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13 But[de] now[nuni] in[en] Christ[Christos] Jesus[Iesous] ye[humeis] who[ho] sometimes[pote] were[on] far off[makran] are made[ginomai] nigh[eggus] by[en] the blood[haima] of Christ.[Christos] KJV-Interlinear
13 But now
in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ. NASB
But now, refers to the contrast of now being saved, as opposed to the time in your life before you were saved.
In Christ, refers to the saving work of Christ. There is no other means of salvation, except through faith in Christ.
Sometimes far off, is again that reference to the time in your life when you were unsaved. At some time in everyone's life, they were unbelievers. For some that time was from birth, until a very young age, for others that time was from birth to some older age. But whenever you were saved in your life, then prior to your salvation, there was a time when you were unsaved.
Far off means simply not close, or not even close, or not even in the ball park, or not even in the same region.
All unbelievers have no closeness with God. None whatsoever.
But after salvation, after that single moment when you believed in Christ, then you were brought close, as it were.
This is a reference to the Day of Atonement, which is now called Yom Kippur. This was a feast in the Old Testament which was held in the Fall of the year. It was on that day, and only on that day, that the High Priest was allowed to enter into the inner room of the Tabernacle. That inner room was called the Holy of Holies.
The priest sacrificed the animal on the alter. That sacrifice represented the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The physical blood of the animal, representing the spiritual death of Christ in His payment for our sins. Then the priest carried the blood of the animal into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat, which is the top of the Ark of the Covenant, which is the box which sat in the middle of the inner room.
On that box, on either side, was an image of an angel. The angel on one side representing the perfect Righteousness of God, and the other angel representing the perfect Justice of God. Both combined represent the perfect Holiness of God.
The Priest sprinkled the blood, the representation of Christ's sacrifice, onto the Mercy Seat, which covered the surface of that seat, and this represents the atonement or satisfaction of God, of the work of Christ in salvation. No other work was ever allowed into the inner room, much less sprinkled onto the Mercy Seat.
This approach to the seat by the Priest was called being allowed to draw near.
The High Priest did this twice in the same ritual offering. The first time he entered into the inner room was for himself, and the second time he entered was for the rest of the people.
And so we are allowed to be brought near, to God, by means of the work of Christ, which is represented in the phrase, by His blood. His blood is the phrase which refers to the work of Christ on the Cross. The blood reference was taken by the use of animals killed during the many centuries of sacrifices throughout the Old Testament times.
This again makes reference to the work of Christ, for by no other work of anyone of any kind, is salvation made possible. Only by the work of Christ.
Your sincerity, your good intentions, your self-sacrifices as you see them, are arrogance and nothing more. You did not work for your salvation. You cannot work for or earn, nor can you even deserve, salvation. It is Gods gift from grace. And has nothing to do with who or what you are, but only with who and what Christ is and did.
