31. THE BLOOD OF JESUS GIVES SPIRITUAL LIFE

(The Faith Forum Series -Batch 2)

It is not possible to be washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and remain unregenerated (SPIRITUALLY DEAD or unawakened). For, there is life in the blood.

We are all physically alive once we are in the land of the living but we were all born SPIRITUALLY DEAD. By this I mean, that as human beings, we were not born having relationship with God, who created us and therefore, we were not born with our senses being awakened to the reality of his existence and who he is and with an understanding of who we are and our purpose here on earth, in light of Him.

We are all born into this world SPIRITUALLY DEAD due to the sin of Adam and Eve, our ancestors, which we inherited. They were the first persons that God created on the earth and due to their disobedience against God, they were separated from him. Since then, sin and death (which are the products or fruits of disobedience against God), entered the world and passed on all human beings.

Unfortunately, sin does not remain at the same level but grows and since then, the more it has grown in this world and in the lives of human beings, the more distant we have become from God who is holy, pure, righteous and in whom there is no sin at all. We have become so distant, that people have gotten to the place where they doubt if God even exists and live their lives as if they placed themselves here on earth and have no one to account to.

We are therefore born SPIRITUALLY DEAD, DISCONNECTED from God and will all experience physical death which is the irreversible penalty for sin and disobedience, provided that Jesus does not return to earth before we physically die.

Nevertheless, when Jesus Christ washes anyone in his blood (which remains potent although he shed it many years ago on the cross when he died in our place for our sins), that person becomes spiritually awakened and SPIRITUALLY ALIVE or regenerated.

See, our DISCONNECT from God, the one who created us is like electricity in a room that has been turned off because a chord has been unplugged. The whole room is plunged into darkness and sadly, we have been born into this room (the world), thinking, like a person that has been born physically blind, that this darkness which we met and live in is normal.

Yet, there is light available to flood our souls, even as light floods an entire room when that switch is turned on or that plug is reconnected.

There is so much more to experience in the light, than in the darkness and it is so beautiful but we would never know until that light is turned on. It will expand our vision, enable us to see so much more than before and give us a better understanding of ourselves, our purpose for being here on earth and the reality of life itself.

Although darkness is all we have ever known because mankind has been born DISCONNECTED from God since sin, like a destructive hurricane or tornado, entered and wielded destruction, we do not have to remain in this darkness and live our whole lives beneath our God-intended potential.

There is so much more available, if we would simply plug in or RECONNECT to the life source, the light of the world, who is Jesus, the son of the true and living God. He is the only way set out by God, for us to return to a relationship or a CONNECTION with Him.

This is what regeneration through the blood of Jesus does. It floods or sin sick soul with light and gives us something we have never experienced before, which is SPIRITUAL LIFE.

In John 14:6, while Jesus was on earth and before he gave himself as an offering for our sins, he declared: “I am the way, the truth, and THE LIFE: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

LIFE IN THE BLOOD

It is understood that no human being can be physically alive without blood. The Word of God tells us in Leviticus 17:11, 14 that: “…the life of the flesh is in the blood… For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof:”

Even as God has designed mankind where he must eat and he must sleep in order to keep surviving, God has made us in such a way where blood is needed in our bodies in order for us to be alive physically.

The fact that there is physical life in our blood is evident in Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:10-15.

In Genesis 9, after the flood, God authorized Noah, his family and by extension, their future descendants, to eat animals. Prior to the flood, human beings only ate plants and herbs. However, God put a restriction, informing them that they were not to eat animals where the blood had not been drained.

He stated: “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”

Many years later, in Deuteronomy 12:15-16, when he gave the Israelites statutes and judgments to keep, God informed them that:

• “…thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.”

In Leviticus 17:10-15, God also told Moses:

• “And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

• Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.”

There is therefore life (earthly life) in the blood of human beings and animals. This is how God has made us.

Yet, earthly blood from imperfect man and animals cannot bring regeneration, which is SPIRITUAL. In John 3:6, Jesus explained: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

To obtain SPIRITUAL LIFE therefore, which is necessary for a human being to be reconciled or RECONNECTED with God, his soul flooded with light and granted access to God’s perfect heaven, the blood of imperfect earthly human beings and of animals are insufficient.

Thankfully though, although God did not have to, in mercy, he made arrangements for us to become SPIRITUALLY ALIVE, when we believe on and receive the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, who is perfect and whose blood is perfect, as our Lord and Saviour. The Bible assures us that when we believe in our hearts that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, confess with our mouths that he is Lord and therefore receive and accept Him by faith as Lord over our lives, He (Jesus), who is spiritual, washes us in his own blood.

Unlike the blood of bulls, goats or even human beings, this blood is PERFECT, PURE, PRECIOUS and POTENT. It was shed when Jesus came down to earth from heaven years ago and chose, in submission to the will of God the Father, to physically die on the cross for the sins of all human beings. Now, like with an earthly blood bank, it is available throughout generations, for any who would come to Jesus to be delivered from darkness, to be saved from sin and hell and to inherit eternal life, which is spiritual.

Imagine then, that if there is earthly or physical life in the blood of imperfect man and even animals, how much greater is the perfect, precious, powerful, ever potent blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of the true and living God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Whereas there is earthly life in the blood of human beings and animals, there is SPIRITUAL LIFE in the blood of Jesus, the one who took on human form and came down to earth years ago, to save mankind from their sins and the wrath of God to come.

THE CHANGE THAT COMES WHEN A PERSON IS WASHED IN JESUS’ BLOOD

When, upon a person’s genuine faith in him, Jesus washes him in his blood (as we learn he does in Revelations 1:5 and 7:14), it is impossible for that person to remain the same.

For, that person becomes SPIRITUALLY ALIVE in Jesus Christ and in that moment, right then and there, has God’s divine holy nature added to him (resulting in there now being two natures within that person – one from the earth (which is of the flesh or body) and one from God, which is of heaven and spiritual).

That regenerated or RECONNECTED person:

• Is now a part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27);
• Has been made perfectly righteous with Jesus’ righteousness (Romans 3:234-25), 
• Is accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6-7); and 
• adopted into God’s Royal family (Ephesians 1:5; Galatians 4:5-7; Romans 8:14-15).

The very Spirit of Christ dwells within him (Romans 8:9-11) and that Spirit of God remains in him, sealed until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30;1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:4-5).

It is because that person now has two natures that are diametrically opposed, within him, that a struggle ensues in his life from that point on, between the two. Both natures want the mastery but it is the Spirit of God within, which is far more powerful, that is to have the pre-eminence.

This inner struggle between the two natures was referred to by Paul in Romans 7:14-25, when recounting his own daily experience.

Once Jesus washes a person with his precious blood therefore, His divine light floods that person’s soul so that he becomes SPIRITUALLY ALIVE and CONNECTED to the life source, which is God, in relationship. That person has no more conscience of sins and therefore, his list of sins, no matter how long and how terrible, cannot be held against him by God unto condemnation because all have been put away or expunged from his record, once, for all, by the finished work of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:9).

This is not an excuse to continue in sin but the debt has been paid in full!

The blood of Jesus therefore has the power to:

1. REMOVE ALL OF OUR SINS;

2. MAKE US PERFECT THROUGH JESUS’ RIGHTEOUSNESS;

3. GIVE US SPIRITUAL LIFE (REGENERATION).

BLOOD AND FORGIVENESS FOR SINS

In the Old Testament days, God required the blood of animals to be used in order for his children the Israelites, to obtain forgiveness for sins. However, since this blood was not perfect, it could not produce forgiveness for all sins, after being shed at one point. They therefore had to keep offering this blood over and over again for future sins. They would for example, kill the animal and offer the blood on one day and get forgiveness from God for a particular sin but then, when they sinned again a few days later, they had to do the whole process over again and offer the blood of animals again, in order to get forgiveness for that sin.

Not so with the blood of Jesus. When it comes to the perfect and potent blood of Jesus the Son of God and God the Son, which is far superior, this needed be shed only once, for all. That is, this blood that Jesus shed, had and still has the power to forgive and cleanse mankind ofALL sins committed, past, present and future. This one sacrifice of himself was sufficient.

As the Word of God explains of the blood of animals that used to be continuously shed by the Israelites under the Old Covenant and the far more superior blood of Jesus Christ which is now available to obtain pardon for all who believe on him, under the New Covenant:

• “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

• And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

• Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

• It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with BETTER sacrifices than these.

• For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now ONCE in the end of the world HATH HE APPEARED TO PUT AWAY SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF.

• And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

• For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually MAKE THE COMERS THEREUNTO PERFECT. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that THE WORSHIPPERS ONCE PURGED SHOULD HAVE HAD NO MORE CONSCIENCE OF SINS. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

• …We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.

• And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered ONE sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

• For by ONE offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. WHEREOF THE HOLY GHOST ALSO IS A WITNESS TO US: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Hebrews 9:13-28;10:1-18 KJV)

Of the SPRITUAL LIFE or regeneration which faith in the blood of Jesus gives, in John 7:38, Jesus stated before his death and before he offered his blood an atonement for sin, that: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of LIVING water.”

Verse 39 states: “But this spake he of THE SPIRIT, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

To those who believe from the heart in the resurrection of Jesus, confess him as Lord and are consequently justified, made perfectly righteous, regenerated or made SPIRITUALLY ALIVE by being washed in his blood, Titus 3:4-7 states:

• “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

SPIRITUAL LIFE, ONCE GIVEN IS IRREVERSIBLE

In closing, it is important to note that this spiritual life which Jesus gives us through his blood is irreversible. Once he has washed us, we become a part of God’s Royal family forever and nothing and no one and nobody can change that. No matter who does not like us therefore or who desires to will us out of God’s Kingdom, they cannot do so. They will find that this is an impossible feat, for the transaction through the washing with Christ’s blood has already been done.

A person that has been made SPIRITUALLY ALIVE by the blood of Jesus has been justified and therefore, although he will still physically die if Jesus tarries, he will not be subject to the second death, which is separation of the soul of man from God, in hell.

A SPIRITUALLY ALIVE person cannot relapse to spiritual death and condemnation in hell, although such a person can grieve the Spirit of God which is within them (Ephesians 4:30).

This truth is captured perfectly in two stanzas of Hymn 1 in the ‘Hymns of Light and Love’ Hymn Book, where it reads:

• Who shall condemn us now?
• Since Christ has died and risen and gone above,
• For us to plead at the right hand of Love,
• Who shall condemn us now?

• Tis God that justifies!
• Who shall recall the pardon or the grace?
• Or who the broken chain of guilt replace?
• Tis God that justifies!

Jesus himself stated of those to whom he gives SPIRITUAL LIFE:

• “And I give unto them ETERNAL LIFE; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-30)

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE, THAT MERELY PROFESSING TO KNOW THE LORD WITH OUR LIPS, CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, REGULAR ATTENDANCE, ACTIVE PARTICIPATION, A SHOW OF PIOUSNESS AND EVEN OUR FINDING FAVOUR WITH GOD’S PEOPLE AND THEM LIKING US, DO NOT BRING REGENERATION.

NOTHING but the blood of Jesus can give us spiritual life and make us regenerated.

If we think that we have faith and are Believers but our faith is not genuine but is defective, feigned or imitative of the real thing, then Jesus, knowing all things and knowing those who are his, will not wash us with his blood.

We may be in the Church pews and even in the membership and well accepted by men but we would still be unregenerate because Jesus only washes those that genuinely believe (not in their heads but from their hearts), that he rose from the dead and that have confessed with their mouth that he is Lord.

That is, Jesus will not wash a person in his blood who is DECEIVED into thinking that he has the truth and has genuinely believed on Jesus when he has not, nor will he wash a person who knows that he is not of the Lord, knows that he does not truly believe in Jesus but for his own selfish motives is DECEIVING others into thinking that he does.

Having commended Timothy on his unfeigned or genuine faith in 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul warned him to continue to hold fast to the doctrine (truth) he had learned, informing him in 2 Timothy 3:13, that “…evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, DECEIVING, and being DECEIVED.”

Romans 8:16 makes it clear that the Spirit of Christ which indwells every genuine, blood-washed Believer, does not just lie dormant within but testifies to us, that he is within us and therefore that we are the children of God. The scripture reads: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God…”

It thereby follows, that even if a person is self-deceived into thinking that he is a Christian and deceived into thinking that he is saved because he has made a profession with his lips but the heart continues on in unbelief, that person will never have that experience of the Spirit bearing witness within because that person does not have the Spirit of Christ within.

That person may have a moral conscience therefore, as all human beings are born with but will not experience CONVICTION, GUIDANCE IN THE PATH OF TRUTH, TEACHING by the Spirit or TRUTHS BEING BROUGHT BACK TO MEMORY by the Spirit, all of which are functions of the Holy Spirit.

He will also not have THE LOVE OF GOD shed abroad in his heart or truly manifest THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT like love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and faith, even if that person seems to be a nice person.

He will not feel COMPELLED OR DRIVEN, through the prompting of the Spirit, TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL as a witness of Christ’s saving grace, the gospel being defined as that which was stated in Romans 10:9-10 and nothing else.

He will also NOT ABIDE IN THE TRUTH but deviate it from it because deep down in his heart, he hates truth and loves the lie.

He will not experience the CHASTENING hand of God as all genuine Believers do from time to time, when in need of same. For, God only chastens those that belong to him (Hebrews 12:6-8) and because they are in relationship with him through Jesus Christ his Son, he usually lets them know through his Spirit indwelling them, what they are being chastened for. For, though he chastens oft time severely, he does so lovingly, for their profit, so that they would be partakers of his holiness and that the chastening, though painful, would afterward yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness in them.

Having received some well-deserved whippings in my lifetime from the Lord, I know this to be true. He knows just where to hit and how many blows to deliver and we bawl our eyes out when under the rod because it hurts tremendously but it makes us better.

God’s chastening is distinct from a person simply being punished because he is wicked (which is the constant portion of the ungodly) or going through some kind of adversity, as adversity and unfortunate circumstances befall all men, both the regenerate and unregenerate. For the Christian, God’s chastening hand is distinguished from just painful circumstances and hardships, as it is suffering where we KNOW that we are in pain because God has willed it to be so and that he has willed it to be so for a time, so as to lead us to repentance because we have been rebellious, disobedient, wayward, foolish, petty and stubborn.

A person that does not have the Spirit of Christ will also not have a REPENTANT LIFE, as ongoing repentance in the life of a Christian is produced by the Spirit of God that lives within him. Such a person will be brazen, proud and non-apologetic for sin, seeing no reason to be sorry about it, even believing that the sinful path he is taking is right.

A person that does not have the Spirit of Christ will also lack SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT, seeing everything through natural lens.

He will also not experience the COMFORT that the Spirit of Christ often brings so beautifully and in a timely manner, to those who are his.

He will also not DEPEND ON CHRIST but instead, be relying on and operating in his own strength or the devil’s counterfeit assistance in the form of witchcraft.

He will also not experience the POWER OF GOD operating through him and enabling him, a mere weakling, to do great exploits, not by his might nor by his power but by God’s Spirit. For, in the absence of the Spirit of Christ within, that person is unregenerate, in that he is in the same condition as he was when he was first born. He has not yet been spiritually awakened or RECONNECTED to God by the light of Jesus Christ but is still dead in his trespasses and sins. In short, he is still in darkness.

Romans 8:9 clearly states: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

(Written on 29th August, 2020, added to thereafter)

Dear Reader, if you found this Note interesting, I also recommend that you read the following Note under my ‘SINGLE Daughters of God’ Page:

• Note 116 – ‘Are You Really Saved? Here Are Some Indicators’
• Note 178 – ‘Are You Truly Saved? Eight (8) Biblical Indicators To Examine Whether You Are In The Faith’
• Note 234 – ‘Blood – What God Requires For You To Obtain Forgiveness’