April 29 – The Merits of the Blood of Jesus

My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. – Psalm 34:2, KJV

The true Christian understands that an infinite sacrifice has been made on their behalf, and that their life holds immeasurable value through the merits of the blood of Jesus, His intercession, and His righteousness. Yet, even as they grasp the high privilege of being a child of God, their heart is filled with humility. Those who walk in the shadow of the cross do not boast of their own holiness. They know that it was their sin that caused the anguish which broke the heart of the Son of God.

Those who live closest to Jesus are the ones who feel most deeply their own unworthiness. Their only hope is found in the merits of a crucified and risen Savior. Like Moses, they have glimpsed the overwhelming majesty of divine holiness and, in contrast, see their own insufficiency when compared with the pure and exalted beauty of Christ.

Is there not, then, every reason for humility? Do we not need to feel our absolute dependence on Christ every day, every hour? He took our nature upon Himself and was made sin for us, so that we might receive "remission of sins that are past" (Romans 3:25, KJV), and by His divine strength and grace, fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Anyone who claims that it does not matter whether or not we keep God's commandments is not truly connected to Christ. Jesus Himself declared: "I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (John 15:10, KJV), and those who follow Him will do as He did.

Satan will always attempt to lure us onto the path of sin, promising some supposed benefit through disobedience to God's law. But he is a deceiver. His only purpose is our ruin. Christ came to break the power of the enemy and to set the captives free.

Humanity, weakened by sin, had no moral strength to turn from the service of Satan to the service of the living God. But Jesus—the Prince of life, to whom "all power is given in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18, KJV)—offers to every soul who longs for salvation the power needed to overcome the enemy of all righteousness.

It is not by our own strength or worthiness that we stand, but by the blood of Jesus. In that blood is our hope, our peace, and our victory.