Set Apart by the Blood

Jesus shed His blood to redeem us, to sanctify us, or set us apart to God, and to make us holy. It is possible to live in a place where sin and Satan cannot touch us, a place where we are protected and sanctified by the blood of Jesus.

In 1 John 1:7, we read:

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The present tense in this passage indicates a continual action. If we walk continually in the light, we have continual fellowship, and the blood of Jesus keeps us continually clean. We are kept pure and undefiled; we do not live in the vile contamination of this evil world. We are separated unto God, sanctified, and set apart by the blood of Jesus.

The practical key is the place of sanctification—the altar. In the Old Testament, until the sacrifice was placed on the altar, it was just the dead body of a beast. But when the sacrifice was placed on the altar and bound to it, the sacrifice became holy, set apart to God. This is just as true for the New Testament believer. Paul said:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1)

The only difference between sacrifices in the Old and New Testaments is that our bodies remain alive—living sacrifices—when we place them on the altar. The principle of sanctification remains the same. It is the altar that sanctifies the gift placed upon it. The inward change in our thoughts and motives cannot be achieved until we have renounced all rights over our own bodies and placed them, without reservation, upon God’s altar, to be used as God desires.