WASHED IN THE
BLOOD OF THE
LAMB
What Justification by Faith Really Means
BY
GARY RAY BRANSCOME
"John saw Jesus coming unto him and
said, Behold the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world //
And
the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (John 1:29,
1 John 1:7)
Far too many
Christians profess to trust in Christ, yet deny Him in their lives by
constantly striving to achieve holiness by their own efforts. They know
that salvation is by grace, but they still look to works to make them
holy (Galatians 3:2-3). They profess to believe that they are justified
by faith, yet think that keeping the law [i.e. obedience] makes them
righteous. While it is good and right that we should put sin out of our
lives, and rid ourselves of everything that in any way appears to be
evil, that is not what makes us holy in the sight of God! As far as God
is concerned all of our efforts at holiness are as filthy rags (Isaiah
64:6). There is only one thing that will cleanse us of sin, justify us,
and make us truly holy before God, and that is the forgiveness that is
ours in Christ Jesus.
Those who think that "justification by faith" is not
something that makes a person holy, but instead something that allows
them to get by with being less than holy, are under a delusion, for
nothing could be further from the truth! People who think that way have
it backward, for it is the law that makes us sinners, not grace. It is
the law that makes us unholy, not forgiveness. And, it is forgiveness
(not works) that cleanses us of sin and makes us holy before God. In
short, the law condemns us to hell, while forgiveness gives us heaven.
The law slays us spiritually, while forgiveness brings us life. The law
makes us unrighteous, while the blood of Christ makes us righteous.
Furthermore, because God does not change, no sinner can enter heaven
and no sinner ever will enter heaven. Therefore, the law cannot save
anyone. We are saved by the blood of Christ alone!
TRUE HOLINESS
In order to better understand what I am saying I
want you to try to visualize your sins being washed away by the blood
of Christ. Close your eyes if necessary and picture all of your sins
being washed away. Picture a cleansing flood coming in, swirling all
around you and washing away every filthy stain. Picture that flood
flowing right through you, washing away every foul thought and every
evil desire so that you begin to shine with a righteous glow. Picture
yourself standing before God radiant with holiness. Radiant not because
of your works, but because every sin has been washed away. That is true
holiness! That is how God sees us when we trust in Christ! That is the
perfect righteousness of Christ Himself (Romans 10:4). And, nothing
that we do, no set of rules that we keep, could ever improve one bit on
such perfection. Because our sins are covered by the blood of Christ,
we are just as pure in the sight of God as Christ Himself. Therefore,
when we stand before God it is as if Christ Himself were standing there
in our place, for His righteousness has become our righteousness,
through faith (Galatians 3:6). He took our sin upon Himself and has
given us His righteousness in exchange for it. As it is written, "by
one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified"
(Hebrews 10:14).
TRUE OBEDIENCE
Knowing the perfection that is ours in Christ, it
is clear that true obedience (obedience in the sight of God) is not the
obedience of the law but the obedience that is ours through faith
(Romans 4:13-15). In other words, it is those who trust in Christ, not
those who seek righteousness by the law, who are truly obedient (Romans
6:17, Galatians 3:1, Romans 10:3-4). In fact, that is why only those
cleansed by the blood of Christ are citizens of His heavenly kingdom,
even though God rules over all men (Mark 1:15, Hebrews 11:13). That is
also why only those cleansed by the blood of Christ are truly saints of
God (Ephesians 1:1), children of Abraham (Galatians 3:6,7,29 and 4:28),
and God's chosen people (Romans 2:28-29, Ephesians 1:4). Moreover,
because we have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, we can be certain
that God loves us and will hear our prayers (John 16:23-27).
Although the Spirit of God will not dwell in
sinners, once our sins have been washed away He comes into our heart
and works through the gospel to nourish our faith and keep us in faith
(Galatians 3:2, Romans 1:16, 1 Peter 1:5). In other words, just as God
has brought us to faith by His Word, He will keep us in faith by His
Word. Just as He has saved us by His grace, He will keep us by His
grace (Romans 10:17, 1Peter 1:5, Romans 1:16, 1Thessalonians 2:13). For
that reason, those who have a repentant heart need never fear that they
will lose their salvation, for The preservation of our faith rests on
God's strength, not our strength. The Bible does warn the unrepentant
that they are in danger of falling, but those warnings are meant to
bring them back to repentance, not encourage them to trust in works
(1Timothy 1:9, Galatians 5:4, Hebrews 10:26-27, or 1Corinthians 9:27).
God keeps us in faith by keeping us repentant.
GOD'S REBUKE
Because the blood of Christ makes us pure and
holy before God, God loves us and wants only the best for us (John
16:27). For that reason, when we trust in Christ all things work
together for our good (Romans 8:28). If riches are for our good, then
God will make us rich, and if poverty is best for us, then God will
make us poor. Therefore, we should trust Him in all things (Job 2:10).
While some of the trials that come into our lives, such as aging, are a
part of the general decay in the world, others come to keep us in faith
and bring us closer to God. Such was the trial that Job experienced.
The Bible tells us that Job was a righteous man
(Job 1:8). However, it was not the law that made him righteous, for the
law had not even been written at that time. On the contrary, what made
Job righteous was the only thing that can make anyone righteous, the
blood of Christ (Job 19:25). Nevertheless, even though it was faith in
Christ that cleansed Job of sin and made him righteous in the sight of
God, he still expected to have God's blessing on his life because of
his works (Job 23:7, Job 27:6, Job 33:9, Job 32:1). Therefore, God
allowed trouble to come into his life so that he would acknowledge his
sin, and recognize the fact that his own righteousness was vile in the
sight of God (Job 40:4). In that way, God rescued Job from the soul
destroying delusion of self-righteousness (Galatians 5:4).
LIVING FOR JESUS
Once we are righteous in the
sight of God (through faith in
Christ), the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and we become new
creatures (Galatians 3:5-6, 5:17 and 6:15). Furthermore, the knowledge
that we are righteous through faith in Christ becomes a motivation to
continue in righteousness. I am not talking about keeping the law, but
about walking in a clean conscience by doing that which we know in our
heart is right and good (Job 27:5-6). Because we love being free from
the condemnation of sin, we do not want to do anything that would bring
condemnation. Willful sin would rob us of the peace of mind that comes
with knowing that our sins are forgiven, for even if no one knew that
we had done evil, we would know and God would know (Hebrews 10:26).
Therefore, we would feel condemned and unclean. In short, a defiled
conscience would rob us of the joy and peace of mind that comes with
knowing God sees no fault in us.
CONCLUSION
Christ did not free us from the law so that we
could transgress the law! Instead he freed us from the law so that we
can be righteous without the law. For it is the law (not sin) that
condemns us, and it is the law (not sin) that will send us to hell if
we do not trust in Christ. Moreover, because we love Jesus and
appreciate the righteousness we have in Him, we love that which is
right and good and pure in His sight. In fact, because those who walk
by faith avoid all that appears evil, the behavior of those who have
been freed from the law is better, not worse, than the behavior of
those who walk by the law. And, as long as we do not sin willfully (as
did David with the wife of Uriah) no sin is ever imputed unto us
(Romans 4:6-8, 1 John 5:18, 1 Kings 15:5). For that reason, when we
trust in Christ God is pleased with our giving and all else that we do
(Romans 10:4, Romans 8:33).