Does "Shedding of Blood" Refer to Jesus' Death?
By David J. Stewart | Click HERE for background music in a new window
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." —Leviticus 17:11
"...without SHEDDING OF BLOOD is no remission." —Hebrews 9:22
No! One of the most popular Bible teachers in America today is Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr. (born June 14, 1939 in Los Angeles, California). He's an American evangelical writer and minister, most noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You. He is currently serving as Pastor-Teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and as President of The Master's College (and the related Master's Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California. His "Revised and Updated" commentary on the Bible, titled "The MacArthur Study Bible," has already sold over 500,000 copies. John MacArthur has been honored by Moody Bible Institute, Christianity Today and others as a great man of God. This is a shame and reveals the apostate condition of the church today.
A Canadian pastor recently sent me several videos that he made, asking for my opinion on them. The videos were excellent, except that he kept referring to John MacArthur as "that great man of God." I wanted to vomit. This is why I expose John MacArthur—because he is a false prophet who blasphemes the blood of Jesus Christ, and is corrupting America's pastors and Christians. I wouldn’t give you a dime for anything Mr. MacArthur has written, because he spits on the blood of Jesus. MacArthur deceitfully claims to love the "precious blood of Jesus," while ignoring it, diminishing it, disregarding it, and speaking evil of its literal value. No sir, you don't love the precious blood of Jesus!
Tragically, John MacArthur is a Modernist who denies the redemptive power of the literal blood of Jesus Christ. It baffles me how a man can be so right on so many Biblical subjects, and yet be 100% wrong on the most important doctrine in the Word of God. There is no teaching in the Bible any more important than the precious redeeming power of the literal physical blood of Jesus Christ. Mr. MacArthur needs to find the Christ of the Bible.
Here are MacArthur's comments for Leviticus 17:11, i.e., the phrase "the life of the flesh is in the blood":
"..the shedding of blood represents the shedding of life, i.e., death ... NT references to the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ are references to His death."
SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of The MacArthur Study Bible, Thomas Nelson publishers, page 178
Wrong! There is NO such teaching in the Scriptures! The phrase "shedding of blood" in Hebrews 9:22 is the Greek word, haimatekchusia (SOURCE: Strong's Enhanced Lexicon), which literally means "shedding of blood." That's what the Greek word means Mr. MacArthur, it doesn't mean "death." If God meant to say "death," then He would have used that word; but He didn't, He said "shedding of blood."
John MacArthur has fabricated his own corrupt way of thinking. Hebrews 9:6-7 state: "Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second [i.e., the holy of holies] went the high priest alone once every year, NOT WITHOUT BLOOD, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people." How can Mr. MacArthur be so naive and unbiblical as to claim that Jesus' literal physical blood didn't need to be applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven, in consideration of such overwhelming Scriptural evidence? 1st Peter 1:18,19 proclaims, "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."
Again, the phrase "shedding of blood" in Hebrews 9:22 is the Greek word, haimatekchusia, which literally means "shedding of blood." That's what the Greek word means Mr. MacArthur, it doesn't mean "death." Any Bible-teacher who is wrong on the precious redeeming blood of Jesus Christ can't be trusted, because he has denied the most important doctrine in the Word of God. It is the literal liquid blood of Jesus Christ that takes our sins away. Revelation 1:5, "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." —Hebrews 9:12