Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
There is a question in the book of Hebrews that Christians ponder: How does the blood of Christ (mentioned more than twenty times) "cleanse" and "purify" those who believe in Him? Note: it's not how does that blood "cover" their sins, or how does that blood provide a mere pardon. The question is: How does that blood cleanse the soul of sin's defilement? How does it change the heart, purify the very springs of character, provide "a clean heart," "cleanse from secret faults," "wash [us] thoroughly" (Psalm 19:12; 51:1-10)? Not just "cover" us with a white robe over dirty clothes--the insurance policy kind of pardon, or the other metaphor, the Judge pays your fine so you go free.
It's a waste of precious time to answer this question of questions with a pat answer that is essentially egocentric in character. It only postpones for another generation getting ready for the second coming of Jesus. The idea of an "insurance policy coverage" is egocentric in nature. Such "cleansing" is merely cosmetic, therefore deceptive. Self still rules the heart, supreme. How can I be sure I will get to heaven? Oh, yes, Lord, remember my loved ones too. The very essence of self-concern is still there.
The Lord Jesus says to many, "Thou knowest not" because they are so immature in their Christian experience that they can conceive of nothing more important than their own individual, personal salvation (Jer. 33:3, King James Version; Rev. 2:17). The great controversy concern is over their heads.
Why is "blood" so pivotal? One little suggestion: if as an ancient Israelite you brought your lamb to the sanctuary, confessing your sin over its head, and you asked the priest, please take the knife and kill the little creature, I can't do it, I can't stand to see blood, he will hand the knife back to you and tell you, I cannot slay the victim for you; you must do it yourself (Lev. 4:29, 33).
When Revelation speaks twenty-five times of "a Lamb as though it had been slain" (5:6), it's we who did it. Yes, we had the hammer and the spikes in our hands when we nailed Him to His cross. In order for the cleansing and purifying to go further than skin-deep, it seems that the full truth must be realized.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 5, 2003.
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