Jesus came in the guise of sinful flesh to the earth, as an offering for sin, yet He perfectly resisted sin. He knew the onslaught of temptation.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [are] naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession.
4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.
4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
God looks at the heart. He knows that you struggle to live right. He knows that your heart really wants to do the right thing, but that your flesh nature is weak in the onslaughts of temptations. He has sympathy, because He was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sin. His heart is touched with the feelings of your infirmities. He will never judge you or condemn you, because He knows how it feels to be tempted, but He never gave in. We can't resist sin. It is impossible for a human to resist sin. That is why Jesus did it for us.
His Word is quick and powerful, and works swiftly. Sin is experienced in the soul, and the Word is experienced in the Spirit. The Word brings a quick division, and cuts away the experience of sin as quickly as it happens. The more we dwell in the Word, the less we will be under the power of sin. The Word brings the division between us and sin, and cuts it out of our lives.
Jesus is on our side, and wants to help us. All you need to do is to remain at rest and not start to condemn yourself. If you condemn yourself, you will waste time. The condemnation is a result of the law and sin. The moment we turn to the Word, which says what Jesus did for us on the cross, that same moment, the experience of that sin and condemnation is cut out of your soul. The moment you turn to Christ's sacrifice, that same moment your conscience is cleared from any remembrance of sin.
Jesus is not the one blaming you. You are, so stop it. Jesus is the One Who loves you and gave Himself up for you. What you did can never change the way He feels about you. What you did can never change the fact that He paid for all your sins on the Cross around 2000 years ago.
So I want to leave you with this thought. You can now experience peace, because He went through it for you. He resisted sin for you, and now strengthens you on the inside, so you can experience His love, and not the condemnation of the law. God doesn't care about what you did. He cares about what Jesus did for you!
Bless you
G
Friday 24 July 2009
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Remember the sacrifice of Christ
Heb 10:1 FOR SINCE the Law has merely a rude outline (foreshadowing) of the good things to come-instead of fully expressing those things-it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach [its altars].
10:2 For if it were otherwise, would [these sacrifices] not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin.
10:3 But [as it is] these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins [to be atoned for],
10:4 Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away.
10:5 Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer];
We have heard a message that taught us to confess our sins to receive forgiveness. Now there is nothing wrong with confessing sin in itself. The problem is that it has been taught as a condition for receiving forgiveness. People think that God wants to retain sin, and charge it to our accounts if we don't confess every single one. Forgiveness is the other side of the coin of justification. We are justified freely by His grace through faith. This means, that the moment we believe our sins were indeed carried in the flesh body of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross, our sins disappear.
The whole point was to eradicate sin. Eradicate means to destroy all traces of, to tear up by the roots. The law could not eradicate sin, because it brought a fresh remembrance of sin. Paul wrote in Romans 7
7:5 When we were living in the flesh (mere physical lives), the sinful passions that were awakened and aroused up by [what] the Law [makes sin] were constantly operating in our natural powers (in our bodily organs, in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh), so that we bore fruit for death.
7:6 But now we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [under obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life].
7:7 What then do we conclude? Is the Law identical with sin? Certainly not! Nevertheless, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another].
7:8 But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment [to express itself], got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead [the sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing].
7:9 Once I was alive, but quite apart from and unconscious of the Law. But when the commandment came, sin lived again and I died (was sentenced by the Law to death).
7:10 And the very legal ordinance which was designed and intended to bring life actually proved [to mean to me] death.
7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me [by taking its incentive] from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it [as a weapon], killed me.
7:12 The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good.
7:13 Did that which is good then prove fatal [bringing death] to me? Certainly not! It was sin, working death in me by using this good thing [as a weapon], in order that through the commandment sin might be shown up clearly to be sin, that the extreme malignity and immeasurable sinfulness of sin might plainly appear.
Every time a person went to the altar to sacrifice for his sins, the sacrifice offered to atone for that sins stirred up a fresh remembrance of sins, stirring up a fresh desire to do the very thing they desired to eradicate. This is a tricky situation, being taught to bring a sacrifice for a dispicable action, which in turn only proves to sustain the dispicable action by way of remembrance.
God never ment for the confession of sins to take on the form of a religious rite. If you think you will not be forgiven because you did not confess your sins, you have not herd what Christ did for you. If you think confession of sins is a condition to forgiveness, then you will certainly never find forgiveness. You will simply be plagued by specific accurances of fleshly weakness for the rest of you life. The emphasis is then still on you bringing your offering to atone for sin. The standard has only been lowered severely. Saying sorry didn't cut it in the days of the law. Sorry still doesn't cut it. Blood had to flow then, blood has to flow for you too. Jesus Christ paid the price with His own blood, an offering that shall avail for all time.
Heb 10:12 Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.
God wants our remembrance of sin to disappear. People send their children to their rooms to go and think about what they did wrong. This can only have one effect, that the child will struggle with that problem for the rest of his life. Parents foster a consciousness of sin, and then wonder why their children sin. This is why, the children have a consciousness of sin.
Heb 10:10 And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One).
10:11 Furthermore, every [human] priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip [from every side of us] the sins [that envelop us] and take them away-
10:12 Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
10:13 Then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet.
10:14 For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.
He has done it for us. Believing in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ means this: you believe that He took the punishment of all your sins, and you believe that you are forgiven because of His blood.
Matt 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Your forgiveness lies in His blood, not in your confession. You only sin, because you keep on remembering your past sins. You only sleep around, because you remember that you had done it before, and feel condemned for it. The sin will use that remembrance which the law, and this law of confession brings, and it will stirr up the forbiden desires in you. This will trap you for life.
If you keep on remembering your sins, you will establish yourself to be thus in you own concept of your identity. If you keep on remembering your theft, you will establish yourself to be a thief in you own heart. People act according to their perception of identity. Remember His sacrifice, and your heart will believe that you are holy, and you will establish your identity as a holy man. That will severely influence your life. Your deeds will change spontaneously.
When we ate communion in the past, we were taught that we need to examine ourselves to eat worthily of the body and the blood. We thought that we needed to confess all our sins before partaking of the body and the blood, in which our forgiveness lies. So we did not descern that the communion is supposed to take away our consciousness of sin, we thought we must be conscious of our sins when partaking of communion. Jesus said, take and eat in remembrance of Me, and not your sins. This is the blood in the new Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins! Remember the blood, not sin!
Paul wrote on this as well. 1 Cor 11:23 For I received from the Lord Himself that which I passed on to you [it was given to me personally], that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was treacherously delivered up and while His betrayal was in progress took bread,
11:24 And when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and said, Take, eat. This is My body, which is broken for you. Do this to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.
11:25 Similarly when supper was ended, He took the cup also, saying, This cup is the new covenant (the word there is testament) [ratified and established] in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink [it], to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.
11:26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are representing and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord's death until He comes [again].
11:27 So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy [of Him] will be guilty of [profaning and sinning against] the body and blood of the Lord.
11:28 Let a man [thoroughly] examine himself, and [only when he has done] so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that [it is Christ's] body, eats and drinks a sentence (a verdict of judgment) upon himself.
11:30 That [careless and unworthy participation] is the reason many of you are weak and sickly, and quite enough of you have fallen into the sleep of death.
The damnation only comes when people remember their sins, and not the Body of Jesus which was broken for us, and the Blood of Jesus which was poured out for us. Remember Him, not your sins. Whenever you feel guilty, look at what Jesus did for you, not at what you think you must do to get Him to forgive you. Your conscience is only cleansed with the Blood of Christ. Be conscious of His blood, and let Him purge you from a guilty evil conscience. Let Him convince you of you innocence.
You are perfectly holy, otherwise His blood was perfectly useless.
10:2 For if it were otherwise, would [these sacrifices] not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin.
10:3 But [as it is] these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins [to be atoned for],
10:4 Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away.
10:5 Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer];
We have heard a message that taught us to confess our sins to receive forgiveness. Now there is nothing wrong with confessing sin in itself. The problem is that it has been taught as a condition for receiving forgiveness. People think that God wants to retain sin, and charge it to our accounts if we don't confess every single one. Forgiveness is the other side of the coin of justification. We are justified freely by His grace through faith. This means, that the moment we believe our sins were indeed carried in the flesh body of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross, our sins disappear.
The whole point was to eradicate sin. Eradicate means to destroy all traces of, to tear up by the roots. The law could not eradicate sin, because it brought a fresh remembrance of sin. Paul wrote in Romans 7
7:5 When we were living in the flesh (mere physical lives), the sinful passions that were awakened and aroused up by [what] the Law [makes sin] were constantly operating in our natural powers (in our bodily organs, in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh), so that we bore fruit for death.
7:6 But now we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [under obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life].
7:7 What then do we conclude? Is the Law identical with sin? Certainly not! Nevertheless, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another].
7:8 But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment [to express itself], got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead [the sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing].
7:9 Once I was alive, but quite apart from and unconscious of the Law. But when the commandment came, sin lived again and I died (was sentenced by the Law to death).
7:10 And the very legal ordinance which was designed and intended to bring life actually proved [to mean to me] death.
7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me [by taking its incentive] from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it [as a weapon], killed me.
7:12 The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good.
7:13 Did that which is good then prove fatal [bringing death] to me? Certainly not! It was sin, working death in me by using this good thing [as a weapon], in order that through the commandment sin might be shown up clearly to be sin, that the extreme malignity and immeasurable sinfulness of sin might plainly appear.
Every time a person went to the altar to sacrifice for his sins, the sacrifice offered to atone for that sins stirred up a fresh remembrance of sins, stirring up a fresh desire to do the very thing they desired to eradicate. This is a tricky situation, being taught to bring a sacrifice for a dispicable action, which in turn only proves to sustain the dispicable action by way of remembrance.
God never ment for the confession of sins to take on the form of a religious rite. If you think you will not be forgiven because you did not confess your sins, you have not herd what Christ did for you. If you think confession of sins is a condition to forgiveness, then you will certainly never find forgiveness. You will simply be plagued by specific accurances of fleshly weakness for the rest of you life. The emphasis is then still on you bringing your offering to atone for sin. The standard has only been lowered severely. Saying sorry didn't cut it in the days of the law. Sorry still doesn't cut it. Blood had to flow then, blood has to flow for you too. Jesus Christ paid the price with His own blood, an offering that shall avail for all time.
Heb 10:12 Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.
God wants our remembrance of sin to disappear. People send their children to their rooms to go and think about what they did wrong. This can only have one effect, that the child will struggle with that problem for the rest of his life. Parents foster a consciousness of sin, and then wonder why their children sin. This is why, the children have a consciousness of sin.
Heb 10:10 And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One).
10:11 Furthermore, every [human] priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip [from every side of us] the sins [that envelop us] and take them away-
10:12 Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
10:13 Then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet.
10:14 For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.
He has done it for us. Believing in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ means this: you believe that He took the punishment of all your sins, and you believe that you are forgiven because of His blood.
Matt 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Your forgiveness lies in His blood, not in your confession. You only sin, because you keep on remembering your past sins. You only sleep around, because you remember that you had done it before, and feel condemned for it. The sin will use that remembrance which the law, and this law of confession brings, and it will stirr up the forbiden desires in you. This will trap you for life.
If you keep on remembering your sins, you will establish yourself to be thus in you own concept of your identity. If you keep on remembering your theft, you will establish yourself to be a thief in you own heart. People act according to their perception of identity. Remember His sacrifice, and your heart will believe that you are holy, and you will establish your identity as a holy man. That will severely influence your life. Your deeds will change spontaneously.
When we ate communion in the past, we were taught that we need to examine ourselves to eat worthily of the body and the blood. We thought that we needed to confess all our sins before partaking of the body and the blood, in which our forgiveness lies. So we did not descern that the communion is supposed to take away our consciousness of sin, we thought we must be conscious of our sins when partaking of communion. Jesus said, take and eat in remembrance of Me, and not your sins. This is the blood in the new Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins! Remember the blood, not sin!
Paul wrote on this as well. 1 Cor 11:23 For I received from the Lord Himself that which I passed on to you [it was given to me personally], that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was treacherously delivered up and while His betrayal was in progress took bread,
11:24 And when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and said, Take, eat. This is My body, which is broken for you. Do this to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.
11:25 Similarly when supper was ended, He took the cup also, saying, This cup is the new covenant (the word there is testament) [ratified and established] in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink [it], to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.
11:26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are representing and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord's death until He comes [again].
11:27 So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy [of Him] will be guilty of [profaning and sinning against] the body and blood of the Lord.
11:28 Let a man [thoroughly] examine himself, and [only when he has done] so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that [it is Christ's] body, eats and drinks a sentence (a verdict of judgment) upon himself.
11:30 That [careless and unworthy participation] is the reason many of you are weak and sickly, and quite enough of you have fallen into the sleep of death.
The damnation only comes when people remember their sins, and not the Body of Jesus which was broken for us, and the Blood of Jesus which was poured out for us. Remember Him, not your sins. Whenever you feel guilty, look at what Jesus did for you, not at what you think you must do to get Him to forgive you. Your conscience is only cleansed with the Blood of Christ. Be conscious of His blood, and let Him purge you from a guilty evil conscience. Let Him convince you of you innocence.
You are perfectly holy, otherwise His blood was perfectly useless.
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