The Bible has said for years what man just recently figured out – life is in the blood (Lev 17:11). Up until the end of the 19^th Century it was considered modern science and common to bleed patients thought to have blood disorders. Science certainly does change. I’m glad the Word of God does not change and that, in this case anyway, science finally came back to it!

The Bible indicates that blood is sacred because it represents life. The command not to eat blood can be found in both the Old and New Testaments (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:10-11,14; Deut 12:23 and Acts 15:20). The reason for this is because what goes into the mouth goes out into the sewer (Matt 15:17). The sewer is no place for life. It dishonors God to dishonor the life He gives.

As to the science of it, I am certainly no doctor, but I remember reading that blood is in and of itself an organ of the body. If true, that would make the blood transfusion one of the earliest if not the first organ transplant techniques to be perfected. Now, if medical science amazes you as it does me, it can only do so because of known laws that remain constant and allow the practice of medicine to advance because these laws do not change (once again…enter God).

Obviously the Bible does not speak directly to the question of giving blood or receiving blood transfusions. So what follows is my opinion based on scripture. Because the life is in the blood, to receive blood as a transfusion is to receive life. The Bible is clear that to take a life is sin. However, there is no sin in giving life. In fact, a hero who pays the ultimate sacrifice by giving his life for others is rightfully held in high esteem.

On the other hand there is also a danger in receiving the blood of another. Science has determined who can give blood based on both diagnosed disease and exposure. I know many military personnel and their families who cannot give blood simply because they were stationed in a particular geographic area of the world during specific years. This exposure alone makes their giving of blood to another too risky. Tests are run on donated blood all the time to ensure (as much as possible) it is healthy. Isn’t it also interesting that the Bible tells us we inherited our sin nature just this way: through the blood, the blood of our father (Rom 5:12). We don’t have God’s blood running through our veins but Adam’s. God cannot sin, but Adam could and did. You and I inherited that blood-born, sinful nature.

So, there is no sin in sharing the life that is in our blood with another. Nor is there anything wrong with receiving blood from another so long as that blood is healthy. The Bible tells us that Jesus shed His ‘precious blood’ (1 Peter 1:19) in order to give us life. If a person who has a blood disease rejects a transfusion of healthy blood they will most certainly die. To reject Christ is to reject eternal life. You don’t have to come to my church, but you must come by faith to the blood Jesus shed at Calvary.