His All Sufficient Blood – A 40-Day Devotion on the Cross
"The only possible way to be saved is by a substitutionary death and the shedding of innocent blood" – Jan Blonk
History finds its most confounding, confusing, and conflicting moment at the cross of Christ. This polarizing decisive moment in the chronicles of mankind has fueled wars, revolutionized human rights, segregated homes, inspired modern medicine, led individuals to torturous deaths, and given hope to the hopeless.
Jan Blonk has an interesting story. He is a committed Christian who loves writing devotional books. He decided to take that passion and turn it into a way for Christian ministries to raise funds for their ministry, while at the same time promoting gospel-centered materials. If a ministry partners with Jan, he provides 75% of all royalties as a gift to that particular ministry for utilizing his book among their community.
Jan reached out, inquiring if I would add His All Sufficient Blood to my Tim Challies 2020 goal of 52 books in 52 weeks. So for week 6, "A Book on Christian Living", I agreed to read and review Jan's forty-day devotional on the cross of Christ. So, let's jump into an honest review with the good first and then the bad.
The Good:
1. Penal Substitutionary Atonement
The concept of Penal Substitutionary Atonement is rapidly disappearing in Sunday sermons. This theological concept holds that Jesus took the sinner's place on the cross, receiving the punishment for sin from the father, and as a result, made recompense for the believers' sins.
Romans 3:23-25 states it clearly, " for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."
Jan represents, promotes, and defends this position of Jesus' propitiation by receiving the full punishment of sin on the cross.
Now, why was this necessary? Because for God to graciously forgive us of our sin there had to be a sacrifice. Otherwise, He would cease to be just and we would continue to be stained by sinfulness.
The substitutionary death of God's only Son offers the assured hope of salvation and forgiveness of sin.
"Our only hope for forgiveness and purification is found in the shedding of blood – Jesus' blood" – Jan Blonk
2. Human Responsibility & God's Sovereignty
Straight up, this is difficult.
The paradoxical concept of man's total responsibility for their actions and at the same time, God's complete sovereignty over those actions, is simply hard.
In Blonk's forty-day devotional, he never tries to reconcile this mystery, but simply acknowledges it's existence. He recognizes scriptures intense beseeching of people to repent of their sin and turn to God, while at the same time, God sovereignly ordaining those covered by the blood of Christ.
"While the New Covenant was officially inaugurated when Jesus shed his blood, it stems from before the foundation of the world."
Jan points to passages such as Ephesians 1:4 and Hebrews 11:6 that expose this predetermined plan that still does not negate humanity's responsibility for their actions.
What does this concept lead us to conclude? If God has chosen those who would be covered by the blood of Christ before the foundation of the world, then we should simply live our lives and not worry about evangelism? No!
Romans 10:14 "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"
Jan Blonk affirms with Paul this mystery, and in no way should it slow our evangelism and desire to see people saved by the precious blood of Christ! If anything it should fuel it!
This is why I argue for individuals to exert maximal effort with total dependence on Jesus in my book SOLD: Marks of a True Disciple. As believers, our heart should beat to preach, proclaim, and promote the glorious gospel of Jesus while trusting on his sovereign plan to accomplish his mission.
The Bad:
Jan's book is meant to be read over 40 days as a devotional on Jesus' substitutionary atonement. I read it in 6 days with writing a review in mind. Therefore, understand my critiques are within the framework of that context.
1. Readability:
I found that Jan's book reads more like personal morning devotionals than a systematic purposefully laid out devotional for believers. The language is at times repetitive and somewhat innocuous considering its subject matter.
I confess, I am not the biggest fan of devotional books, and have only been faithful to My Utmost for His Highest and The Valley of Vision. With that said, if you enjoy the flow of morning devotionals, you may be persuaded to have a different opinion on this book's readability.
2. Theology of the Old Testament:
There was one particular phrase that made me cringe. I will give Jan the benefit of the doubt considering his understanding and view of the Old Testament, but this particular phrase needs to be expounded upon.
"The Old Covenant was a means to an end. It reveals our sins and just condemnation in order for God to freely save us by His grace. That is the truth of the Scriptures." – Emphasis Added
According to the Collins Dictionary, this phrase has the following meaning:
"If you say that something is a means to an end, you mean that it helps you to achieve what you want, although it may not be enjoyable or important itself."
The cross is nonsensical without the Old Testament. The previous covenant with Israel promises the cross. The sacrifices, tabernacle, and temple all display man's inability to remove the stain of sin and depict our need for the cross.
But to say in any way, shape, or form that the Old Covenant was either unimportant or irrelevant after the cross is to drastically misrepresent the scriptures understandings of the covenants.
Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished." – Matthew 5:17-18
In his life, death, and resurrection Jesus fulfills the law, but the Old Covenants righteous and good purpose and place still highlights our sinfulness and need for Christ.
While the Old Covenant has been superseded by the New, we cannot rightly and fully understand the New without the Old.
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Though there are a few bones, there is significant meat to make this purchase worth while and potentially an excellent partnership to help boost ministry funding!