I came across the above short clip in which the speaker criticises John MacArthur for teaching that the “blood” itself doesn’t “save,” but it is the sacrificial offering and death of Christ that saves! Here is the transcript:
“The Bible says, ‘Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission’. He shed his blood on the cross. In 1987, a preacher who has denied the efficacy of the blood of Christ by saying that it is the death of Christ, and not his blood that saves: Dr. John MacArthur. I went to summer camp in the summer of 1987, and in early August I received a call from Dr. MacArthur’s secretary, who told me that Dr. MacArthur would like to meet with me. I agreed to meet. I said, We will meet in my office.
“So on August the 24th of 1987, Dr. MacArthur and his assistant, a man named Dr. Provost, came to my office; and he walked in, and he said, What do you have against my doctrine on the blood of Christ? I said, Dr. MacArthur, I have several things against your doctrine. I said, for example in your 1976 letter, you said in one sentence, There is nothing in his human blood that saves. I said, Dr. MacArthur, in that one sentence there are two heresies. I said first of all, his blood was not human blood, his blood was the blood of God. Dr. MacArthur said, Where do you get that? I said, I get that in Acts 20:28, where the Bible says, ‘Feed the church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood.’ He said, So you make the antecedent of the word ‘he,’ the word ‘God?’ I said, It is the only possible antecedent. I have checked with college grammarians about that.
“And I said, Secondly, the Bible says: We are justified by his blood, We have peace with God through his blood, We are made near to God by his blood, We have remission of sin through his blood, We have forgiveness with blood; and I said, I believe all those things spell salvation. We continued our debate for a little over an hour, about an hour and ten minutes if I recall; and his voice got louder and louder, as he became more and more frustrated; and finally he got up and walked out of the office, and his assistant followed him. I went to my secretary Mr. Lang and said, Bobby, did you notice Dr. MacArthur’s voice getting louder, and louder, and louder as we discussed the issue of the blood? He said, I noticed that. You see, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.”
So which is right? What is it that “saves”—the sacrificial death of Christ, or just his “blood”? Or could it be that they both mean the same thing? There are a number of related scripture passages that the video overlooks. There are scripture passages that don’t just talk about shedding of his “blood;” they also mention the tearing of his “flesh”. They talk about his flesh and his blood as being equally efficacious in the redemptive process:
John 6:
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
• • •
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh [or blood] profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
So the “flesh” and the “blood” are equally efficacious. The redemption is not effected by just the shedding of his “blood,” but also by the tearing of his flesh; which of course is what the theology of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, is based on:
Matthew 26:
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body [flesh].
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mark 14:
22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body [flesh].
23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Luke 22:
17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body [flesh] which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
So the “redemption” is effected not just by the shedding of the blood, but equally by the tearing of the flesh. So why is he so hung up about the “blood,” but ignoring the flesh? And what is he going to do with John 6:63: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh [and blood] profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” So it looks like Jesus himself thinks that the “flesh” and the “blood” are metaphors for something else. In and of themselves, they “profit nothing”. Both are metaphors for his sacrificial death on the cross. That is where his flesh was torn, and his blood was shed, and the redemption was made. If you take the “flesh” and the “blood” too literally, you will end up where the Catholic Church is, with “transubstantiation” and “real presence”.
When the scripture says that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22), it is a symbolic reference to his sacrificial death on the cross. The same applies to “Purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28); it means by virtue his sacrificial death on the cross. It doesn’t mean that there is some magic formula in the blood that saves. Throughout the Bible, the “shedding of blood” is used as a metaphor for violent death (e.g. Gen. 9:6; Num. 35:33; Deut. 19:10). The “redemption” comes through that sacrificial offering—which entails the tearing of his flesh, and the shedding of his blood. The scripture references to the “blood” and the “flesh” are symbolic of that sacrificial offering. That is what the rest of the Bible teaches:
Matthew 20:
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Mark 10:
45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
John 3:
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son [in sacrifice], that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him [his death] might be saved.
John 10:
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
• • •
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
• • •
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
John 15:
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Romans 5:
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 8:
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all [in sacrifice], how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
1 Corinthians 5:
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1 Corinthians 15:
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Galatians 1:
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Galatians 2:
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Ephesians 5:
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
• • •
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Philippians 2:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
1 Timothy 2:
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Titus 2:
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Hebrews 2:
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Hebrews 9:
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself [in sacrifice] often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered [in death] to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 10:
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
1 Peter 2:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1 John 2:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 3:
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 4:
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Revelation 13:
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
All the references to “blood” and the “shedding of blood” etc. in the Bible, with regard to the salvation and redemption of man, are symbolic references to the above. They are symbolic references to his sacrificial death on the cross. It doesn’t mean that there is some magic formula in the blood that saves. The blood by itself “profiteth nothing” (John 6:63). So it looks like John MacArthur isn’t very good at defending his own theological position. He needs a Mormon to come and help him out! 😀
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