“Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, AN UNHOLY THING, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” ” —Hebrews 10:29
The April 1986 edition of
Faith For The Family quotes Pastor MacArthur as saying in a 1976
article entitled, “Not His Bleeding But His Dying”:
“It was His death that was efficacious . . . not His blood . . . Christ did not bleed to death. The shedding of blood had nothing to do with bleeding . . . it simply means death . . . Nothing in His human blood saves . . . It is not His blood that I love . . . it is Him. It is not His bleeding that saved me, but His dying.” [emphasis added]
Mr. MacArthur is a heretic who states:
"It is not the actual liquid that cleanses us from our sins, but the work of redemption Christ accomplished in pouring it out." —Dr. John MacArthur
In MacArthur's more recent Revised and Updated “Study Bible,” he avoids Exodus 12:13 like the Bubonic Plague...
Exodus 12:13, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
Dr. MacArthur doesn't comment directly concerning this verse. It baffles me as to why any professed gospel preacher would make light of the literal blood of Jesus Christ.
Pastor R.B. Thieme Jr. in Texas popularized the teaching denying the literal blood of Christ. Perhaps MacArthur learned this heresy from R.B. Thieme Jr., but I do not know. One thing is certain, they BOTH teach the same heresy denying the efficacy (redeeming power) of Jesus' physical blood. Hebrews 9:12 tells us that Jesus entered into the heavenly Holy Place “BY HIS OWN BLOOD.” Yet, MacArthur claims that the Bible does not really mean what it says. Says who? That is just more MacArthurology!
MacArthur has nothing good to say about Jesus' physical blood, because he doesn't think it has any value in and of itself. What good is a “Study Bible” that ignores the most important doctrine in the entire Bible? 1st Peter 1:18,19 tells us just how important the blood of Jesus is:
1st Peter 1:18-19, “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.”
MacArthur's Deceitful, Confusing, and Misleading Philosophies on the Blood
Deceitfully, in MacArthur's Revised and Updated Study Bible, he comments concerning 1st Peter 1:18,19 on page 1941:
“The price paid to a holy God was the shed blood of His own Son.”
SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of The MacArthur Study Bible, Thomas Nelson publishers, page 1941
Yet, to show you how deceitful MacArthur is, take a look at his comments concerning Hebrews 9:22 (i.e., “without shedding of blood there is no remission”) on page 1912 of his Revised and Updated Study Bible:
“'Shedding of blood' refers to death.”
SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of The MacArthur Study Bible, Thomas Nelson publishers, page 1912
Wow! What a deceiver! If God meant “death,” then He would have said “death”; BUT He didn't, He said “shedding of blood.”
Christ's virgin birth, sinless life, death, burial and bodily resurrection all led up to the application of His precious blood to the mercy seat in Heaven. MacArthur denies this vehemently. Take at look at what MacArthur comments on page 1910 of his Revised and Updated Study Bible concerning Hebrews 9:12 (i.e., “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”):
“A better translation would be 'through His own blood.' ... Nothing is said which would indicate that Christ carried His actual physical blood with Him into the heavenly sanctuary.”
SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of The MacArthur Study Bible, Thomas Nelson publishers, page 1910
On the contrary, the King James Bible states, “Moreover he [Moses] sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry ... For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:21,24). If you'll take the time to carefully read the entire chapter of Hebrews 9, you'll find the word “blood” mentioned 12 times.
You'll also learn that the Old Testament tabernacle was a “figure” of the true Tabernacle in Heaven. Just as the Old Testament high priest was required to bring the lamb's literal physical shed BLOOD into the holy place and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, so did Jesus Christ enter into the heavenly Holy Place with His own literal blood and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat. MacArthur is very wrong!
Hebrews 9:12 in the King James Bible states, “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.” MacArthur claims that the phrase “by his own blood” should have been translated “through his own blood”; however, then this means that we would also need to change the phrase “by the blood of goats and calves” to “through the blood of goats and calves.”
So then why did God require the blood of animals UPON THE MERCY SEAT in the Old Testament? Leviticus 17:11 reads, “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.” Perhaps Mr. MacArthur needs some better reading glasses.
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
There is NO such teaching in the Scriptures! 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?
MacArthur really gets confusing in his commentary of Hebrews 9:7 on page 1910, the phrase “not without blood”:
“...the shedding of blood in and of itself is an insufficient sacrifice. Christ had not only to shed His blood, but to die ... Without His death, his blood had no saving value.”
SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of The MacArthur Study Bible, Thomas Nelson publishers, page 1910
While it is true that Jesus' death was absolutely essential to His work of redemption, MacArthur attempts to use this fact in this Scripture as a means of completely disregarding the efficacy (power) of the literal physical blood of Jesus. Hebrews 9:7 isn't talking about the “death” of the sacrificed animal; it is talking about the “blood” of the sacrificed animal. The truth is that Jesus' virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial and bodily resurrection were all EQUALLY as important as the blood sacrifice itself; but all those things led up to the blood being applied to the Mercy Seat in the heavenly Holy Place.
To deny this is to deny the entire Old Testament, all the types, all the blood sacrifices, and the FACT that God would have killed any high priest who dared enter into the holy of holies WITHOUT BLOOD.
John MacArthur's entire “Study Bible” maliciously, but subtly, attacks the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Again 1st Peter 1:18,19 states: “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...” Now how can Jesus' blood be PRECIOUS if it is only representative of His death?
MacArthur continually badmouths the literal blood of Jesus Christ, while simultaneously claiming that he views it as precious of something else it represents. That makes no sense at all. The blood of Jesus is “precious” to the genuine born-again believer because it is LITERAL, having obtained literal redemption for us, washing our sins away just as 1st John 1:7 promised!
To no surprise, on page 1964 of MacArthur's Revised and Updated “Study Bible,” in his comments concerning 1st John 1:7, he doesn't even address the blood of Jesus. How could any preacher completely avoid such a precious Scripture which teaches that Jesus' blood washes our sins away?
God says that Jesus'
blood cleanses and washes our sins away (1st John 1:7). We read in
Revelation 7:14, “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to
me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” How
does someone like MacArthur just keep explaining all these Scriptures away? What a false prophet! MacArthur is of the Devil. How does a saint
wash his robe with death? It makes no sense. Ah, but
if you believe the Word of God, i.e., that Jesus' literal blood washes our
sins away, then Revelation 7:14 makes perfect sense.
MacArthur Trods Under Foot the Son of God
Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ is almighty God (i.e., deity) is NOT saved. Anyone who denies Jesus' virgin birth is NOT saved. Anyone who denies Jesus' bodily resurrection is NOT saved. Anyone who denies the sinlessness of Jesus is NOT saved. Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Son of God is NOT saved! MacArthur correctly believes all of these doctrines; but when it comes to the literal blood of Jesus, he falls short utterly. Anyone who denies the redemptive power of Jesus' literal physical blood is NOT saved! These are absolute fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith! These are all part of what the Bible calls, the “DOCTRINE OF CHRIST” (2nd John 1:9)!
Many ministers have been deceived by John MacArthur, because he is doctrinally correct in most areas. Unfortunately, MacArthur is WRONG on salvation and the blood of Christ. If a man is wrong on salvation, then he is wrong on everything. MacArthur is a 5 point Calvinist, teaching predestination and limited atonement. This explains his Calvinistic views on Lordship Salvation and the perseverance of the saints in order to be saved. The Bible condemns Calvinism in all its tenets.
Certainly no two preachers agree on everything; but when a preacher is wrong on salvation and the blood of Christ, and teaches other ministers those heresies, a faithful man of God needs to cry aloud and expose that false prophet by proclaiming the Word of God. The Bible proclaims the blood of the Lamb from Genesis to Revelation; whereas MacArthur tramples Christ's holy blood underfoot as if it were something unholy...
Hebrews 10:29, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
The Greek word for “unholy” here is koinos and means “common, that is, shared by all.” It means regarding the blood of Jesus as nothing special, common. Although MacArthur states in one breath that Jesus' blood is precious, he deceitfully then states that jesus' blood soaked into the ground at Calvary. MacArthur teaches that it was the “pouring out” of Christ's blood that was precious, and not the physical blood itself. MacArthur teaches that the blood of Jesus is only precious in that it represents the death of Christ on the cross for our sins. That is unbiblical.
The Bible calls John MacArthur a liar
and false prophet, because the blood had to be applied in Heaven, just as
the Old Testament high priest had to apply the lamb's blood once a year to
the mercy seat in the earthly tabernacle.
The Death of the Passover Lamb Was NOT Enough
When the Lord was going to pass over Egypt and destroy the firstborn, he said to Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12:13...
"And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."
The death of the lamb wasn't enough, the blood had to be applied Mr. MacArthur. God wasn't looking for a dead lamb in the backyard; No, rather, God was looking for the APPLIED BLOOD on the doorposts and lintel (doorplate) above the door. The blood had to be applied. John MacArthur's entire ministry is flawed, and he is a false prophet, simply because he is WRONG on the most important Christian doctrine of all—Jesus precious, literal, liquid, blood! No genuinely saved person would ever deny the redemptive power of Jesus' physical 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
