My Sin Has Been Put Away
Believers in the Lord Jesus as their Saviour are conscious of the “sin” principle, or the sinful nature within, i.e. the flesh e.g. Romans 7v14-25. This sinful nature or principle produces “sins” in the conduct. Believers are conscious of the need to confess their sins to God their Father for His forgiveness (1John 1v8-9) which helps to maintain their fellowship with God. But what is their relationship with God about sin. How does He see believers regarding sin?
We read in Hebrews 9:26 “… but now once in the end of the world hath He (Christ v24) appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” The Hebrew writer is showing the far better position of the New Testament believer in contrast to the Old Testament Israelites. Under the law, see 9v25, the high priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of others, i.e. animals see Leviticus c16, but Christ has “once … put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself”. What a wonderful Person the Lord Jesus is further shown to be because by His one perfect sacrifice He has put away sin for all time and eternity.
Concerning the phrase “in the end of the world” the word “end” means “entire completion or consummation of”. Also the word “world” means “age” and the word is in the plural. So “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4v4). So Christ’s death was not so much an end of an age but the completion, consummation or fulfilment of the ages of time. Therefore all the ages before Calvary looked forward to it and all the ages after Calvary look back to it. The ages of time meet at the Calvary.
But in the climax of time the Lord Jesus was manifested in the incarnation to “put away sin”. The word “put away” means the cancellation, abolition or setting aside of sin. Consequently at the cross the Lord Jesus offered that all-sufficient sacrifice to God, which God applies to the repentant believer, and means that God sees the complete putting away or abolishing of the sin principle and the bringing in of eternal forgiveness (Ephesians 4v32), no condemnation (Romans 8v1) and righteousness i.e. justification (Romans 3v24-26). So, incredibly, God sees the believer in Christ as having had their sin principle completely abolished.
This confirms what John 1v29 says, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
My Sins Have Been Blotted Out
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3v19)
Peter when speaking to the Jewish crowd that had gathered by the Jerusalem temple (3v11) he finished by saying: “But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled” (3:18). Then Peter says, “Repent” i.e. reconsider or change your mind with the regret for the previous opinion, especially concerning their sin of putting Jesus to death; and be converted, i.e. turn to God through faith in Christ. The marvellous result is that the believer’s sins are blotted out which means obliterated, wiped out or erased. Through Christ that is how God sees the believer.
That principle is seen in Isaiah 44v22 when God (v8) says, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” God does not say that He had blotted out their transgressions and sins “with” but “as” a thick cloud. Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Just as the clouds come between heaven and earth, so do sins and transgressions intervene between God and sinners. However just as the wind blows away the clouds completely out of sight and restores the blue sky again so, amazingly, God had removed their transgressions and sins from Him. Therefore the sins that obstructed fellowship between God and sinners have, through Christ, been completely removed and enabled fellowship to take place again in the believer.
Such a wonderful position should make us thankful to God and seek to live better lives for Him.