Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: New to the Bible – God’s Plan of Salvation
Post Topic: The Saving Blood of Christ
Post in Thread: #2
Previous: We’re Not Worthy
Next: Conquering Death
Scripture: Romans 5:6-10
Key Verses:
Romans 5:8-9
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Note on this series of posts
This post fits within a continuing series meant for readers who are less familiar with Scripture; specifically those searching to understand how to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. All of the posts in this thread are necessary to understand the steps in God’s plan.
This page introduces Romans 5:8 (and surrounding verses), a comforting passage that encapsulates Jesus’ sacrifice for us while were not worthy.
Observations
Context
- Paul wrote the letter of Romans to the church in Rome, which was mostly a Gentile church, but also contained some Jewish Christians.
- Paul has just been talking about the persecutions that many of the early Christians were suffering for their faith. He is making the case for the hope that we all have for the future in Jesus in spite of our tribulations today.
Notes
- We were completely powerless, lost in sin, when Christ died for us. (v6-8)
- As discussed in the previous post in the series, we were completely unworthy of his love.
- It is very rare that a human will give up their life for another, even if it is a righteous man.
- But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
- We are justified through his shed blood. (v9-10)
- While we were his enemies in sin, we were reconciled to God through Jesus’ blood.
- How much more are we reconciled by Jesus’ life!
Interpretation
Jesus Bled and Died for our Sins
- Jesus didn’t wait for us to stop sinning before he came. He took on human form and lived a perfect life because of our sinful state.
- His blood is what justifies us – nothing we do.
- In concert with his death, Jesus’ perfect, sinless life reconciles us to God.
- The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Christ paid that wage on our behalf.
- We will still experience a physical death on earth, but the the eternal spiritual death can be avoided because of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Imagine…
The Day of Atonement. It came once a year. The most solemn of days on the Hebrew calendar. Aaron, the brother of Moses, and the first high priest of the Israelites, trembled as he prepared one of the goats for sacrifice. The other would be released into the wilderness as a sign of the people’s sins being carried away forever. The weight of the guilt of their sins being removed.
The first goat was slain, its blood gathered into the bowl. Carefully, Aaron carried the bowl into the holiest place inside the tabernacle, where only he was permitted. And only on this day. Gingerly, he sprinkled the blood on the Ark of the Covenant.
Aaron knew what the blood symbolized. Sin was punishable by death. The blood represented that penalty. Soon the other goat would be sent away, so the people could live.
But somehow, deep inside, he sensed there had to be a deeper meaning to the blood. A more eternal symbolism. Some day, he’d fully understand.
Correlation
I Corinthians 11:23-26 – Proclaiming the Lord’s death
In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul recounts Jesus’ words at the last supper. It is these words that are spoken in Church before every communion is observed. Jesus instructed us to have communion regularly to remember his broken body and his blood that was spilled on our behalf. Paul encapsulates it beautifully in I Corinthians 11:26:
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Application
Generic Applications
- We are dirty and stained by our sin. But washed in his blood, the stains disappear and we are made shining clean and white as untainted snow.
Personalize it
- Do you believe that Jesus died a painful, humiliating death on the cross so that we would have an opportunity to escape eternal separation from God?
- Maybe you’re not sure yet. Maybe you don’t yet fully grasp how this helps. Know that his death is not the end of the story.
- If you want to accept this gift of life and be washed clean by his blood, the post about John 3:16 will discuss how.
Keep Reading!
Jesus death is not the end of the story. We celebrate his resurrection from the dead every Easter. Read on to study how He conquered death, and why it matters.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.