Is forgiveness of sins according to what we deserve or according to His grace?

Les explains from Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7, that the “in whom” refers back to Christ in verse 5. In Him we have redemption—we have been brought back—through His blood, and we are forgiven. Les then asks whether the forgiveness of sins is according to what we deserve. The answer is no; it is according to His grace, which is unmerited. Les acknowledges many are repelled by the blood, but God in His sovereign way decided that forgiveness of sin would be through the shed blood and no other way, and we take that by faith. His personal idea why God chose the blood is that life is in the blood; new life cannot come until death takes place, and life comes out of that death of a previous life, which is what the death, burial, and resurrection is about. God has mandated there can be no salvation and no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.