What is the difference between the significance and function of the blood and the significance and function of the cross? Why does the Bible never say that we shed blood with the Lord but only that we were crucified with the Lord?
Because some may ask, “Since sins have been taken away before God, why is sin still with us?”, we ought to pay attention to this question in order to eliminate any doubt.
Many places throughout the Bible tell us that the Lord shed His blood. Many other places tell us that the Lord was crucified. Are the significance and function of the blood the same as the significance and function of the cross? Are they interchangeable? For example, could we change “Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22) to “Without crucifixion is no remission”? Or could we change “Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him” (Rom. 6:6) to “Knowing this, that our old man shed blood with Him”? If the significance and function of the blood are the same as that of the cross, then they are interchangeable. But if they are not interchangeable, then their significance and function must be different.
Then what is the significance and function of the blood, and what is the significance and function of the cross?
Let us look first at the matter of the blood. There are over four hundred references in the Bible to the blood. Why does God require the blood? Why does God need to slay whoever dares to come into His presence without the blood? Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make propitiation for your souls; for it is the blood which, by the life, makes propitiation.” This verse clearly tells us that the blood is for propitiation. Where is propitiation made? It is made upon the altar. The work of the blood is before God; it is not in us. The blood propitiates for us before God so that God considers our sins as having been taken away. However, it does not cleanse us from sin inwardly.
Perhaps some may ask, “Does not 1 John 1:7 tell us that ‘the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin’?” Yes it does, but we must remember that whenever the Bible mentions cleansing from sins by the blood, it always refers to a cleansing before God. The first part of this verse says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” Then it says, “And the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.” This cleansing is before God. The function of the blood is altogether a matter before God. God requires the blood. He requires that we come before Him with the blood.
Some may ask, “Does not Hebrews 9:14 say that His blood can purify man’s conscience?” Yes it does, but we must realize that “purify” refers to the purifying of the conscience, not to the purifying of the sinful nature. Our sinful nature has never been purified by the blood. In the entire Bible, there is no mention of the blood purifying our old nature, nor does it mention the blood purifying the flesh. The blood only cleanses us from the sins that we have before God. The blood only purifies our conscience so that we may freely and boldly come before God. “And without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (v. 22). With the blood there is forgiveness of sins, and therefore, we have peace. “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh” (10:19-20). The blood, not the cross, is brought to the heavens. The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus shed His blood. We did not share in the Lord’s shedding of the blood. The blood remits and takes away our sins before God. Let us hold fast to this fact.
Many people do not have freedom before God because they misunderstand the function of the blood; they assume that the blood is for cleansing away the sin within man. Therefore, they can never see the function and effect of the blood. The cleansing spoken of in 1 John 1:7 does not refer to the cleansing away of inward sin or to cleansing away the root of sin. Rather, it refers to the cleansing before God. God alone demands the blood, and only the blood of the Lord Jesus can satisfy God’s heart. Therefore, we can freely draw near to God by the blood at any time. Whether we feel that our sins are great or small, rough or refined, forgivable or unforgivable, all these sins are cleansed away before God. “Though your sins are like scarlet,/They will be as white as snow” (Isa. 1:18). What does this mean? It means that every scar and trace of your sins can be erased just as if you never sinned. This refers to your condition before God. Although there is still nothing good within you, before God and in His eyes, your sins have been taken away.
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