The Way To God Is Through The Blood Of Christ

Hebrews 9:11-12, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

1st Peter 1:18-21, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”

I purchased 'The Strand Study Bible' last year, which I cherish. Pastor Strand was one of my Bible professors at Hyles-Anderson College (1985-1993). I was delighted to learn about his study Bible, which took him over 30,000 hour to complete, in 33 years. It is well worth the money. I was reading Psalm 77:13 yesterday, “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?” Here is Brother Strand's helpful Bible commentary:

The “WAY” to God has always been through the shed blood of an innocent sacrifice (Lev. 17:11, 12). The LORD planned it that way before the world began (Rev. 13:8 and Titus 1:2). CHRIST, the innocent One (II Cor. 5:21), fulfilled what all the animal sacrifices pictured (Heb. 9:1-14) and became the LAMB OF GOD (Jn. 1:29), our SANCTUARY (Rev. 21:3), and the only WAY to God (Jn. 14:6). Once the blood of CHRIST was applied to the Mercy Seat within the sanctuary in Heaven, the WAY to God was established.

SOURCE: Pastor Brad Strand, The Strand Study Bible, p. 905

I was delighted to learn that Pastor Strand correctly teaches that it was absolutely necessary for Jesus' literal liquid blood to be applied to the heavenly Mercy Seat. Many theologians and preachers deny this critically important truth (e.g., Merrill F. Unger, Robert B. Thieme Jr., John MacArthur, et cetera). The inspired King James Bible plainly states:

Hebrews 9:22-26, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

The Bible could not be any more clear that Jesus absolutely needed to sprinkle His OWN blood upon the Mercy Seat in Heaven (Hebrews 12:24). I am shocked that any preacher could actually deny this great truth. As you will see for yourself in the following disturbing quotes from Pastor John MacArthur, he adamantly denies the efficacy (power) of Jesus' liquid blood.

John MacArthur's Deception On The Blood Of Jesus

“Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, AN UNHOLY THING, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” ” —Hebrews 10:29

The April 1986 edition of Faith For The Family quotes Pastor MacArthur as saying in a 1976 article entitled, “Not His Bleeding But His Dying”:

“It was His death that was efficacious . . . not His blood . . . Christ did not bleed to death. The shedding of blood had nothing to do with bleeding . . . it simply means death . . . Nothing in His human blood saves . . . It is not His blood that I love . . . it is Him. It is not His bleeding that saved me, but His dying.” [emphasis added]

Mr. MacArthur is a hellbound heretic infidel who states:

"It is not the actual liquid that cleanses us from our sins, but the work of redemption Christ accomplished in pouring it out." —Dr. John MacArthur

SOURCE: http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/blood.htm

In MacArthur's more recent Revised and Updated Study Bible, he avoids Exodus 12:13 like the Bubonic Plague:

Exodus 12:13, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

Dr. MacArthur doesn't comment directly concerning this verse. It baffles me as to why any professed Gospel preacher would make light of the literal blood of Jesus Christ.

Pastor R.B. Thieme Jr. in Texas popularized the false teaching denying the literal blood of Christ. Perhaps MacArthur learned this heresy from R.B. Thieme Jr., but I do not know. One thing is certain, they BOTH teach the same damnable heresy denying the efficacy (redeeming power) of Jesus' physical blood. Hebrews 9:12 tells us that Jesus entered into the heavenly Holy Place “BY HIS OWN BLOOD.” Yet, MacArthur claims that the Bible does not really mean what it says. Says who? That is just more MacArthurology!

Dr. MacArthur has nothing good to say about Jesus' physical blood, because he doesn't think it has any value in and of itself. What good is a “Study Bible” that ignores the most important doctrine in the entire Bible?

MacArthur's Deceitful, Confusing and Misleading Philosophies On the Blood of Christ

Deceitfully, in MacArthur's Revised and Updated Study Bible, he comments concerning 1st Peter 1:18,19 on page 1941:

“The price paid to a holy God was the shed blood of His own Son.”

SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of 'The MacArthur Study Bible,' Thomas Nelson publishers, p. 1941

Yet, to show you how deceitful MacArthur is, take a look at his comments concerning Hebrews 9:22 (i.e., “without shedding of blood there is no remission”) on page 1912 of his Revised and Updated Study Bible:

“'Shedding of blood' refers to death.”

SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of 'The MacArthur Study Bible,' Thomas Nelson publishers, p. 1912

Wow! What a deceiver! If God meant “death,” then He would have said “death”; BUT He didn't, He said “shedding of blood.”

Christ's virgin birth, sinless life, death, burial and bodily resurrection all led up to the application of His precious blood to the mercy seat in Heaven. MacArthur denies this vehemently. Take at look at what MacArthur comments on page 1910 of his Revised and Updated Study Bible concerning Hebrews 9:12 (i.e., “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us”):

“A better translation would be 'through His own blood.' ... Nothing is said which would indicate that Christ carried His actual physical blood with Him into the heavenly sanctuary.” [emphasis added]

SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of 'The MacArthur Study Bible,' Thomas Nelson publishers, p. 1910

On the contrary, the King James Bible states, “Moreover he [Moses] sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry ... For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:21, 24; also, see Hebrews 9:12). If you'll take the time to carefully read the entire chapter of Hebrews 9, you'll find the word “blood” mentioned 12 times. It is gross theological incompetence for Dr. MacArthur to teach that Jesus' blood merely refers to His death. The Bible doesn't agree with that. God said what He meant, and He meant what He said. If God intended to say “death,” then He wouldn't have used that word instead, but God chose to use the word “blood.” Clearly, Mr. MacArthur has an agenda.

You'll also learn that the Old Testament tabernacle was a “figure” of the true Tabernacle in Heaven. Just as the Old Testament high priest was required to bring the lamb's literal physical shed BLOOD into the holy place and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, so did Jesus Christ enter into the heavenly Holy Place with His own literal blood and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat (Hebrews 12:24). MacArthur is very wrong!

Hebrews 9:12 in the King James Bible states, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” MacArthur claims that the phrase “by his own blood” should have been translated “through his own blood”; however, then this means that we would also need to change the phrase “by the blood of goats and calves” to “through the blood of goats and calves.”

So then why did God require the blood of animals UPON THE MERCY SEAT in the Old Testament? Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Perhaps Mr. MacArthur needs some better reading glasses.

Here are MacArthur's comments for Leviticus 17:11, i.e., the phrase “the life of the flesh is in the blood”:

“...the shedding of blood represents the shedding of life, i.e., death ... NT references to the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ are references to His death.”

SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of 'The MacArthur Study Bible,' Thomas Nelson publishers, p. 178

There is NO such teaching in the Scripture! John MacArthur has fabricated his own corrupt way of thinking. Hebrews 9:6-7, “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second [i.e., the holy of holies] went the high priest alone once every year, NOT WITHOUT BLOOD, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.” How can Mr. MacArthur be so naïve and unbiblical as to claim that Jesus' literal physical blood didn't need to be applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven, in consideration of such overwhelming Scriptural evidence? What part of “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD” doesn't Mr. MacArthur understand?

The inspired Word of God clearly teaches that the Old Testament ceremonial laws were SHADOWS of future things to come. All of the Old Testament high priests, sacrificial lambs, tabernacle, holy of holies and mercy seat were symbolic of the true one's in Heaven. Hebrews 10:1, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.” A shadow is cast when the sun is at a distance, but when the sun rises directly overhead the shadow is gone. Likewise, when Christ fulfilled the law (Romans 10:3-4) by becoming the sacrificial Lamb to pay for the sins of mankind through Calvary's cross, and He sprinkled His shed blood upon the Mercy Seat in Heaven, the shadow was gone. The realities of the shadows were fulfilled. Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

MacArthur really gets confusing in his commentary of Hebrews 9:7 on page 1910, the phrase “not without blood”:

“...the shedding of blood in and of itself is an insufficient sacrifice. Christ had not only to shed His blood, but to die ... Without His death, his blood had no saving value.”

SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of 'The MacArthur Study Bible,' Thomas Nelson publishers, p. 1910

While it is true that Jesus' death was absolutely essential to His work of redemption, MacArthur attempts to use this Scriptural fact as a means of completely disregarding the efficacy (power) of the literal physical blood of Jesus. Hebrews 9:7 isn't talking about the “death” of the sacrificed animal, it is talking about the “blood” of the sacrificed animal. The truth is that Jesus' virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial and bodily resurrection were all EQUALLY as important as the blood sacrifice itself; but all those things led up to the blood being applied to the Mercy Seat in the heavenly Holy Place (Hebrews 9:12, 22-24, 12:24).

To deny this is to deny the entire Old Testament, all the types, all the blood sacrifices, and the FACT that God would have killed any high priest who dared enter into the holy of holies WITHOUT BLOOD.

John MacArthur's entire “Study Bible” maliciously, but subtly, attacks the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Again 1st Peter 1:18,19 states: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ...” Now how can Jesus' blood be PRECIOUS if it is only representative of His death?

MacArthur continually badmouths the literal blood of Jesus Christ, while simultaneously claiming that he views it as precious of something else it represents. That makes no sense at all. The blood of Jesus is “precious” to the genuine born-again believer because it is LITERAL, having obtained literal redemption for us, washing our sins away just as 1st John 1:7 promised!

To no surprise, on page 1964 of MacArthur's Revised and Updated “Study Bible,” in his comments concerning 1st John 1:7, he doesn't even address the blood of Jesus. How could any preacher completely avoid such a precious Scripture which teaches that Jesus' blood washes our sins away?

God says that Jesus' blood cleanses and washes our sins away (1st John 1:7). We read in Revelation 7:14, “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” How does someone like MacArthur just keep explaining all these Scriptures away? What a false prophet! MacArthur is of the Devil. How does a saint wash his robe with death? It makes no sense. Ah, but if you believe the Word of God, i.e., that Jesus' literal blood washes our sins away, then Revelation 7:14 makes perfect sense.

John MacArthur Trots Under Foot the Son of God

Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ is almighty God (i.e., deity) is NOT saved. Anyone who denies Jesus' virgin birth is NOT saved. Anyone who denies Jesus' bodily resurrection is NOT saved. Anyone who denies the sinlessness of Jesus is NOT saved. Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Son of God is NOT saved! MacArthur correctly believes all of these doctrines; but when it comes to the literal blood of Jesus, he falls short utterly. Anyone who denies the redemptive power of Jesus' literal physical blood is NOT saved! These are absolute fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith! These are all part of what the Bible calls, the “DOCTRINE OF CHRIST” (2nd John 1:9)!

Many ministers have been deceived by John MacArthur, because he is doctrinally correct in most areas. Unfortunately, MacArthur is WRONG on salvation and the blood of Christ. If a man is wrong on salvation, then he is wrong on everything. MacArthur is a 5 point Calvinist, teaching predestination and limited atonement. This explains his Calvinistic views on Lordship Salvation and the perseverance of the saints in order to be saved. The Bible condemns Calvinism in all its tenets.

Certainly no two preachers agree on everything; but when a preacher is wrong on salvation and the blood of Christ, and teaches other ministers those heresies, a faithful man of God needs to cry aloud and expose that false prophet by proclaiming the Word of God. The Bible proclaims the blood of the Lamb from Genesis to Revelation; whereas MacArthur tramples Christ's holy blood underfoot as if it were something unholy:

Hebrews 10:29, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

The Greek word for “unholy” here is koinos and means “common, that is, shared by all.” It means regarding the blood of Jesus as nothing special, common. Although MacArthur states in one breath that Jesus' blood is precious, he deceitfully then states that Jesus' blood soaked into the ground at Calvary. MacArthur teaches that it was the “pouring out” of Christ's blood that was precious, and not the physical blood itself. MacArthur teaches that the blood of Jesus is only precious in that it represents the death of Christ on the cross for our sins. That is unbiblical.

The Bible calls John MacArthur a liar and false prophet, because the blood had to be applied in Heaven, just as the Old Testament high priest had to apply the lamb's blood once a year to the mercy seat in the earthly tabernacle.

Jesus' Precious Blood Is On The Mercy Seat In Heaven

Here is Brother Strand's helpful Bible commentary:

The “WAY” to God has always been through the shed blood of an innocent sacrifice (Lev. 17:11, 12). The LORD planned it that way before the world began (Rev. 13:8 and Titus 1:2). CHRIST, the innocent One (II Cor. 5:21), fulfilled what all the animal sacrifices pictured (Heb. 9:1-14) and became the LAMB OF GOD (Jn. 1:29), our SANCTUARY (Rev. 21:3), and the only WAY to God (Jn. 14:6). Once the blood of CHRIST was applied to the Mercy Seat within the sanctuary in Heaven, the WAY to God was established.

SOURCE: Pastor Brad Strand, The Strand Study Bible, p. 905

Amen and amen! I thank God for doctrinally sound preachers! Beware of anyone who falsely teaches that Jesus' literal liquid blood doesn't matter. Beware of any theologian or preacher who says that Jesus' pouring out of blood on the cross saved us, but not His blood applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven. That is exactly what MacArthur teaches! MacArthur foolishly teaches that Jesus' blood is only important in that it represents His death. In sharp contrast, the Bible says that Jesus' literal liquid blood needed to be applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven.

Redemption Was Not Finished On The Cross

Having said that, I am so sick and tired of hearing ignorant preachers falsely claim that redemption was FINISHED on the cross. They misinterpret Jesus' words on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30b). If they would simply read the verses before verse 30, then they would see that Jesus was speaking about all Old Testament prophesy concerning Him had been completed, not redemption. ...

John 19:27-29, “Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.”

When Jesus uttered the memorable words, “It is finished,” He hadn't died yet. He hadn't been buried yet. He hadn't physically resurrected from the dead yet. These three things comprise “the gospel” by which we are saved (Romans 1:16; 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). So there is no way that redemption could have been finished when Christ uttered those classic words.

The Death of the Passover Lamb Was NOT Enough

When the Lord was going to pass over Egypt and destroy the firstborn, he said to Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12:13:

Exodus 12:13, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

The death of the lamb wasn't enough, the blood had to be applied Mr. MacArthur. God wasn't looking for a dead lamb in the backyard; No, rather, God was looking for the APPLIED BLOOD on the doorposts and lintel (doorplate) above the door. The blood had to be applied. John MacArthur's entire ministry is flawed, and he is a false prophet, simply because he is WRONG on the most important Christian doctrine of all—Jesus precious, literal, liquid, blood! No genuinely saved person would ever deny the redemptive power of Jesus' physical blood!

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” —Hebrews 9:12

It's The Blood Of Jesus!

Biblical Evidence Of Eternal Punishment

“Religion will always substitute something besides the blood!” —Pastor Max D. Younce, “WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD - PASSOVER A TYPE OF CHRIST (365)”