I. Two themes throughout Romans 1-8

A. Forgiveness of the acts of sin

B. Deliverance from the sin nature

C. Forgiveness comes through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:25; 5:9)

D. Deliverance comes through identification with the cross of Christ (Romans 6:6)

II. Man’s disobedience brought three problems:

A. Sin: An act of disobedience against God

B. Guilt: Burden of shame and reminder of broken fellowship w/God

C. Accusation: Satan was given reason for accusation against us before God

III. The blood of Jesus Christ speaks in three ways: God-ward, Man-ward, and Satan-ward

A. Hebrews 12:24 We have come “to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”

IV. God-ward

A. The blood of Jesus Christ wholly satisfies God

B. Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”

C. Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

D. Romans 3:23-25 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.

E. Passover: The blood was placed around the outside of the door. The people were to remain inside and could not see the blood. God sees the blood and passes over our sin.

F. I Corinthians 5:7 “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

V. Man-ward

A. We must have faith in the blood of Christ

B. Romans 5:24-25 “through faith in His blood”

C. The effect of sin on our conscience

1. Before Christ our conscience was untroubled

2. After Christ our conscience is acutely sensitive to even the smallest of sins. This can bring considerable guilt and condemnation.

D. Source of the problem: We are trying to sense or feel God’s forgiveness.

E. Answer to the problem

1. Remember that the blood is for God to see, not us

2. Accept by faith God’s value on the blood (If the blood satisfies God, then it must satisfy us also)

3. Allow your conscience to be cleansed by the blood

a. Hebrews 9:13-15

b. Hebrews 10:1-4, 19-23

c. I John 1:9

d. How is the conscience cleansed? By believing in the effectiveness of the blood of Christ

4. Remember always that it is not on the basis of our worthiness that we enter the Holy of Holies, but on the blood of Jesus

VI. Satan-ward

A. Revelation 12:9-10 tells us that Satan is the accuser of the brethren, who accuses them before God day and night

B. Jesus answered the accusation of Satan with His own blood

1. Hebrews 9:11-12

C. Why does accusation work? Because we still hope to have some righteousness of our own.

D. God is able to deal with our sin, but not with a man under accusation because he is trusting in his own righteousness rather than in the blood of Christ.

E. Our reply to Satan’s accusations should always be the BLOOD!

F. Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”