Colossians 1:20-23 The Blood of Jesus

...and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. [Colossians 1:20-23 NASB]

It is the blood of Jesus than reconciles us to God. Not a superstitious recitation or incantation such as "by the blood you are cleansed." And it is not the taking of Communion, which is a reminder of the blood of Christ, and not the blood itself.

The blood of Christ refers to the price Jesus paid on the cross. In the scourging, His back was laid bare. There was not one piece of flesh left to distinguish the strokes of the whip. The crown of thorns tore into His scalp so that the blood ran down His face and body. He was nailed to the cross, so He was bleeding from His hands and feet. And when the soldier stabbed the spear into His side, blood and water poured out.

Jesus bore all of this willingly. He could have called on legions of angels to rescue Him, but he didn't. In His sacrifice, he took upon Himself all the sins of every person, past, present, and future. It is by the blood of Jesus that those who call on His name in faith are saved.

What does it mean to be saved? Every person who lives without Christ lives in the kingdom of darkness. They are slaves of sin, and slaves of Satan. In that sense, everyone who lives without Christ is "possessed" by the devil. They are his possession, even if they don't have a demon living inside them.

When we come to Jesus in faith, he translates us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Paul said,

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, [Ephesians 2:19 NASB]

We can boldly come to the throne of God, "holy and blameless and beyond reproach." 

Paul adds an interesting condition; he says, "if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard."

We are told in Romans;

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8:38-39 NASB]

There is nothing outside of us that can remove us from God's love. But we see here that we can move away from Him. Hebrews tells us;

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. [Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB]

I believe in God's grace. I can't begin to fathom the depth of His love. I am convinced that it is not an easy thing to fall away from God. We don't need to fear that if we mess up and commit a sin, that we will lose our salvation. God will convict you of your sin; He will discipline you; He will continue to draw you back to Himself, for years if need be.

I don''t know at what point a person falls away, or at what point they remove themselves from God's grace. Perhaps it is renouncing the faith. Or perhaps it is sinning so grievously and without repentance that they remove themselves from His grace. It is God who will judge that. 

As for us, let us not test the limits. Remember the sacrifice, and the price paid by Jesus' blood. Keep before you the hope of our salvation, which is an eternity spent with Jesus in Heaven. Set your mind on Jesus. Persevere. Keep your eyes on the goal, which is our hope, so that, having run the race you will finish well.

Father, I thank you for the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross, by which I have been reconciled to You. Thank You for the hope of salvation. Please give me the grace to continue in You. Please continue to remind me of Your grace, so that I will not fall away.