We Evangelical Christians teach that we are covered with the blood of the Lamb. I myself have often taught this. I know without the shedding of blood there is no remission of our sins. I know also that we overcome through the blood of the Lamb.

Furthermore, we are called to live by the body and blood of the Lord Jesus just as He lives by the Father. I emphasize this fact in my teaching. So we are not minimizing in any manner whatever the role of the blood of the Lamb in our redemption.

But a thought has occurred to me as I have pondered the nakedness of Adam and Eve, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. I think we have a misunderstanding of the role of the blood atonement. We are picturing the blood of the atonement as a covering over us, a robe if you will, such that God cannot see our nakedness. We say that God sees us through the blood, or sees us through Christ. I do not believe this is the case.

We speak often of being covered with the blood, or God how sees us through the blood, or God sees us through Christ. This means even though we are not living the life of victory in Jesus there still is no penalty. We will be rewarded as though we had lived a righteous life.

But the New Testament offers no such assurance.

I know the Passover blood is a sign so when the angel of judgment passes over us we are shielded. I realize this and teach this. But I do not believe the blood of Jesus itself is the white clothes with which God intended to clothe Adam and Eve, with which God intends to clothe us who are seeking to live the victorious Christian life.

Notice again:

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. (Revelation 7:14 NIV)

When we wash our clothes we use soap. We are not clothed in the soap, the purpose of the soap is to get our clothes clean. Is this correct?

Well, if those who come out of the great tribulation wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, then the blood itself is not our robe. It is the righteous nature of Jesus Christ expressed in our person and behavior that is our white robe.

This may seem like a trivial or academic point. But it certainly is not. Either the blood of the Lamb is our clothing, or something else is our clothing and the purpose of the blood is to make our clothing clean.

The reason this point is not trivial or academic is that we tend to make the covering of the blood (there is no New Testament verse I know of that states we are covered with the blood) a way of dodging around our sinning.

To be continued.