Yes — believers appropriate the benefits of Christ's sacrifice by faith in what God has already finished at the cross and resurrection.
God poured out all His mercy at the cross, so believers do not ask Him to repeat that work. Instead they say, 'Yes, Lord, I know Your mercy was poured out. Now I believe it. I appropriate it. It's mine.' They receive by faith what Christ accomplished through His shed blood, His death, His resurrection, and His ongoing life.
Galatians 2:20 — Shows that the believer is crucified with Christ and now lives through the faith of the Son of God.
Romans 5:10 — Explains that reconciliation comes through Christ's death and salvation comes through His risen life.
1 Corinthians 6:20 — Shows that being bought with Christ's blood has a practical outcome: glorifying God in the body.
2 Corinthians 5:16 — Directs us away from knowing Christ in His earthly ministry to knowing the crucified and resurrected Christ.
Hebrews 9:22 — Gives the foundational reason why Christ's blood must be central to appropriating the benefits.
The New Testament ties the benefits of Christ's sacrifice to His blood, His death, and His resurrection. Hebrews 9:22 says that 'without shedding of blood is no remission.' Ephesians 2:13 says that believers who were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Romans 5:10 says that when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, and that being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Galatians 2:20 describes the believer as crucified with Christ, no longer living by his own life but by the faith of the Son of God, who loved him and gave Himself for him. First Corinthians 6:20 says believers are bought with a price, so they are to glorify God in their body. Second Corinthians 5:16 says that henceforth we no longer know Christ after the flesh — the focus is not His earthly ministry but His saving death and resurrection.
Les teaches that the finished work of the cross is the starting point. God has already poured out all of His mercy; the believer's response is to appropriate that mercy by faith — not to ask God to do again what He has already done (Clip 1). The blood of Christ and His death cannot be separated; without the shedding of blood there is no remission, and Christ is the only sacrifice God is satisfied with (Clip 2). Old Testament animal sacrifices never brought about atonement; only the blood of Christ fulfilled the atoning work, and now believers are redeemed and bought with a price, so they glorify God in their bodies (Clip 3). At the cross, God saw every believer in Christ, so believers are reckoned as crucified. They are enabled to cope day by day not by their own faithfulness but by the faithfulness of the Son of God (Clip 4). The work of the cross made reconciliation available to the whole human race, and Christ's resurrection victory over sin, death, and hell has been imputed to the believer's account (Clip 5). Paul's gospel is not about knowing Jesus in His earthly ministry but about the crucified and resurrected Christ, because salvation is found only in His death, burial, and resurrection (Clips 6–7). Spiritual truth is only comprehended when God opens the understanding, but this does not remove human free will (Clip 0).
No. Les explains that God has already poured out all of His mercy at the cross. To pray 'God be merciful to me, a sinner' in the same way today would be a 'double take,' as if God needed to do again what He has already done. Instead, the believer should say, 'Yes, Lord, I know that Your mercy was poured out. Now I believe it. I appropriate it. It's mine.' The benefits are not received through a repeated sacrifice but by faith in what was done once.
Les points to Galatians 2:20: the believer is crucified with Christ, and the life he now lives he lives by the faith of the Son of God. This is substitutionary — when Christ died, God saw every believer in Christ, so we are reckoned as crucified. Our daily ability to cope is through His faithfulness, not our own.
The cross made reconciliation available to the whole human race, but the benefits are not held only in His death. Christ did not stay in the grave; He arose victorious over sin, death, and hell. Because He was victorious, believers are too, and that victory is imputed to their account. Paul says we must go beyond Jesus' earthly ministry to the cross and the resurrection — otherwise we know Him for nothing.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Les teaches that the blood of Christ and His death are tied together, and that Christ is the only sacrifice God was satisfied with. Old Testament animal sacrifices never brought about atonement; the blood of Christ fulfilled the atoning work. Because believers are bought with a price, they are to glorify God in their bodies.
Understanding Spiritual Truth
Les uses Matthew 16 to show that God opens our understanding for spiritual truth, and that the rock in view is Christ, not Peter.
Appropriating Mercy by Faith
Les says God has already poured out all His mercy at the cross; rather than asking God to pour it out again, we appropriate it by faith and make it our own.
The Blood and the Death of Christ
Les shows that the blood of Christ and His death cannot be separated, that without shedding of blood there is no remission, and that Christ is the only sacrifice God is satisfied with.
The Blood Secures Atonement and Redemption
Les teaches that old animal sacrifices never atoned, that Christ's blood fulfilled the atoning work, and that because believers are bought with a price, they should glorify God in their bodies.
Crucified With Christ
Les explains that believers are able to cope day by day only because of what Christ accomplished; God saw every believer in Christ at the cross, so we are reckoned crucified and live by the faith of the Son of God.
Resurrection Victory Imputed
Les teaches that Christ's death reconciled the world and that His resurrection victory over sin, death, and hell is imputed to the believer, giving us eternal life.
Knowing Christ After the Cross
Les says the pre-cross Christ is not the object of our salvation; the work of the cross makes salvation possible, and Paul no longer knows Christ after the flesh.
Beyond the Earthly Ministry to the Cross
Les warns that knowing Jesus' earthly ministry alone brings no salvation; we must go to the cross and resurrection to know Him savingly.
Matthew 16:17: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
This verse shows that understanding spiritual truth comes from the Father opening the understanding.
1 Corinthians 5:7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.
Paul points to Christ as the Passover sacrifice, the only sacrifice God is satisfied with.
2 Corinthians 5:16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
This verse directs believers to know the crucified and risen Christ rather than only His earthly ministry.
Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
This is the believer's identification with Christ's death and the ongoing life of faith in Him.
Ephesians 2:13: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
The blood of Christ is what brings believers near to God.
Romans 5:10: For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
This verse connects reconciliation through Christ's death with salvation through His resurrected life.
1 Corinthians 6:20: For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Because believers are bought by Christ's blood, their bodies and spirits are to glorify God.
Hebrews 9:22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
This verse grounds the necessity of Christ's shed blood for the remission of sin.
No. According to Les, God has already poured out all His mercy at the cross. To ask Him to pour it out again is to say God needs to do a double work. The right response is to believe and appropriate the mercy that is already available in Christ.
By faith. As Les says, you say, 'Yes, Lord, I know that Your mercy was poured out. Now I believe it. I appropriate it. It's mine.' Faith reaches out and claims what God has already accomplished in Christ's death and resurrection.
No. Les says there is no salvation in simply understanding His earthly ministry. Paul insists we go to the cross and the resurrection; otherwise, as the apostle says, we know Him for nothing.
Watch the Teaching: Christ the Rock: Spiritual Warfare & The Battle with Amalek