“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”

Leviticus 17:11 (NKJV)

Many years ago, I was asked to teach a lunchtime Bible study at Washington Group International (formerly Morrison Knudson). I was teaching through the book of Hebrews, and a woman said, “You don’t believe in a bloody religion, do you?” Evidently, she had a problem with the teaching of the blood of Christ. She thought that we are saved by our knowledge and not by the blood. But such teaching is heretical. For without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22).

Today we see where God gave strict instructions to the nation of Israel that they were not to eat blood because the life of the flesh is in the blood. The Bible was thousands of years ahead of its time, for science now agrees that without the oxygenated blood there can be no life. But there is an even deeper life in the blood, and that is the life that brings atonement for our souls. As we all inherited sin and death through Adam, we must receive the life and forgiveness of sins that only comes through the shedding of innocent blood. God makes an exchange: the lifeblood of an innocent sacrifice for our life. For this reason the blood was sacred. Its purpose was to make atonement for the people. Thus, it was not to be eaten. (Personally, I’ve never had a craving to eat blood!)

This prohibition carries into the New Testament. When the church leaders met to determine which laws of Moses would apply to Gentile believers, they said:

“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.”

Acts 15:28–29 (NKJV)

The blood of Jesus has been given for our atonement. We must never underestimate the power of His blood. We must never be ashamed to talk about it. During the Tribulation, the saints will overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). Have we appropriated His blood to ourselves? Because of the blood we have complete forgiveness of our sins. His blood speaks a better word than all our sins and all our self-effort. There is no knowledge or good works that compares to it. People may think that Christianity is a “bloody religion” but it is the sacred blood of the Lamb that saves us.

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Photo by Roger Brown