Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Is There “Power in the Blood?” Thoughts about the Blood of Jesus

Is There “Power in the Blood?” Thoughts about the Blood of Jesus

Last updated on: July 13, 2017 at 7:51 am by Roger E. Olson

Is There “Power in the Blood?” Thoughts about the Blood of Jesus 2017-07-13T07:51:18-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Somehow I happened to get included in the list of people who receive meditations, mini-sermons, theological musings, from a person. (I’m not going to name any names here.) The list of names includes some pretty well-known evangelical leaders. Here is a recent example of the list owner’s theological musings:

“One of the problems of many modern day preachers of today is they do not preach on the blood of Christ.

Many ministers do not even know there is power in the blood Jesus Christ.

When Billy Graham was a young preacher a professor from Cornell University said to him, “Son, you’re a good speaker. You speak with authority and clarity. You can go places in the ministry. But I want to suggest you leave out that blood stuff. Don’t speak about the blood, It’s uncultured, uncouth, and you’ll go far, if you’ll leave out the message of the blood.”

Billy Graham responded,”I purposed in my heart then to preach on the blood of Jesus more than ever.”

It is paramount for every Christian and potential Christian understand the shed blood of Jesus in God’s plan of salvation.

Turn to Hebrews chapter 9, a great scripture on the blood of Christ. Read verse 20. It is not some gory story; it is a glory story.

“…without shedding of blood is no remission’ (Hebrews 9:22).

On through the Bible, the focus is the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, central to man’s salvation, proclaimed from Genesis to Revelation, climaxing on the Cross of Calvary.

No wonder the Bible calls the blood of Jesus Christ “precious blood” (1 Peter 1:19). Peter would rather talk about the precious blood of Christ.

The blood redeems. Turn to 1 Peter 1:18-19, Ephesians 1:7, Matthew 26:28.

The blood brings us near to God (Ephesians 2:13).

The blood cleanses (John 1:7).

The blood gives us power over Satan (Revelation 12:11).

The Cornell professor thought the blood is foolish. But those who are born again know better. “For the preaching of the cross [that is, the blood] is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

In real terms, only the blood of Jesus has lasting values and power. The blood of Jesus is not perishable but everlasting.”

I responded (to everyone on the list):

“Personally, I don’t think there’s any magic in the word ‘blood.’ The power is in the truth to which it points–Christ’s atoning death on the cross for us. I don’t really care whether the word ‘blood’ is in any sermon or song (although I love the old songs that include it); what I listen for is the message of the cross–that Jesus Christ’s death is what reconciles us to God and the means by which Satan’s power is broken.”

This provoked some interesting responses including an accusation of “liberalism.”

*Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the “Note to commenters” at its end.*

This division over the importance of the phrase “the blood of Christ” (and cognates) in sermons and songs has been going on for a long time now. Fundamentalists used this as one litmus test for deciding who’s conservative and who’s liberal in the 1930s and beyond.

When I was a kid growing up in Pentecostalism (a form of fundamentalism even if not accepted as such by non-Pentecostal fundamentalists) “the blood of Jesus” was thought by many of my mentors, relatives and friends to have magical powers. That is, the phrase “the blood of Jesus” was believed to have power to tap into God’s healing and protecting power. For example, whenever our family was about to leave home on a driving trip out of town my stepmother would “plead the blood” over the car. The same was true for church buses leaving for camps, etc.

We loved to sing “There’s Power in the Blood” and “O, the blood of Jesus, it washes white as snow,” and “the blood will never lose its power,” etc., etc. Most sermons included some mention of “the blood of Jesus”—occasionally almost as proof of some theological position (over against those “liberals” who didn’t talk about the blood of Jesus).

I have no problem with talk of the blood of Jesus, but I interpret it as referring to Christ’s atoning death on the cross and not as having some magical power. I don’t believe the some special “chemistry of the blood [of Christ]”—the title and theme of a famous book found in most conservative pastors’ libraries in the 1950s. (It was written in 1943 by radio preacher M. R. DeHaan.) Nor do I believe the phrase “the blood of Jesus” has special power or is a necessary signal of biblically sound preaching.

One respondent asked if I believe Christ could have saved us by drinking Hemlock instead of dying on a cross by crucifixion. I don’t know the answer to that and I think it’s a bit of a trick question. But even if I say “No, he could only save us by dying by crucifixion” that doesn’t mean “the blood of Jesus” has magical power as a phrase or is a necessary signal of biblically sound preaching. “That’s all I’m sayin’” (as they say down here where I live).

*Note to commenters: This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment only to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and “on topic.” Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger’s (or guest writers’) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 10, 2017

The Disappearing Difference between Rhetoric and Argument

Next Post

July 16, 2017 A New Christian Dogmatics from Eerdmans

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the only disciple who was not martyred?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Thomas James John