This morning, while searching through some of Steve McVey's video series "101 Lies Taught In Church Every Sunday" to send some links to someone in an email, I came across the video below, "Lie #5 Our Sins Are Under The Blood Of Jesus." I thought the timing in 'rediscovering' this video was neat, since I think it goes along well with my post from yesterday, "Big Difference 6 - Sin Atoned vs. Sin Taken Away," as well as the comments there from Aida.
It's possible that it might seem to some that I'm just being picky about the use of words and phrases such as "atonement," "reconciled," "sins taken away," etc, but understanding the words makes all the difference when it comes to understanding all that Christ has done for us as well as who we really are in Him.
I used to think that when I sinned, I would have to get back "under the blood" of Jesus in order to have my sins atoned for. A song by Petra called "Underneath the Blood," which was overall a great song, had one not-so-minor detail wrong, and it added to my wrong thinking.
It went:
Where do I go when I miss the mark
And my heart starts feeling like it's stained and dark?
Only know one way to go -
Take it to the crimson flow.
It might sound good that we should take our sins to Jesus so that we could be washed and cleansed again by His atoning blood ("the crimson flow"). But it's just not sound doctrine!
In Christ, we don't keep going back to Jesus to get cleansed over and over again, or to have our sins atoned for over and over again.
We are in Him and He is in us. We have been washed. We have been cleansed. We have been justified. We have been made right with God. Note the tense of 1 Cor. 6:11. By His blood sacrifice, Jesus has put away sin. He has taken away our sin.
In Christ, we are not "sinners" who keep going back to Him for more forgiveness and more cleansing, so that we can be made righteous again and again. We are saints who have been justified (made righteous) and have become the righteousness of God in Christ. When we were sinful sinners, we did some righteous things but that never made us righteous. Now that we are righteous saints, we sometimes sin, but that doesn't make us sinners!
Our identity is solidified, and we can't receive from God what He has already given us. We simply walk in it with trustful confidence! This makes all the difference in how we view God and how we view the truth of who we are in Him.
Once a very well meaning Christian brother told me that he would 'sprinkle' the blood of Jesus on his work computer everyday, as a way of protecting his job! What is the value of His blood? Way too often we (mis)use His blood as means to find material blessings, temporarily cover up sins, such as the example you used 'getting back under the blood'. I don't know what that means! People can 'invent' a whole lot of things from the 'unwritten' pages of Bible.
ReplyDeleteThank you for clarifying the issue of atonement. You made sense!
Ah, Bino...You just touched on one of those things that I absolutely despise. The worst I've heard is finding prosperity and money in the Blood of Jesus. It's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard and it's no where in the scripture.
ReplyDeleteIn my irritable meter, It ranks right up there with those guys in flashy tuxes trying to give me FREE miracle spring water to get me a new car or house. CALL NOW AND GET A SUPER-SIZED VILE OF MIRACLE SPRING WATER FOR FREE!
Oi...
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteYeah I've seen some pretty odd "applications" of OT concepts in the NT church, as well as made-up things that pass for New Covenant life. The blood of Jesus is used/applied in so many ways that just have no basis whatsoever!
For a short period in my pentecostal life I fell for a lot of strange things. One was anointing people and objects with oil. :) At one time I worked one-on-one with a person diagnosed with mental disabilities and anger management problems. He was the nicest man, but at times he would get in my face and threaten me with some serious threats. I thought this was perhaps a demon problem, so I took some cooking oil and 'anointed' all the doorposts in his house (he had his own house but had to be supervised at all times), thinking this would somehow cure the problem. Oh boy... ;)
Yep. Been there and done that. I even anointed my friend's car once because it wouldn't start. The funny thing is that it started after I did that. Probably coincidence or maybe Father just being gracious to his childish daughter.
ReplyDeleteAida
Aida... It probably depends upon whether it was Wesson or a no-name generic brand. Wesson has the word "Son" in it, you see. If you used some other brand, the reason it worked was probably because the devil was disguising himself as an angel of light.
ReplyDeleteJoel, thanks for that explanation!!! It was a generic brand so it was old slue foot himself. How could I have been so naive? Next time, I'll be sure to use Wesson oil. It's amazing how sneaky the devil can be. Hiding in a bottle of store brand cooking oil! Who would have thought . . . ?!?
ReplyDelete