What Does Power In The Blood Of Jesus Christ Mean?

What does it mean when people say, there’s power in the blood of Jesus Christ?

There’s Power in the Blood

There is an old Christian hymn that has the line, “There’s power in the blood,” because “Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow; There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.” That is truly biblical because the Bible teaches that nothing but the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins, and is reminiscent of another classic hymn, “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” where the hymn writer asks, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus” and “What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” so the old hymns had it right; only by Jesus’ shed blood can we receive the remission of our sins, which can make us righteous before God (Cor 5:21). If you have trusted in Christ, then “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1st Pet 1:18-19).

The Life’s in the Blood

The reason that God forbid the touching or eating of blood in the flesh was that the life is said to be in the blood. Leviticus 17:11 records that “the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” The author of Hebrews wrote that “under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22). The Old Testament commanded everyone to sacrifice something, even the poor, however for the poor, “if his means are insufficient for two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then for his offering for that which he has sinned, he shall bring the tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall not put oil on it or place incense on it, for it is a sin offering” (Lev 5:11). Even before the Law of Moses, it was commanded, “you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, it’s blood” (Gen 9:4), so the idea of blood as being the very life of the creature is nothing new at all.

The Need for the Sacrifice

Since we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23), and we can do no good of our own (Rom 3:10-12), we need help in ending our separation from God that our sins had caused (Isaiah 59:2). We can’t work our way to salvation because it’s a free gift (Eph 2:8-9), so all we can do is plead guilty before God and come humbly to Him to ask for His forgiveness and then place our trust in Christ and He promises to cleans us from all unrighteousness (1st John 1:9). That allows the shed blood of Jesus Christ to be applied to your life, and now God sees you as having the righteousness of Christ (2nd Cor 5:21). There is real power in Jesus’ blood and it’s the power to save, for there is no other way to be saved than through Jesus (Acts 4:12). Jesus said that “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44).

Pleading the Blood of Jesus?

I have heard people plead the blood of Jesus to heal someone or to save someone or to pray for some other supernatural miracle, and they claim as their power source, the very blood of Jesus, but are these statements biblical? I’ve heard one person who was sick in the hospital, saying “I plead the blood of Jesus…you will be cured. I call down the power in the blood of Jesus to heal this man” but I’ve never seen anything in the Bible to support such an idea or statement. The Apostle’s Peter or Paul never pled the blood of Jesus for healing, raising the dead, making the lame to walk or the deaf to hear. The statement of pleading the blood of Jesus appears to be something unique to our culture. Jesus’ shed blood brings the forgiveness of sins…that is greater than healing someone because someone who’s healed will die again, but a person who’s repented and trusted in Christ receives eternal life through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Because He lived again after death, so shall we. That’s the real power in Jesus’ shed blood. It brings us the peace of God because we weren’t at peace with God (Rom 5:1) but now the previous condemnation that our sins merited has been lifted (Rom 8:1). That’s what the blood of Jesus has done that is most significant.

Conclusion

The old hymns that sang about the blood of Jesus washing away our sins are so true. Isaiah the Prophet wrote, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (1:18) and the author of Hebrews adds of the work at Calvary, “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (8:12). What greater power is there in the blood of Jesus Christ?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.