very clear that Jesus had to die a bloody death by crucifixion to save us from our sins. (1) Jesus was crucified: John 3:14, 12:32, 33, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: … And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” Psalm 22:16, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.” Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree”. (2) Jesus shed His precious blood: Hebrews 9:22, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (3) Jesus truly died: John 19:30, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” Philippians 2:8, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

The blood of Christ and the death of Christ are intrinsically and invariably linked. When we talk about the blood we must think of the death, and when we think about His death, we must talk about His blood. Just as water cannot do without hydrogen and oxygen, the atonement of Christ cannot do without His blood and His death. If Jesus had died in any other way, by strangulation or by drowning, his death would have been futile. Yet, it bears noting that the blood of Christ, though inseparably linked to His death, is distinct.

The Blood of Christ Is Literal and Not Figurative

Second, when the blood of Christ is mentioned in the Scriptures, it should be understood literally to mean His actual, physical blood. One good principle of Bible interpretation is this: “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense, but take every word at its primary, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context clearly indicate otherwise.” There is really no reason why the word “blood” cannot be read or understood literally to mean the actual blood of Christ.

In the Old Testament, we see that it was not only the death of the sacrificial lamb that was required, there must be the sprinkling of its blood on the mercy seat that took away sin and cleansed the sinner (Lev 16:13-15). That is why Hebrews 9:12-14 says, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” The very fact that the blood had to be sprinkled or applied tells us that it is the literal blood that is meant. It is blood that is sprinkled not death. Although the death of the lamb was required, yet the blood of the lamb played a very specific and special role in the atonement. It was precisely the blood—that red fluid was the means of cleansing, and it pointed to the blood of Christ that will be shed once and for all (Heb 10:4, 10, 19).

The clearest proof text for the necessity and the efficacy of the blood of Christ in redeeming us from our sins is 1 Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot”. Note that the blood of Christ here is compared with silver and gold. If silver and gold are understood literally as actual physical things, then the blood of Christ too should be understood in the same way. Silver and gold, though precious metals, are perishable and powerless to save the soul from sin, but the blood of Christ is infinitely precious because it is imperishable and powerful to save both body and soul from sin and hell.

MacArthur’s interpretation of the word “blood” (haima) to mean “death” (thanatos) is no different from the Today’s English Version/ Good News Bible’s corruption of the Scriptures by rendering the word “blood” as “death” in Acts 20:28, Romans 3:25, 5:9, Ephesians 1:7, 2:13, Colossians 1:14, 20, 1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 1:5, 5:9. The Greek haima means “blood” and not “death”. Translators have no right to change the words of Holy Scripture. Interpreters too have no right to give another meaning to the text other than what was naturally and literally intended.

The Blood of Christ Is Not Just Human but Also Divine

Third, the blood of Christ is not ordinary but extraordinary blood. This is clearly seen in Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” The pronouns, “he” and “his”, must refer to God Himself. God purchased His church with His own blood. Of course, this must mean the blood of God, namely God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh (John 1:1, 14). It is one proof text for the deity of Christ.

The blood of Christ is both divine and human. Since His incarnation, Christ is both God and Man in one Person—the Theanthropos. The two distinct natures of Christ cannot be separated or divided. Matthew Poole rightly commented, “the blood of Christ, called truly the blood of God, there being in Christ two natures in one person, and a communion of the properties of each nature. If Christ had not been man, he could have had no blood to shed: had he not been God, the blood which he shed could not have been a sufficient price of redemption.”

John Calvin likewise did not see Christ’s blood as just the ordinary red fluid of sinful humanity. Calvin warned against profaning the blood of Christ for to him it was “holy blood”, “For hereupon it followeth, that unless they take pains in the Church, the lost souls are not only imputed to them, but they be also guilty of sacrilege, because they have profaned the holy blood of the Son of God.”

The blood of Christ is no ordinary blood, but unique, special, precious and powerful for it is the blood of God the Son no less! We must never speak of the blood of Christ as if it were a common thing. We are saved by the sinless and holy blood of God the Son who is uniquely both God and Man in One Person. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Rom 11:33). JK

THANKFUL TO THE LORD

Dear Pastor Jeffrey,

By the grace of God and your prayer and support, we all here are fine and doing well. Praise God.

Thank God, our primary and high school students have finished their final examination and thank God they did well. The matriculation students not yet but they will start on 9 March and finish on 16. Please pray for the matriculation students.

During the summer holidays, I plan for all the children to learn the Bible, the computer, English grammar and speaking etc. The two preachers will teach the Bible instead of Rev Biak and Pr Lian Uk during this summer holidays at NLOC. We will start from the end of March and end in May.

Elder John Leong and his group will come from 9 to 14 April for the VBS.

I will go to Tuikhal village for the youth camp on 16 March. The youth camp will be from 17 to 19 March.

Pastor, thank you so much for the car (van) because it is very useful for NLOC. Every week we bought vegetables from the sale center, very cheap than near my place, and we bought fishes from fish sale center (see photo). It is very cheap, we can eat two times a month, and we bought chicken from sale center; very cheap there every Saturday. Sometimes, we need to ferry the primary students when they are sick to go to clinic.

Pastor, please pray for all the plans so that they will be profitable for the children and for God’s glory.

Again we NLOC are so happy and thankful to the Lord and to True Life BPC. May God bless you. We are praying for True Life BPC and FEBC always.

Yours in Christ

Brother Thangno

New Life Orphan Center

Yangon, Myanmar

4 March 2016