Today's encouragement comes from Leviticus 17:11b, where we read these words:
" . . . for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul."This (above) is a cardinal doctrine of the True Religion. If any sinner is to be redeemed at all, it will not be via works, law, supererogation of saints, angels, being good, paying one's taxes, or not killing other people. If anyone is to have sins remitted, it must be through *blood* atonement.
. . . But not just *any* blood will do: it must be the blood of a perfect, sinless, righteous *human* Savior. Only Jesus meets this requirement. He is both God and man—and He is the *only* "Mediator between God and men," (as per 1 Tim. 2:5). The faith of regenerated churchmen is a bloody faith. There is no "sterile" salvation in God's economy. Let all the saints rejoice, that the "Lamb of God" (Jesus) has borne away our iniquities, in His bloody cross.
[Puritan quote of the day: "To read the scriptures of God is a duty, but Satan sometimes puts men upon it when it is unseasonable. To read it at home when God's word is being preached, or the sacrament administered, is un-seasonable, yea, sinful . . . “ —Thomas Watson, in, "The Lord's Prayer"]
