The Atoning Blood of Christ

One of the consistent themes in the scriptures about the atonement of Christ is that it is through His blood that we are sanctified and come to salvation.  While the reference to blood can be interpreted as a symbol of death, I believe it is more significant than that.  In a real way in the act of atonement He not only gave His life but He shed the blood that was in Him.  Luke, in describing that night in Gethsemane, wrote, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).  King Benjamin confirmed this: “For behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people” (Mosiah 3:7).  In each of us blood provides oxygen and essential nutrients all throughout our body, thus sustaining life within us. When we are cut, blood comes to the surface and the bleeding actually helps clean out the wound.  Christ literally poured out that life in Him in Gethsemane and on the cross as an offering as He bled everywhere in His own body.  Through His blood we obtain spiritual life and can become clean from our sins as His blood washes them away.  And just as the offering was universally given throughout His body, the power of the shedding of His blood is universally applicable to all mankind. 

                The scriptures that speak of the power of the blood of Christ are numerous and tell a consistent message of the power of the shedding of Christ’s blood.  For example, in the Sacrament prayer we drink the water “in remembrance of the blood of [the] Son, which was shed” of us (Moroni 5:2).  The Savior emphasized this point when He gave the Sacrament to the Nephites: “Ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you” (3 Nephi 18:11).  Many prophets have taught specifically of the cleansing power His blood brings.  For example, John testified that “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).  Alma said that our “garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins” (Alma 5:27).  Amulek similarly taught that for the righteous “their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb” (Alma 34:36).  Moroni also bore witness that our “garments are white through the blood of the Lamb” (Ether 13:10).  He later finished the Book of Mormon with that witness: “If ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ” (Moroni 10:33).  When the Savior was among the Nephites He reiterated the point: “Nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood” (3 Nephi 27:19).  The people of King Benjamin understood this and pled in this words, “O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified” (Mosiah 4:2).  It is through the blood of Christ that we can be made clean from our sins.

            Many other scriptures speak generally of the redemption and salvation that comes through Christ’s blood.  King Benjamin taught, “For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam….  Believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:11, 18).  Aaron taught the father of King Lamoni saying, “There could be no redemption for mankind save it were through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood” (Alma 21:9).  Helaman reminded his sons Nephi and Lehi, “Remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come” (Helaman 5:9).  The Lord told Adam to teach his children that they are “cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory….  This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time” (Moses 6:59, 62).  In our dispensation the Lord recorded His prayer to the Father: “Behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life” (D&C 45:4-5).  These and other scriptures teach us that we should remember not just that Christ died, but that He literally shed His blood to give spiritual life to all mankind who will come unto Him.