As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you… ~ 1 Peter 1:14-20

Jesus redeemed us with his precious blood to make us holy in the sight of God. Being made holy is not merely a positional standing before God. Instead, it is real holiness whereby we serve God with a pure heart by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. In the introduction to Peter’s letter he describes the people of God as “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” ~ 1 Peter 1:2

The sprinkling of the blood has to do with that which has been consecrated and set apart as holy unto God. Under the law of Moses the atoning blood was sprinkled on the altar, the people, the priesthood, the veil which separated the holy place from the most holy, and the mercy seat within the most holy place. The atoning blood purified all theses under Moses as types and shadows of the blood of Christ purifying us and making us holy in the sight of God.

We were chosen in the foreknowledge of God to be holy, and God himself fulfills this in our lives by the sanctifying work of his Holy Spirit and our obedience to Jesus and cleansing by his blood. In view of our call to be holy, Peter reminds us that we were not redeemed from our old life by corruptible things. Instead, we were redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot…”

Unfortunately, there are some among the clergy (unscrupulous ministers) who do not teach sound doctrine about the blood of Christ. They teach as if it is a spiritual charm for blessings (often related to material possessions). Such twisting of the truth of God has led many into spiritual error.

According to the scriptures, Jesus shed his precious blood to save us from our sins and to reconcile us to a Holy God. Holy means sacred and set apart. Everything about God is sacred and he is to be reverenced by all who call on his name. In the text cited above, the apostle Peter says, if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear…

As foreigners sojourning through this life, we are called to live in godly fear. While we rejoice that we are loved by God and have received mercy and grace, we also reverence God because he is holy. When God’s love is coupled with godly fear and reverence the end result is a holy life that glorifies God.

This is the foundation for correctly understanding all that scripture teaches about the blood of Christ: God is holy, and we must be cleansed and purified from sin to stand in his presence. Without Jesus’s blood purifying us, and the Holy Spirit sanctifying us, we would have no fellowship with God, who is holy.