John 11:25-27 English Standard Version
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Yesterday we discussed the scapegoat and the dismissive attitude we might take about it taking away sin. Then we saw Jesus and His sacrifice and how that is not so easy to dismiss. I ended that devotional with the word “My death He died.”
My sins make me worthy of a death sentence. Because I have placed my faith in Christ and His atoning work on the Cross I shall resurrected at a time appointed by the Father. Until then I live in Christ and Christ lives in me.
But I still sin. I have not escaped the presence of sin. If I take on the attitude of the scapegoat’s being put out on my mind and say “they are forgiven”, I am dismissive of Christ’s sacrifice. The fact that all I have to do is confess those sins and be forgiven is not a justification for willingly allow them to occur. Each and every temptation to sin should bear the weight of the Cross upon which these sins were sacrificed.
I have heard others say as they are about to sin, don’t worry, I am already forgiven. That is a disrespectful attitude towards His death. It might not condemn you to hell but it hurts the relationship. Will asking for forgiveness for a sin you are not sorry for committing heal that relationship?
Hebrews 10:26 English Standard Version (ESV) For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
This is a hard truth. Do we understand what it means?