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offering so graphically described in Lev. 4: 1-12, and it is by the blood of the sin
offering that sanctification is provided. All development springs from this source.
Every passage that speaks of holiness, of saints, and of sanctification, speaks aloud of
the efficacy of that precious blood. Not only does the blood of Christ provide
justification and sanctification--blessings that are referred to under the heading of our
"standing"--but it also has to do with our preservation afterwards in a corresponding
"state". This we see in the next two features, viz., "Cleansing" and "Victory".
7.
Cleansing.
"How much more shall the blood of Christ . . . purge your conscience" (Heb. 9: 14).
"The blood of Jesus Christ . . . . . cleanseth us from all sin" (I John 1: 7).
"They have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"
(Rev. 7: 14).
Sin renders a man unclean. This fact was impressed upon Israel continually. The
touching of a dead body, or the eating of certain foods, rendered a man unclean.
Uncleanness excluded from the presence of God, or from any act of service to Him.
Cleansing was accomplished by sacrifices, baptisms, and the ashes of an heifer,
compounded to make a ceremonial purgation. The one statement concerning Christ's
sacrificial work in Heb. 1: is of this great cleansing: "When He had by Himself purged
our sins" (Heb. 1: 3).
It is possible that some rather crude theology is extant, especially in certain hymns,
but nevertheless we would far rather hear a child of God singing, "There is a fountain
filled with blood" than hear the modern intellectual trample Christ's blood under foot.
8.
Victory.
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word
of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12: 11).
It is evident that here we have the echo of the victory of Calvary carried forward in the
experience of the saints: "The blood of the Lamb . . . . . they loved not their lives unto
the death." We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us, and as we
appreciate His victory and the spirit of His conquest, so shall we conquer too.
These overcomers were no proud conquerors. In the eyes of the world they were
pitiable fools. They appeared to be losers; they went to the death with no miraculous
intervention to justify their faith. The earth drank in their blood, while they prayed for
their murderers. The blood of Christ, shed at the hands of men, the Lamb of God, dumb
before the shearers, the cry: "Father, forgive them", these constituted the testimony and
the victory.
9.
The blood of sprinkling.