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How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 9: 14 (NIV)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.
Ephesians 1: 7 (NIV)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1: 7 (NIV)
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
Leviticus 17: 11 (NIV)
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*Also, take a moment to read Hebrews 10: 1-22 (NIV) to see Paul’s treatise on Christ’s one-time sacrifice that supplies continual saving blood for his body, the church.
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Scripture is clear that Jesus’ blood cleanses us, but what does that cleansing look like, conceptually? What’s the proper way for us to picture being cleansed by Christ’s blood?
For the longest time, when I would think about being cleansed by Christ’s blood, the primary image in my mind was of me standing alone and having Jesus’ blood poured (or dumped) on me. And I would imagine that I’m not alone in that imagery. There’s probably a decent number of people reading this that have had this imagery (or something like it) come to mind, as well.
But as I’ve recently sat with this picture of cleansing and weighed it against scripture, I’ve found it to be inaccurate in its depiction of how we’re told salvation works.
So, I’d like to take the remainder of this writing to present a concept of cleansing and salvation that’s consistent with the message of scripture.
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Not individuals, but part of the body
Modern Christians (especially within the reformed and evangelical traditions) tend to place a heavy emphasis on the salvation and refinement of the individual believer.
But the apostles — who walked with Jesus and who worked by God’s inspiration — communicate no such individualistic emphasis. On the contrary, they were clear in their messaging that the kingdom is participated in, experienced, and put on display within the context of close, family-like community (take a look at how community manifested itself in the newly-birthed church in Acts). It’s for this reason that one of the main ways the apostles would illustrate the nature of the church was by likening it to the human body (I call this kind of talk “body language”).
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12: 27 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2: 20 (NIV)
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3: 6 (NIV)
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4: 11-13 (NIV)
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4: 15-16 (NIV)
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
Ephesians 5: 23 (NIV)
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Colossians 1: 24 (NIV)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.
Colossians 3: 15 (NIV)
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The identity of the church as “a living body constructed of many parts” runs deep in the apostles teaching. And it’s obvious that the apostles didn’t use the body as an illustration of the church by accident. Jesus didn’t teach them view it as an arbitrary illustration and they, likewise, didn’t teach it that way to those whom they discipled. The apostles used body language because there is real understanding to be gained by treating the church like an actual body.
With that in said, we’re going to proceed by exploring the interaction between the physical body and its blood to mine some of that understanding.
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Blood Flow
To begin, let’s first acknowledge two truths about blood on which all its other functions stand:
- The overwhelming majority of the work the blood does it does inside the body, not outside of it
and - Blood can only work by being in constant circulation throughout the body
So, right off the bat, what do these two things show us?
One thing it shows us is that for Christ-followers the image of blood being poured over individuals doesn’t make sense. In living creatures, blood does almost all its work while sealed inside the body (it only works on the outside when the body’s been opened due to abuse or injury and needs to be re-sealed). The human circulatory system is a highly regulated closed system that must remain sealed in order to retain the blood for its work. So, if we want to access saving blood then we need to be inside the body where it’s present, not standing alone expecting it to be poured over us.
The next truth to acknowledge is that blood needs to be constantly moving throughout that sealed system. God ordered things such that when you enter into Christ, you (the individual) are added to his body, at which point you become one part (or member) of a larger, living entity that has many other functioning parts. And in this body, the cleansing and life-giving blood flows — not to any one part — but through, and for, all its parts!
Said another way, each part of the body has a responsibility to remain connected to the other parts and remain constantly open to the blood’s flow so that it can pass freely through them to other parts of the body.
Now, with a very high-level picture now established of where the blood exists and how it moves in the body, let’s move on and look at what blood does for the body — and it does a lot.
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Blood Work
You could make an argument that blood is the single most important substance for maintaining life in the body as it directly supports pretty much every one of its functions. Speaking in very simple terms, here’s a list of the things that blood does for the body:
- Delivers fresh air (O2) to the body
- Removes old air (CO2) from the body
- Delivers nutrients (the body’s sources of fuel and energy) throughout the body
- Collects and removes various types of waste from all over the body
- Hydrates by delivering fresh water throughout the body
- Fights diseases, infections, and sickness throughout the body with its immunological components
- Helps regulate internal body temperature
- Helps heal wounds with its clotting components
When you take an assessment of what the blood does, there’s no mistaking that it is critical in maintaining life in the body.
But whereas Christians today tend to equate “salvation” with the forgiveness of their sins and their destination in the afterlife, I believe that the created order presents salvation as being something more broad-reaching and immediate. Because the truth is, when you take account of the work that blood does, and the effect that it has within the body, the following statement is undeniable:
Blood is constantly saving the body from death — not eventual death, but immediate death.
Blood isn’t working to save the body from some far-off future event. On the contrary, it’s constantly working to sustain the health and life of the body. If it ever stops moving or working (or if too much of it is lost) death follows quickly — in a matter of minutes at the most.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2: 1-5
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2: 13-14
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What’s Paul’s message here to the believers in Ephesus and Corinth? It’s not that they were in need of Jesus because they were headed to Hell eventually. No, the truth that Paul wanted them to understand was that before they were in Christ, they were already dead, and now that they are a part of Christ’s body, they are alive! He wanted them to know that they were in danger not because of their destination in the next life, but because of their status in this one.
Apart from Christ you are already dead, but when you’re added to Christ, you’re made alive.
Why?
Because, only in his body do you contact his blood that is constantly saving and cleansing all of its parts.
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Takeaways
Ok, takeaway time…In the interest of length, I’ve briefly summed-up the key points made in this writing.
- The central focus of salvation should not be on the individual, but the connected community — the ekklesia. It’s not healthy for us to focus so intensely on the salvation of individuals. Our focus should instead be primarily on the entire body functioning and sharing life through one another.
- If the body dies, any connected parts that were healthy will die, too; likewise, if the whole body is alive except for just one part which is dead, that one dead part will poison the whole. The body is connected, and each part affects the others, therefore each of us should be primarily concerned with the health of the whole.
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- If the body dies, any connected parts that were healthy will die, too; likewise, if the whole body is alive except for just one part which is dead, that one dead part will poison the whole. The body is connected, and each part affects the others, therefore each of us should be primarily concerned with the health of the whole.
- The benefits the blood brings (life & cleansing) are only found within the body. Our cleansing is not possible external of the body, and our cleansing is not an external cleansing.
- Remember: Jesus chided the religious whose cleanliness and righteousness was only external (Matthew 23: 25-27).
- What Jesus brought was as a correction to external righteousness and rule-following the Jews had walked into; he brought internal restoration and access to true life and righteousness.
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- Blood can only work when it circulates constantly. If blood stops, stagnates, or is lost the result is dysfunction and death.
- The body’s parts are meant to function like conduits, not containers. Blood should flow through each part to the others. This is only possible if the parts exist in constant, tight connection within an atmosphere of openness and sharing.
- In this way, each part of the body is critical in God’s spirit reaching its other parts. Said another way, each body part is dependent on the other parts for experiencing life, cleansing, and power that comes through the blood.
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Questions to leave you with
- In your experience, have you known members of the church to be as reliant on one another as the parts of a physical body are reliant on one another?
- Are you dependent on your brothers and sisters in Christ as a consistent source of life? Do you feel like you truly need them in order to survive and/or thrive in life? Or are they people that you mostly interact with lightly, only engaging more deeply if you “really need them.”
- Do you feel like Jesus’ energizing, fresh breath-giving, hydrating, healing blood is constantly flowing into you from your brothers and sisters in Christ? And are you then being a conduit by which that same blood flows and brings new energy, fresh breath, hydration, and healing to other brothers, sisters, and your broader community?
My prayer is that you would consider the picture of the blood and its work as it’s been presented here. I also ask that you consider these questions and be prayerful about them.
If you haven’t been a conduit for the life-saving blood of Christ for others, I would suggest that you pray that the Spirit show you how to. Ask God to open you up to begin to receive His life through others and that you be willing to become a source of it for them as well. If that means relationships need to heal, or get stronger, then that’s what must happen. Immediately.
Remember, the body isn’t designed to last long without healthy blood circulation.
Let’s begin to truly function together as tight-knit collection of interdependent parts, and let’s make the body stronger.
Remember, the blood’s not for you alone, it’s for the body.
Your brother in blood,
Alex