BibleLearning
Mar 21, 2023
What The Blood Does
The application of Jesus' blood accomplishes a total restructuring of a believer’s existence, moving beyond temporary solutions to effect permanent change in the legal, spiritual, and personal realms.
Legal Transformations: Cancellation and Remission
The sources describe the legal impact of Jesus' blood as a shift from merely "covering" sin to completely removing it. Under the Old Covenant, the Hebrew concept of kaphar meant to cover or hide sin temporarily; in contrast, the New Testament uses aphesis, translating to "release, cancellation, and complete removal".
Erasure of Debt: The blood does not simply hide the record of guilt; it "wipes out the handwriting of requirements" and destroys the record of debt standing against the individual.
Nullifying Accusations: The blood breaks every legal claim the enemy previously held. By canceling the debt, it "silences hell," rendering the accusations of the devil void because the legal basis for those accusations has been erased.
Eternal Redemption: Unlike the blood of goats and calves which provided temporary solutions, Jesus’ blood obtained "eternal redemption," securing a permanent legal standing rather than a fleeting purchase of forgiveness.
Spiritual Transformations: Access and Cleansing
Spiritually, the blood functions as a mechanism for cleansing and access that was previously impossible.
Cleansing the Conscience: The blood penetrates deeper than physical ritual; it cleanses the conscience from "dead works" to serve the living God. This cleansing is described as "real, legal, and spiritual," not merely symbolic.
Unhindered Access: The blood ends the separation between God and humanity. It opens the "Holiest" (the presence of God), allowing the believer to do daily what the high priest could formerly do only once a year: enter God's presence with boldness.
Speaking Mercy: Spiritually, the blood is an active voice. Unlike the blood of Abel, which cried out for judgment, the blood of Jesus "speaks better things," declaring mercy, cleansing, and adoption over the believer.
Identity Transformations: Sealing and Adoption
The application of the blood fundamentally rewrites who the believer is.
Covenant Identity: While the Old Covenant sealed identity temporarily with animal blood, the New Covenant uses Jesus’ blood to seal identity forever. This marks the passage from darkness into a new "covenant identity".
Adoption and New Life: The blood facilitates adoption, integrating the nature of God into the inner person. Upon the application of the blood, the old life is buried, and a new life is raised—marked, washed, and claimed by His name.
Restoration of Authority: Because the blood removes the "filth of the flesh" and answers the conscience, the believer gains the authority to declare they are cleansed and that the enemy has no hold over them.
The Method of Application
The sources emphasize that these transformations are not automatic but are applied specifically through baptism in the name of Jesus. Baptism is identified as the "ordained covenant where the blood is applied". It is at this moment that the blood spiritually touches the life of the believer, making the power of the sacrifice effective. However, maintaining this transformation requires a daily commitment; while the blood’s power is eternal, the believer must actively choose to walk with God to avoid drifting back into their old life.
Analogy: Imagine a criminal with a thick file of felonies (sin/guilt) standing before a judge. Under the old system (kaphar), the judge would take the file and lock it in a drawer. The crimes are hidden from view, but the file still exists, and the criminal remains a criminal on probation.
Under the new system (aphesis), the application of Jesus' blood is like taking that file and shredding it completely—erasing the data from every server so that no record exists. But the judge goes further: He does not just destroy the criminal record; He replaces it with a birth certificate bearing His own surname. You leave the courtroom not as an ex-convict with a hidden past, but as a legally recognized child of the Judge, with full access to His home.