What happens to people who trust in good works when faced with the two imperatives?
The two imperatives—without faith it is impossible to please God and without the shedding of blood there is no remission—knock out the good-works people. They do not know what faith is, do not take God at His word, rely on their own efforts, and shun the blood, so they cannot please God or receive remission.
Les explains that both imperatives knock out the good-works people. Such people do not know what faith is, do not take God at His word, and say they are doing it on their own, thinking they will make it. They also shun the blood, not liking it. But the whole purpose of the cross was that He had to shed His blood, and it had to be a death where that was evident. Otherwise the Jews could have killed Him by their normal capital punishment of stoning, but that would not have fulfilled the shedding of blood on the crucifixion. These two imperatives apply regardless of who a person is, what religious background they have, or what denomination they are from.