Nothing But the Blood of Jesus!

Nothing But the Blood
by Robert Loury, 1876.

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.


Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Some of the old songs of the church, the classic hymns, have great spiritual truth in them. So it is with the old toe tapper. "Nothing But the Blood!"

The blood of Jesus the Messiah was spilled on the cross for us, to cover our sins, and to make it possible for us to taste the resurrection.

Blood is unique and deserves great respect. The life of a creature is in the blood. Blood represents life itself. Blood is a living fluid. It brings nourishment to the body and cleans out the imperfections.

And, because of its unique, vital biological function God has set it apart and reserved it as His instrument for making atonement. The Israelites were not to touch it, nor use it for ordinary purposes. It was to be regarded as holy. How much more holy, then, is the blood of the Son, Jesus, given as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

The blood of Christ is one of the most important elements of Christian doctrine. Yet, it is an element of the Christian faith that unbelievers especially puzzling. For, who wants to contemplate someone shedding lifeblood, drop by precious drop, upon a cross. But it happened, and it happened because of you and me. To the believer the blood of Jesus is precious. For, it is with that blood that Jesus "purifies us from every sin."

Purify. Other words we could use are "cleanse, wash, make clean." The blood of Jesus shed upon the cross cleanses us. It washes away from our lives the filth and dirt and pollution of sin. So we are now holy in God's sight. And, on that basis we can again have fellowship with God. It is the blood of Christ which alone provides us with a solution to the darkness of sin which prevents us from having fellowship with God. It is only by the blood of Jesus that we are once again able to walk and live in the light of God's glorious presence.

Of course, when the blood of Jesus purifies us from sin, it does a complete job: it purifies us from "every" sin." The sins of the past, the sins of the present, are all purified and washed away by Christ's blood. And the sins of the future will be, too. Sins of omission and sins of commission. The sin we are born with as well as the sin we actually commit. In fact, no sin is so great it cannot be washed away by the blood of Jesus.

How does the blood of Jesus accomplish this? You need to realize that the "blood" of Christ comes from the death of a sacrificial victim. The blood of Christ is the result of Jesus suffering and dying on the cross. This blood purifies us and washes us and cleanses us and makes us righteous in God's sight.

Think of the blood, think of the suffering and death of Christ, when you eat and drink of the Lord’s Supper. Think of how the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. Think of how the blood allows us sinners to have fellowship with God.

You know, the chief and highest end of man is to glorify God and fully to enjoy Him forever. Man, in other words, was created to have fellowship with God, to walk and live in the light of His glorious presence. For that to happen, Christ’s blood must cover our sins. Sin separates us from God. Sin keeps us from being the best that God has for us to be. We need Christ’s blood to bring us forgiveness of our sins.

Romans 5:9 "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

Revelation 1:5 "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,"

Ephesians 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"

Colossians 1:14 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:"

I Peter 1:18-19 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"