|
Daily Bread - April 24, 2026 (The Sixth Day - Genesis 1:24-31)
Revelation 1:5 - And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the Earth. The One Who loves us and has freed us from our sins with His Own blood.
The Blood of Jesus Frees Us From Sin
One of the most important essential doctrines for salvation is, “faith in the blood of Jesus to cleanse from sin.” We find a word used here in Revelation 1:5 emphasizing the radical effect the blood of Jesus has on sin, to wit, the blood looses it from off of us, or frees us from its hold. The Greek verb used is found forty-three times in the New Testament. The basic meaning of ‘luo’ is to “set free, untie, or loose.” The opposite of ‘luo’ is ‘deo’ which means “to bind” (Matthew 18:18). One of the many ways ‘luo’ can be translated is “destroy” as in 1 John 3:8, “…that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
The verb occurs in its aorist active form twenty times (Matthew 5:19, 16:19, 18:18, 21:2; Mark 1:7, 11:2; Luke 3:16, 19:30; John 1:27, 2:19, 11:44; Acts 2:24, 7:33, 13:25, 22:30; Ephesians 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 1:5, 5:2, 9:14). In all of these verses, ‘luo’ is primary translated “destroy, loose, and untie.” Another Greek word used to express the effect of the blood is ‘katharitzo’ which is also used many times in the Gospels to describe leapers being cleansed after Jesus had healed them. The word is used concerning our hearts having been purified (Acts 15:9), a people purified for God (Titus 2:14), the blood that purifies the conscience (Hebrews 9:14, 23), that cleanses from sin (1 John 1:7), and that cleanses from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
There is a striking change of tense in this verse that helps to underscore the fact that the blood of Jesus has freed us from every sin. The change in tense is between ‘agaponti’ (loves) and ‘lusanti/lousanti’ (loosed/washed). While “love” is in the present tense “loosed” is in the past tense. This alludes to the fact that Jesus freed us from our sins at the moment we received His forgiveness, yet His love is present and forever ongoing.
Blessings
Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
|
