Here are seven principles about the blood of Jesus taken from the New Testament. Look at all that was accomplished either by or through the blood of Jesus:

1. We have redemption through the blood of Jesus. Ephesians 1:7, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins …
2. We are justified by the blood of Jesus. Romans 5:9, Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
3. We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus. 1 John 1:7, … the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
4. We are sanctified / made holy through the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 13:12, And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
5. We are brought home by the blood of Jesus. Ephesians 2:13, But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
6. We have access to God by the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 10:19, Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus …
7. We have peace through the blood of Jesus. Colossians 1:20, … by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

The blood of Jesus is key to our understanding of the Good News. Only the blood of Christ could accomplish all of this. From redemption to justification to purification to sanctification to reconciliation to new creation — all the major themes of the New Testament come back to the blood of Jesus. Without a doubt, the blood of Jesus is central to Gospel teaching.

The blood of Jesus is also central to Gospel practice. When Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper, He centers its meaning around the shedding of His blood (Matt. 26:28), which helps us understand His death as a sacrifice. Sacrificial in His life; Sacrificial in His death. Christian baptism is also connected to the blood of Jesus. Just as the blood of the covenant was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, so too is baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). It is the shed blood of Christ at work in baptism and communion to redeem us, to justify us, and to sanctify us.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the blood of Jesus is central to Christian worship. Think of all the great hymns that refer to the blood of Jesus:

• What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
• Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
• My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness.
• There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb.

Christian teaching and worship and practice down through the ages affirm this central truth that we’re driving home here: there is simply no substitute for the blood of Jesus. It is powerful to cleanse us from ALL sin.

As most of you probably know, we have a baseball player at our house. Baseball season is a lot of fun, but it brings with it a tedious chore: washing the baseball pants. Over the years, Sunny has learned all the tricks to get these pants clean: we’ve used OxiClean; we’ve used this soap called Felz-Naptha. My buddy tells me that he just lays his sons pants out on the driveway and he blasts them with his pressure washer! If you have a baseball or softball player in your family, you know the drill.

Joshua has one pair of pants that he’s worn for a few years. And no matter how hard we try, these pants just won’t come clean. Too much sliding around in this Alabama clay, I guess. Some of that dirt just isn’t coming out.

One thing I’ve never tried — I’ve never tried washing his pants in blood. It never occurred to me to do that because it’s counter-intuitive. Blood doesn’t clean things. In fact, there have been plenty of times when it’s just the opposite, times when we’re trying to get blood to come out of these pants, right there along with the dirt.

But this is the message we have believed — that the blood of Jesus is the most powerful cleansing agent in the world. It goes down deep to get out even the worst stain of all — the stain of sin. You probably know this, but let me made the point anyway: sin is a stain that won’t come out no matter how hard we scrub. Its stain runs too deep. But the good news is that the blood of Jesus cleanses us completely. Though your sins are like scarlet, says the Lord, they shall be white as snow.

There is simply no substitute for the blood of Jesus.