EPHESIANS 2:13

You can read my testimony here, but a short summary would be that I trusted Jesus to bring me out of sin and I thought it was my job then to then get to God. This verse puts that to shame.

But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

It is only by the blood of Christ we are brought near. This is the only way. It has nothing to do with anything we’ve done. Until we realize this, his blood won’t be precious to us. We won’t cling to it as our only hope. We won’t cry out to Jesus in heartfelt worship until we see this is our only chance for peace with God.

We sing about this truth, but we easily stray from it into a performance mindset. We are quick to think God deals with us based on today or yesterday’s obedience. This short-circuits joy and faith.

Faith in the efficacious blood of Christ is what saved us. We need to look at that blood daily, reminding us of the costly grace we’ve been given. This stirs our heart in worship to God and draws our affections to him and his work of salvation. This is the fuel for the christian life.

And when we trust in this precious blood, we are now in Christ. We are now holy and loved because we are in Christ. We will never be more holy and loved. There is nothing left for us to do except realize all God has done and give our lives in worship to him (Romans 12:1-2).

Praise Jesus for his blood spilled on our behalf. We have no shot without it.