The Most Bloody Religion

“Christianity is the most… bloody religion that has ever infected the world.” 

When French atheist and philosopher Voltaire said this, he certainly meant it as an insult against Christianity. I happen to agree with him, though, in a way. Authentic Christianity stands out among all other religions and thought systems of the world.

Voltaire was partially right. Certainly, throughout history mankind has done murderous, vile things to other human beings in the name of the God of the Bible. The Crusades are a case-in-point. But simply because they claimed to be doing these things “for God” does not mean that God condoned it. On the contrary, His Word says that these acts are wrong.

There is, however, a sense in which Christianity is a religion of blood. In Hebrews 9:22 God says, “without shedding of blood there is no remission”--that is, no complete forgiveness of sin. This is an allusion to the days of the Old Testament when animals were sacrificed in the Temple, their blood temporarily covering the sin of the people.

Why is it that we don’t need to sacrifice animals any longer? Have people, through education and enlightenment, become less inclined to do evil? Unfortunately, the answer is no. In fact, God says “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked...” And in Romans 3:23, Paul writes, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

No, the sacrifices have not stopped because man has improved himself. On the contrary, our world seems to be getting worse and worse by the day. The reason they’ve stopped is that there was a sacrifice that covered our sin permanently, “not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood…”(Heb. 9:12), the blood of Jesus Christ.

Back in Genesis, after Adam and Eve had sinned, God promised that there would come a descendant of Eve’s, One who would crush Satan and his power over people. Centuries later, the Promised One was born—a tiny, Jewish baby, “wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”.

He was God in human flesh—a sinless human being. The Bible refers to Him as the Lamb of God. Like a sacrificial lamb of the Old Testament times, Jesus Christ was unblemished (He had no sin). On the cross of Calvary, Christ was crucified.

God tells us that the reason He sent His Son was because He “so loved the world”. The blood He shed on the cross covered the sin of every human being who has ever lived or ever will live. He died, was buried, and rose three days later proving two things: 1.) that He was God, and 2.) He had victory over death.

There’s more to the reason God sent His son. In John 3:16 He says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”. What about you? Are you trusting Him alone, apart from any good things you may do, to save you from your sin, guaranteeing you eternal life in Heaven? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

~ Elisha A. Hoffman