18.2 We Are Washed Clean by the Blood of Christ

The Song of Praise

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Thro’ the flood gates of God’s mercy
Flow’d the vast and gracious tide;
Grace and love like mighty rivers
Pour’d incessant from above,
And heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.1

Table of Contents

The Text

Revelation 12:10-12 (CSB)
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,
The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ
have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them
before our God day and night,
has been thrown down.
They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
for they did not love their lives
to the point of death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you
with great fury,
because he knows his time is short.

The Chapter

This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel; and also upon the inward evidence of those graces of the Spirit unto which promises are made, and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God; and, as a fruit thereof, keeping the heart both humble and holy.

The Confession

This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith

Hebrews 6:11–19 (CSB) Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end, so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance. For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself: I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

Romans 8:23-25 (CSB) Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits — we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

This faith is grounded not upon well-wishing nor senseless hope nor the conjuring up of a positive attitude, but upon the historic life and death and resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To do deny the historicity of Christ is a fool's errand. Not even the staunchest, most militant atheist would deny the existance of Jesus of Nazareth. It would be the equivalent of saying the earth is flat. No one wants to be foolish.

So this faith and hope is grounded upon, based upon, rooted in, centered upon and the object is Jesus Christ. Let me take one further step: we are not saved upon the faith in Christ but in Christ. Do you get the distinction? So many people want to believe--to believe in believe. But just to believe is not enough. We believe in Christ Jesus because God gave us the faith to believe in his Son so would not perish but have everlasting life.

founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel

Hebrews 6:17–18 (CSB) Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

Hebrews 9:22 (CSB) According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Hebrews 10:22-23 (CSB) let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.

Sounds familiar?

Ezekiel 36:25-27 (CSB) I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.

Look at what God has done in his Son, Jesus Christ, for you. He has shed his blood and you are covered with his righteousness alone.

Do you see? You cannot simply believe in believe but you must trust the Risen Lord. How do you trust Him? How can we do this since we are infinitely far from God and we cannot work not one good deed to move one step closer to his glory. How can we do this?

and also upon the inward evidence of those graces of the Spirit unto which promises are made

2 Peter 1:4–11 (CSB) By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

John 3:3 (CSB) Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

You must be born again.

Romans 10:13 (CSB) For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

All have been command to repent of sins and call upon the name of Jesus. But all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

For you to repent and trust in Christ, you must be born again. You must be made new. You must be sprinkled clean by God. You must be given a new heart by God. You must be given the Holy Spirit by God. Then and only then can you come to the Father!

That is why what Christ said was such a locked in guarantee:

Luke 11:9-13 (CSB) “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? ”

If you turn from your sins, turn to God, run to God, and ask for God, you are going to get God. I am not the guarantee of such of a promise but the Son of God who is God is the guarantee of such a promise--the object of our faith!

He says you are going to get God every time! Why? You are a son of God!

and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God

Romans 8:15–16 (CSB) For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,

You belong to God our Father--the Father of lights who will not change his mind about you. Never!

James 1:17-18 (CSB) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

and, as a fruit thereof, keeping the heart both humble and holy

1 John 3:1–3 (CSB) See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.

You want to know how you know you are saved? You believe and trust in Christ. You understand his precious word. You repent of your sins.

And you might push back and reply, "Yea, but I am not perfect in these things. I don't perfectly repent of my sins because I keep committing the same sins. I read the Bible but not often and I don't understand it fully. I believe in the Christ; help me with my unbelief!"

I know you are not perfect in these things that we have been commanded to do! We were born sons of Adam. God knows all things and God already knew this about you and me. He knows we are made of dust and he took pity on us. If it was up to us to get to him, we would perish along the way.

That is why he sent his only begotten Son to live and die, and sent his Spirit raise us from the dead and give us life, and the Father gives us mercy and adopts us into his family.

I am a great, great sinner and Christ is the perfect Savior of my soul and the lover of my heart forevermore.

1

William Rees, “Here is Love,” 1876.