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In Leviticus 26:10 it is written, And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
Therefore I will bring up an old doctrine that is essential to our faith in this post.
Romans 3:23-26, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
I want to address the parts of this scripture passage that I have underlined. First, God has set forth Jesus to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.
The word propitiation basically means appeasement and literally refers to the appeasement of God's justice and wrath against sin. Jesus basically took the penalty of our sins upon Himself and suffered the wrath of God upon Himself and received the justice due unto us for the wrongs that we have committed. The last thing underlined in this passage says that God is both just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. How can this be?
There are two seemingly irreconcilable attributes found in the heart of God: His justice and His mercy. His justice requires that He mete out the exact and full punishment for every sin; and mercy desires that we receive less than the full punishment. So how can God be both merciful and just? It would seem impossible. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men. God meted out the just penalty for our sins on Jesus Christ His only begotten Son. Thus His justice is satisfied, and those who believe in Jesus are not recipients of God's justice but of the fullest extent of His mercy: we receive no punishment for our sins except for the discipline and chastening that a Father gives to His sons (see Hebrews 12:5-11). Concerning justice God's justice is satisfied in the Cross to those who believe in Jesus.
Now another thing underlined is that there is the remission of sins that are past. Now this would seem to fly in the face of that doctrine, that says that we are forgiven of past, present, and future sin. Such a doctrine implies that there is no need for repentance in our coming to the Lord for salvation.
In genuine repentance there is a strong turning away from the sins that one is repenting of. If one commits the sin again that he says he repented of, it is a sign that he didn't truly repent. Now if I sin as a believer of course there is forgiveness if I bring that sin into the light and confess it so that I can be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The goal however is sanctification, and this can be done in a complete manner (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Hebrews 10:10-17, 1 John 3:5-9) so that repentance affects the whole of a man's life and he does not sin anymore (1 John 3:9). The propitiation is concerning the remission of sins that are past, and remission is defined in much the same way that you might define someone as being in remission if they had cancer. A cancer that is in remission is still in the body, but it is no longer a threat and cannot do anything anymore to cause harm to the host. Likewise, when our sins go into remission (see also Acts of the Apostles 2:38), the sin nature is put to death (crucified...Galatians 5:24) so that it no longer has any kind of say in the behaviour of the one in whom the sin that is in remission dwells.
Now the fact that propititiation is through faith in his blood makes me think of certain scriptures.
Hebrews 13:12, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctifiy the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
1 John 1:7, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
The blood of Jesus has sanctifying and cleansing power, so this propitiation through faith in His blood makes God both just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus in another sense: the recipient of propitiation is made righteous (Romans 5:17, Romans 5:19) as the free gift of God, and as the result God is able to declare him to be righteous.
Therefore I will bring up an old doctrine that is essential to our faith in this post.
Romans 3:23-26, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
I want to address the parts of this scripture passage that I have underlined. First, God has set forth Jesus to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.
The word propitiation basically means appeasement and literally refers to the appeasement of God's justice and wrath against sin. Jesus basically took the penalty of our sins upon Himself and suffered the wrath of God upon Himself and received the justice due unto us for the wrongs that we have committed. The last thing underlined in this passage says that God is both just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. How can this be?
There are two seemingly irreconcilable attributes found in the heart of God: His justice and His mercy. His justice requires that He mete out the exact and full punishment for every sin; and mercy desires that we receive less than the full punishment. So how can God be both merciful and just? It would seem impossible. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men. God meted out the just penalty for our sins on Jesus Christ His only begotten Son. Thus His justice is satisfied, and those who believe in Jesus are not recipients of God's justice but of the fullest extent of His mercy: we receive no punishment for our sins except for the discipline and chastening that a Father gives to His sons (see Hebrews 12:5-11). Concerning justice God's justice is satisfied in the Cross to those who believe in Jesus.
Now another thing underlined is that there is the remission of sins that are past. Now this would seem to fly in the face of that doctrine, that says that we are forgiven of past, present, and future sin. Such a doctrine implies that there is no need for repentance in our coming to the Lord for salvation.
In genuine repentance there is a strong turning away from the sins that one is repenting of. If one commits the sin again that he says he repented of, it is a sign that he didn't truly repent. Now if I sin as a believer of course there is forgiveness if I bring that sin into the light and confess it so that I can be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The goal however is sanctification, and this can be done in a complete manner (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Hebrews 10:10-17, 1 John 3:5-9) so that repentance affects the whole of a man's life and he does not sin anymore (1 John 3:9). The propitiation is concerning the remission of sins that are past, and remission is defined in much the same way that you might define someone as being in remission if they had cancer. A cancer that is in remission is still in the body, but it is no longer a threat and cannot do anything anymore to cause harm to the host. Likewise, when our sins go into remission (see also Acts of the Apostles 2:38), the sin nature is put to death (crucified...Galatians 5:24) so that it no longer has any kind of say in the behaviour of the one in whom the sin that is in remission dwells.
Now the fact that propititiation is through faith in his blood makes me think of certain scriptures.
Hebrews 13:12, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctifiy the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
1 John 1:7, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
The blood of Jesus has sanctifying and cleansing power, so this propitiation through faith in His blood makes God both just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus in another sense: the recipient of propitiation is made righteous (Romans 5:17, Romans 5:19) as the free gift of God, and as the result God is able to declare him to be righteous.
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