Nothing But the Blood

Luke 23:35-38 (NLT)

The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

      So often, we try so hard to earn something in this world that can only be freely given – love, acceptance, acknowledgment. “If I just get straight A’s, maybe my mother will finally be proud of me.” “If I lose enough weight, maybe my husband will love me more.” “If I work hard enough on this project, maybe I’ll get that promotion.” It is an exhausting and self-defeating way to go through life.  

      Many of us approach our relationship with Christ in a similar way – we try to “earn” grace. When we fail, we are convicted to try harder, so we buckle down and attempt to be a “better” Christian. In reality, there is no such thing. We are a fallen race, wrought with evil desires and a sinful nature. There is nothing we can do to remove this dark stain from our make-up. Try as we might, we will never be good enough. We can never meet God’s standard of perfection. We are incapable. “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 – emphasis added). To put it even more bluntly, there is no action we can ever take to save ourselves from the pit of hell. It is where we deserve to be. Jesus is our Savior. It is by His blood alone that we are rescued from our fiery fate. Him and Him alone! If we continue to believe that it is our actions that justify us, we have stepped into the dangerous wasteland of pride. 

      Jesus had the ability and authority to take Himself down off that cross, but He chose to give up that right so that He might accomplish His ultimate purpose. Similarly, in order for God to accomplish His good work in our lives, we must die to ourselves and our pride, and relinquish over this desire to save ourselves. 

      Personally, I find letting go of this desire can be a great relief. God is so good to us! He does not wish for us to feel defeated by our attempts to save ourselves. Instead, we can bask in the beautiful gifts of mercy and grace that He so generously and willingly offers us! It is the very definition of grace to receive something good that you do not deserve, and it is the very definition of mercy to NOT receive something bad that you DO deserve. The blood of Jesus offers us both. O, Precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow!