If you have ever played Monopoly you know how important it is to have a Get Out of Jail Free card. You never know when you might need to play the card.

Christianity has several Get Out of Jail Free cards. Every Christian, regardless of the sect, gets one Get out of Jail Free card. This card is also known as the blood of Jesus.

According to Christian teaching, the blood of Jesus cleanses a sinner from their sin. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22-28:

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 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: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
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. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Ephesians 1:7 says, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

Greeting Card BIBLE Basic Information Before Leaving Earth
Learn more

Through the blood of Jesus sin is atoned for. Through the blood of Jesus is the forgiveness of sin. Baptist readers of this blog have sung the old Baptist standard, Nothing But The Blood, many, many times:

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain sung after every verse

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Exactly what does the blood of Jesus do for the sinner? It covers, erases, does away with their sin. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Through the blood of Jesus a sinner becomes a new creature (creation), old things pass away and everything becomes new. In an instant a sinner, no matter how wicked and vile they are, can have the slate wiped clean.

God, through the blood of Jesus,forgives and forgets. Perverts, wife beaters, tax cheats, thieves,murderers, and Newt Gingrich are quite happy to find out that the blood of Jesus provides for them a Get Out of Jail Free card. The blood cleansed sinner can shout from the mountaintop, Free, Free, Free at Last! In a moment all their past transgressions are under the blood. Psalm 103:12 says:

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Greeting Cards (10 Pack) BIBLE Basic Information Before Leaving Earth
Learn more

A popular Christian song, My Sins are Gone, pretty well sums up the Christians feeling about the blood of Jesus and their sin:

You ask me why I'm Happy So I'll just tell you why
Because My Sins Are Gone
And when I meet the scoffers Who ask me where they are
I say My Sins Are Gone

They're underneath the Blood On the Cross of Calvary
As far removed As darkness is from dawn
In the Sea of God's forgetfulness that's good enough for me
Praise God! My Sins Are Gone

When blood bought Christians are confronted by those they have hurt in the past they often saythats under the blood. This meanssorry..God has forgiven me of that sin and I am not accountable for it any longer. PRAISE JESUS!!

My mother was sexually molested by a relative who later became a Christian. My mother confronted this relative over what they had done to her as a child.Their reply?

Thats under the blood,God has forgiven me!

My mother, in a fit of rage, let the molester know that SHE hadnt forgiven him. But, that didnt matter. As long as the blood of Jesus had paid the sin debt no further confession or restitution was needed. This relative went on to live the Christian good life, never saying to my mother, I am sorry. This relative was a mean son-of-a-bitch before they became a Christian and they were are mean son-of-a-bitch after their sin debt had been cleansed by Jesus blood.

What about sins committed AFTER a person becomes a Christian? Each sect has their own plan for renewing the Get Out of Jail Free card. Catholics use the confessional and transubstantiation to free themselves of responsibility for their sins. The blood of Jesus covers everything, including molesting children.

Baptists use daily prayer and the Church altar as places where a Christian can reappropriate the blood of Jesus and get a fresh start. The Bible says in First John 1:9:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

No matter what the Baptist has done, absolution is only a prayer away. Do the same sin tomorrow..no problemjust pray.and start over again. I know some of the more pious among the Baptists will object and say that when a Christian confesses their sin they are to forsake it, BUT personal experience and observing Baptists for many years tells me that Do the same sin tomorrow..no problemjust pray.and start over again is typically how Baptists handle their sin problem.

As an atheist, I dont have a Get Out Of Jail Free card. When I do bad (I dont believe in the Christian concept of sin) things there is no God to excuse me so I must own my actions and, if possible, make things right. Granted, my sin list is much smaller now. Once I was set free from the shackles of Gods law, Biblical Law, whatever the hell the pastor says is sin IS sin Law, I was finally able to begin living my life freely. No blood atonement needed. No catchy songs about the blood covering all my transgressions.

Every day I make decisions in my life that affect how I live my life. Every day I have the choice to live a decent, honorable life. Every day I come up short and it is in those moments that I must say, I am sorry and, if needed, make restitution.

For my mother..one Im sorry would have covered a multitude of sins. Too bad Jesus and His blood got in the way.

Related posts: