The Blood and Forgiveness of Sin

Scripture Reading: Matthew 26

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace — Ephesians 1:7

Forgiveness means to pardon and release, to treat the person as if the sin had never been committed.

Receiving the forgiveness of God can be difficult. There are two groups of people who have a hard time receiving the forgiveness that God offers. On one hand there are those who think forgiveness for them is impossible, that their sins are beyond God’s grace. They think, “I have sinned so badly that God can’t forgive me.” On the other hand, there are those who think forgiveness is no problem, that God will simply say, “I forgive you” and drop the matter. They think that their sin is no big deal. Their hearts are hardened so that they are oblivious to the problem of their sin. But sin is a problem…

Carnegie Simpson stated, “Forgiveness is to man to the plainest of duties; to God it is the profoundest of problems.” How does a perfect Holy God release sinners from their sin? An impartial judge cannot simply overlook sin. Anselm observed in the eleventh century that if anyone imagines that God can simply forgive as we forgive others, that person “has not yet considered what a heavy weight sin is.”¹

On Thursday in the upper room at the last Passover of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He established the Lord’s Supper. As He spoke of the cup and what it represented, He said, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). The blood of Jesus secures our forgiveness.

The shed blood refers to Christ’s death for us on the cross and the new covenant given to us by His death. In the Old Testament the people of Israel were prohibited from eating blood (Lev. 17:10), because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11). The blood was a symbol of life, and so the shedding of blood meant death, and not only death, but violent death. If you do a word study of the phrase “shedding blood” in the Bible, you will find that it always refers the taking of a life, to violent death.

The New Testament declares, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Heb. 9:22 NASB) And John writes, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)

Perhaps that is exactly what you long to feel in your personal experience — washed, clean, and pure. Perhaps you cannot ever seem to feel that clean. That kind of clean, that kind of forgiveness, does not come from analyzing your past or by improving your performance, it comes from the blood of Jesus! Trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse, to forgive all your sins. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Stuart Townend, and Keith Getty have written a beautiful Communion Hmyn:

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us – and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.

The body of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
Torn for you – eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of love
Around the table of the King.

The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you – drink and remember
He drained death’s cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of grace
Around the table of the King.

And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond, – and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.
As we share in His suffering
We proclaim Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King²

1 Both cited by John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ, IVP, 1986, Chapter 4, Page 87-88