"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
Devotional
Jesus is the life of the believer�the life of his pardon and acceptance. See it in reference to the blood of Immanuel. The resurrection of Jesus confirmed forever the infinite value and sovereign efficacy of his atoning blood.
Oh what virtue his atoning blood has now, flowing from the life of Jesus! It has removed transgression to the distance of infinity, and for ever from the church. Washed whiter than snow, forgiven all iniquity, blotted out all sin, the believer stands before God a pardoned soul.
And, oh! what life he finds in the constant application of the atoning blood to his conscience! One drop, what peace it gives! What confidence it inspires! What vigor it imparts to faith, and power to prayer, and cheerfulness to obedience! Oh, it is living blood. He who spilt it lives to plead it, lives to apply it, lives to sustain its virtue, until there shall be no more sins to cancel, and no more sinners to save. "The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7), and "speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Heb. 12:24), because it possesses undying life.
O beloved, see then, how manifestly Jesus is the life of your pardon. Oh! His blood is as fresh, as efficacious, as precious at this moment as when it sprang warm and gushing from the pierced side of the glorious Redeemer. It is life-giving and life-sustaining blood.
The repeated, the perpetual going to Immanuel's atoning, life-giving, life-sustaining blood keeps the conscience clean and at peace with God.
My beloved reader, there is no experiential and practical truth more important, more precious, and more closely interwoven with your happy, holy walk than this. Your peace of mind, your confidence in God, your thirsting for holiness, your filial access, your support in the deepest trial, spring from your soul's constant repose beneath the cross.
What is your present case? What is the sin that wounds your spirit? What guilt burdens your conscience? What grief bows your heart? What fearfulness and trembling agitate and rock your mind? What gives you anxious days and sleepless nights? See yonder stream! It is crimson; it is flowing; it is vivifying with the life-blood of Jesus. Go to it by faith. Go now. Have you gone before? Go yet again. Have you bathed in it once? Bathe in it yet again. Cast your sin, your guilt, your burden, your sorrow upon its bosom; it shall bear it away, never, never more to be found.
Oh, deal closely with the atoning, life-giving blood! When you rise in the morning, and when you lie down at night, wash in the blood. When you go to duties, and when you come from duties, wash in the blood. When your deepest sigh has been heaved, when your holiest tear has been shed, when your most humbling confession has been made, when your sincerest resolution has been formed, when your solemn covenant has been renewed, when body, soul, and spirit have again been fully, freely, unreservedly dedicated�wash in the blood. When you draw near to the holy Lord God, and spread out your case before him, plead the blood. When Satan accuses, when conscience condemns, when death terrifies, when judgment alarms, flee to the blood.
Oh! nothing except the atoning blood of the spotless Lamb, gives you acceptance at any moment with God. And the atoning blood, at any moment, will conduct you into the secret chamber of his presence. The atoning blood, at any moment, will bow his ear and heart to your faintest whisper and to your deepest want.
