“Ahh!! The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree of knowing right and wrong. How glorious, how marvelous, what splendor. To know what Creator knows? To be like Him, knowing what is right or wrong?” What wisdom, what nourishment, what beauty!”

Now the serpent was more crafty that any of the beast of the field.

The serpent continued.

“Look at it, the tree. It is in the center of the garden. It must be more important than all the other trees. All the other trees want to be like it. It radiates as the rays of the sun bounce and flicker off it’s leaves like the light off a thousand diamonds.”

“Look at it! Desire it!”

“Nothing ever created compares to this tree”, said the serpent. “This tree is all you will ever need. Cherish it, love it, guard it with all your heart. Yes, there is another tree here, but it does not compare with the awesomeness of this “knowledge tree”. So don’t pay any attention to that other one.”

“Don’t you want it, this knowledge tree? Don’t you want its benefits? You can have it all. But there is this one thing. You must eat of it’s fruit. You must take it into your being. You must choose to become one with the tree. Isn’t this what you want? I know your Creator said “don’t eat of it or you will die,” but He meant don’t eat of just it. You can eat of the so called tree of Life also, just later, if you still want to. But you shall not surely die. After all, once you eat of the knowledge tree, you will be like your Creator, knowing what to do, or don’t do. You can then choose to eat of the other tree also. Eating of both trees could even be better for you. The best of both worlds, so to speak. Yes, a mixture of the two! That’s the ticket.” (Author’s note: Not that they would need an actual ticket for anything at this point in life, but I digress.)

As the words from the fallen angel reverberated in the mind of the woman, she contemplated the logical nature of his argument. It made sense. “Why wouldn’t I want to be like Creator”, she mused? “After all, didn’t He make the man in His own image? And I out of the man. He wants us to be like Him. This is a perfect solution. Creator will be proud of me. This is all we lack. Creator will be happy if I do this for Him and for us. The man will also be glad. The man loves me. I am the apple of his eye. He will join me in this action. I am excited! We can be like Creator and live our life by knowing what is right or wrong.”

The woman took the fruit and ate, and gave it to the man also. And their eyes were opened. But the result was not as they expected. Suddenly their eyes were opened, but to an overwhelming presence of guilt and condemnation. They felt guilty that they were naked. They felt shame. Instead of feeling close to the Creator, they felt distant. “We must hide and clothe ourselves with these leaves from the fruit of the ground” said the first couple. “Yes, this is the right thing to do. We can fix it. We now know what is right and wrong.”

But this did not fix it. They hid from the Creator. Then they watched as the Creator killed an animal, an animal the man had previously named “lamb”. Not just any lamb, but the very first one created. The first born.

“This animal was alive but now it is “without life””, the woman said. “I have never seen “without life”. Is this what God meant by surely “will die”? If this animal had to die, will I then surely also die? I sense something different inside of me. Is this death. What is this that I have done? Will Creator’s word actually come to pass. Will I also surely die as this animal has?”

After God killed the animal called “lamb”, He said to them, “I love you, this innocent death is for you to cover your nakedness, your guilt. The angel of sin, the serpent, has imparted his nature of sin into you. With sin comes death. You have lost your inner life. You surely have died inside, and will surely will die outside and return to dust.”

“I am not only the Just One but also the Justifier”.

So He clothed them with the skin of the animal called lamb. As the blood from the skin ran down their head onto their face and then to the bottom of their feet, the woman thought, “the payment of knowing right and wrong is to be “without life”, but the gift of Creator is the death of an innocent life. This is a mystery to me. I do not fully understand this action. I am saddened, and yet thankful at the same time for Creator’s love.”

Later, on many occasions around the dinner table, their two sons Cain and Abel would excitedly ask, “Tell us the story again, the time when Creator caused the lamb to be “without life”, what does it all mean?” As Adam and Eve recounted the events in the garden to Cain and Able, they recounted how they had sinned by choosing the knowledge of right and wrong as a means to be like God.

I am sure Cain and Abel sensed the sorrow and regret in their parents voice as they told the story. But, the story quickly turned to the love and mercy of God. Adam and Eve shared how God killed the animal and clothed them with it’s skin as it’s blood covered their bodies and dripped to the ground. Although they still did not fully understand, they had learned that it is by blood that someone who is “without life” is made right in the Creator’s eyes. All they knew was that without the shedding of blood of innocent life, there is no forgiveness. Abel, more so than Cain, always listened intently.

Later, as you know, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to God while Abel brought a first born lamb from his flock. The Creator accepted Abel’s offering, but rejected Cain’s. After all the stories about the Creator killing an animal to cover unrighteousness, Cain thought he would bring fruit from the cursed ground. Cain wanted to show God that by his hard work, he could reverse the curse. “Surely God will be pleased”, he thought.

This makes Cain’s offering of the works of his hands so much more sinister. Cain knew that it was by blood, but rejected the blood and offered the fruit of the ground as an offering. So in contrast, Abel’s offering became so much more sweeter, in that Abel believed the word of Adam and Eve about the blood, and offered accordingly in faith, and it pleased God. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.

Jim

We know that in the scriptures, a believer’s relationship with Jesus is compared to a Bridegroom/Bride relationship. The following is a description of two types of marriages. At the end, let me know which marriage you prefer.

Marriage A:

The main requirement in this marriage is the bride is required to love the husband with all her heart, mind and soul. On the wedding night, to facilitate this requirement, the husband provided the bride with “10 rules for an intimate happy marriage”. The rules certainly were for the bride’s benefit, as they spelled out what pleased the husband. If the husband was pleased, then intimacy could occur.

Now, no bride in history had ever been able to perfectly obey these rules, so the husband hired a helper for the bride. The helper’s only job was to observe the bride’s actions 24/7, and indicate to her when she fell short of the rules in any manner of thought or deed. The purpose being for the bride to realize the areas where she had fallen short, and try do better.

Before the bride was allowed to enter the husband’s bedchamber, she must ask and receive forgiveness for each shortcoming, and promise to do better the next day. The husband usually forgave her, unless a serious or repetitive violation had occurred. Then, she had to be really sorry for those infractions.

The Bride so desired intimacy with her husband, she took the rules and kept them close to her heart. At first she loved the rules and equated them to intimacy with her husband. She would spend all day thinking about the 10 rules, as she so wanted to be pleasing to the husband. She actually grew to like it when the helper pointed out her shortcomings, knowing the result would soon be intimacy with her husband as he forgave her.

Many times, even when the helper was silent, she asked herself if her actions had been good enough, maybe she could have done better. That way the husband might see her initiative in the matter, and be extra pleased, rewarding an extra 5 minutes in his presence.

However, as time went by, the bride began to realize the “10 rules for an intimate happy marriage” no longer made her complete. She still desired to obey the rules, but the harder she tried, the more she failed. Depression set in and she dreaded having to continually account for her mistakes. She grew weary of having to be sorrowful over and over. The bride reached a point where she believed her husband no longer loved her. After all, most of her time was spent apologizing to him, as he was only pleased when the rules were obeyed.

Finally, she completely withdrew to her own corner of the house, avoiding the husband’s presence as much as possible.

Marriage B:

The main requirement in this marriage is the Husband is required to love the bride with all His heart, His mind, and His soul. To facilitate this requirement, on the wedding night, the husband provides the bride with a promise that He will never leave or forsake her. He promises His love for her will never cease. He whispers in her ear she is perfect and complete in His eyes, a spotless bride without any blemish. He assures her that nothing she can do will ever diminish His love for her.

This Husband cherishes His bride. He chases her around the house desiring intimacy. She giggles and tries to hide, but He catches and embraces her. She can’t resist His love, and embraces Him back. His love changes her from within. She returns His love back to Him, because He first loved her.

All day the bride thinks of her Lover. She recalls His kisses, how He caresses her. Thoughts of their intimacy break forth in shouts of joy and loud singing. Her Beloved is never far from her. Sometimes her thoughts accuse her of being unworthy of such love. But, at that very moment of doubt, He sneaks up from behind and startles her saying: “My love, you are blessed with every blessing, set your mind on Me. I have prepared supper for your pleasure. Come and I will serve you. Let us drink from my vineyard. I love you so.”

Never does the Bride think there are rules to obey to earn His intimacy. What rules? There is only one rule for the bride. It is to believe her Husband loves her unconditionally. His love is what sustains her forever.

Conclusion:

Marriage A is a cruel “law based” counterfeit, another Gospel. It is typically taught in some form in most churches today.

Marriage B is the un-compromised Gospel, free from law, which is the power of God for salvation and the renewal of the mind. It is very seldom heard taught today.

We must not be ashamed to proclaim the finished work of Christ, faith in Jesus plus nothing. It is the true Gospel.

Jeremiah 31:31-32

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

The scriptures said that God was going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not like the old one from Mt. Sinai. Did you catch that? Not like the old one. I am afraid that most sermons in Churches today are teaching a mixed message, a lot of the old and very little of the new. In fact, most messages I hear today could have been preached before the cross. Obey the commandments, stop sinning, love God with all your heart, tithe, memorize the scriptures, etc. No mention of truth now revealed in Christ, that was once hidden. Missing are teachings about how you have been made a new creation. Nothing taught like you have been given God’s righteousness as a free gift, or you are now free from the curse of the law (which includes the 10 commandments), or that now you are loved by God unconditionally, etc.

The Holy Spirit testifies, yes, the Holy Spirit Himself testifies to the following:

Hebrews 10:15-17

And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

“THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:

I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,

AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”

He then says,

“AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS

I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

In the new, God does not remember sins. Is that what you hear taught in most churches? No. I hear it taught that God forgives someone of their past sins when they first believe, but all new sins have to be forgiven daily. In other words, they are forgiven for all their sins, unless they sin again. This is just like the old covenant where the blood of bulls and goats had to be offered over and over. Blood offerings had to be repeated, and those sacrifices served as a reminder that their forgiveness was temporary, not complete.

Now in this new covenant, there is a change in priesthood. Jesus is our new high priest. Since there is a change in priesthood, out of necessity, there must be a change in law also. New laws for the new, not the same laws of the old one. Remember, there are new laws given in this new covenant, which according to scripture, is not supposed to be like the old. So the laws of the new covenant that are written on the believer’s heart are not the laws of Moses. That is the old covenant. It is not the Ten Commandments written on the new heart, because the big ten are a part of the 613 commandments of the old Mosaic Law. I am sure you have heard teachers admit that in the new covenant, we don’t live by the Mosaic ceremonial laws anymore, just the Mosaic moral laws, or the 10 commandments. Sorry, the law of Moses is a total package. You can’t pick and choose which laws to obey. If you are under law and disobey one, then you are guilty of all and under a curse.

The greatest commandment under the law of Moses was to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Additionally, to love your neighbor as yourself. That was under the old. The greatest commandment under the new is to believe that God loves you with all His heart, His mind and His soul. As you begin to understand God’s love for you, then you begin to love others as Christ loves you. That is what is written on the heart of a new covenant believer.

The truth of the Gospel is that God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to die for sin, all sins past, present and future. Now, all who believe this are forgiven once for all time. And since Jesus overcame death by His resurrection, you too who believe are also resurrected to new Life. You are given God’s own righteousness as a free gift, a one time forgiveness. You are born from above as a new creation, no longer enslaved to sin, but with a new obedience heart. No longer is the believer’s heart wicked. Now, in Christ, you are forgiven forever, in no need of further forgiveness. The Holy Spirit says God no longer remembers sins in this new covenant. To say a believer needs daily forgiveness of sin to stay in God’s favor, is to teach another Gospel.

When you rest in the truth of the Gospel, that you are totally forgiven and have been made new by the finished work of Christ, your mind starts to be renewed to heavenly things, and the fruit of the Spirit begins to manifest in your mortal body.

Keep in mind that it is the grace of God that teaches you to deny ungodliness, not a misguided adherence to rules and commandments from an old obsolete covenant that has passed away.

Jesus said “Behold, I make all things new”.

Jim

To teachers of the Gospel

Hebrews 10:1-3

1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

A mixed gospel, or mixed grace message is a message that teaches faith in Jesus plus something else, either for salvation or for your daily walk after salvation. It is not Jesus plus your sincere apologies that causes your forgiveness, or keeps you in God’s good standing.

Some teach believers that God has forgiven your sins past, present and future. Yet, then they say you must confess sins daily for forgiveness. They believe that this confession produces forgiveness, and must be repeated at the commission of each new sin to stay in fellowship with God in some degree.

Notice the Hebrew passage above. If the animal sacrifices had worked, then the worshiper would not have had consciousness of sins. This does not mean he/she would not know when they sin, but it means they would not have consciousness of any sins that still need to be forgiven. But each year on the Day of Atonement the high priest had to take an offering for sins for the people, and also himself, into the Holy of Holies. This was repeated over and over for hundreds of years, always reminding the worshipper that they were still in need of forgiveness. Forgiveness was temporary, it was not complete.

Hebrews 10:12

12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.

The Hebrew writer’s point is that the blood of bulls and goats could only cover sins (atonetment) for one year, but could never take away sins. But the spotless blood of the Son of God is sufficient not only to atone for sins but to remove them from us as far as the east is from the west. If the worshipper (believer) understands this, then they are now aware that there is no sin that is still in need of further forgiveness. It is finished. The conscience is clear.

It appears that the general consensus is that past sins before salvation are forgiven once and for all, but it just those pesky new sins that have crawled out from under the blood that need further attention.

According to Hebrews, all sin has been removed from the believer. So to teach a believer that they are required to remember and confess sins to God to remedy any relationship problem with Him, is to proclaim another gospel. The temple sacrifices reminded the worshipper of sins. Now, the Holy Spirit’s job is to remind us that sin has been removed. There is not any scripture which says the Holy Spirit convicts a believer of sin. It is just a false doctrine contrived by foolish men who do not understand that it is finished.

We should teach believers that by nature their inner self is now holy, righteous, a new creation, joined in marital union with God Himself. The Holy Spirit’s job is to remind a believer of these things, not to remind them of their daily sins of the flesh. This the truth of the gospel. This is the gospel that Paul preached. This is the gospel that the enemy tries to silence. This is the gospel that I tried to silence for many years as a modern day Pharisee.

Believe me, I get all the points that many try to make to try to prove that some forgiveness is still future, that sanctification is an on going process and not a done deal. I get it, because I use to preach it all the more. But I did it out of ignorance. But no longer will I accept anything less than faith in Jesus plus nothing in every facet of life.

To add anything to the finished work is to corrupt it and weaken it’s power.

Please notice that at no time did I say that behavior does not matter. If I cheat on my wife there will be severe consequences. Beside the fact I would be a eunuch when she got through with me, it would destroy my witness and ruin my marriage. My point is that behavior would not change my oneness with God. He is not going to “spit me out of His mouth” or turn away from me. There would not be any further cleansing or forgiveness needed to restore my relationship with God, since it was never broken. 

Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.

Notice it is the Grace of God that teaches you not to sin, not a mixed law/Grace message of Jesus plus daily forgiveness.

My identity with God is not based on what I do (works), but what Jesus did and who He is. If you are not getting questions like “shall we sin that grace may abound?” when you teach, then you are not preaching the gospel that Paul preached. This question will never come up in a law based teaching.

Come, let us reason together.

Jim

We have so perverted the Gospel of Grace, and the finished work of Christ, that we have reduced it to a warmed over, old covenant, daily rememberance of sin. We teach a believer that they have been forgiven for all their sins, that sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west, then out of the other side of our mouth we claim that if we sin as a believer, we must go through some forgiveness ritual of remembrance and confession of those sins.

The inner man (soul and spirit) has been crucified with Christ. Our old identity has been removed through death and we have been raised with Christ as a new creation and transferred into a different kingdom. The Holy Spirit has joined Himself to us in an unbreakable union. We now have union with God Himself. That is our new identity. Sin can not touch this new creation. This treasure has been placed in jars of clay (the earthly body) temporarily until the redemption of the body.

To say that a believer needs daily forgiveness for sin is saying the cross did not work, and daily forgiveness depends on our ability to remember them and confess them. What about the ones we forget? The Spirit does not convict a believer in Christ of sin in order to be cleansed. There is no scripture that states this. The Spirit convicts the world of sin because they believe not. The Spirit convinces a believer of their righteousness.

A watered down, legalistic,  sin conscience  gospel will not turn the world upside down. It is another gospel.

If daily forgiveness of sins is required for a believer, you would think Paul would have mentioned it at least one time. He does not. The only “proof text” that can be taken out of context in the epistles is 1john 1:9. This is just a simple verse that addresses a Gnostic heresy in the audience that John is writing to. It is simply saying that if a person does not agree that they are a sinner, and that they do not need forgiveness for salvation, then they are a liar, the truth is not them, and they are of antichrist. This is not a description of a believer. But if that person will only agree with God about sin, then God will forgive and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. We must rightly divide the scriptures.

The Lord’s Prayer is Jesus burying the Jews in the spirit of the law. Read the chapters before and after. Love the Romans (your enemies), do good to them that hate you, pluck out  you eyes and cut off you hands if they cause you to sin, and if you just think about a woman with lust then you have committed adultery. None of those Jews could measure up to God’s Holy standard. That was the point Jesus was trying to get them to see. They needed to see they were hopeless without a savior. A savior who would stand as them in their place in judgement. One who would meet all the requirements of any law(s) that was against them. One who would give them God’s righteousness as a free gift.

These aforementioned scriptures were never meant to be placed on a believer. The law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this first, that the law is not for the righteous. An emphasis on rules and regulations as a guide for daily living is a sign of spiritual immaturity. The immature believer believes God is still holding their sins against them in some way. Either regarding their salvation, but most commonly their fellowship with God. If they obey, God accepts them. If they disobey, God removes His fellowship until they repent and confess and ask forgiveness.

If we say that a believer needs forgiveness of future sins, we minimize the work of the cross and put it on the same level as the blood of bulls and goats. The blood of bulls and goats only covered past sins. Future sins needed additional atonement . Isaiah said that God would make a new covenant with the house of Israel, “not like” the covenant He made on Mt. Sinai. It appears we have erroneously made the new covenant exactly like the old in reference to the forgiveness of sin. 

Hebrews 10:12 “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. “

Yesterday was a “time”, today is a “time”, tomorrow is a “time”. Believer’s sins are forgiven for all time.

If we do not have the proper understanding of the forgiveness of sin settled in our mind, our mind will never be renewed to the truth of the gospel. We will become teachers of a mixed message of law and grace, and calling it the gospel. But it will actually be another gospel.

Come let us reason together.

“You were dead in your trespasses and  sins, alienated from the life of God, without hope in this world.”

But God, who is rich in mercy, who loved you even when you were an enemy, gave you His divine life as a free gift when you believed in Jesus. He forgave all your sins, past, present and future, and removed your old dead spirit and soul through the death of the Son on the cross. He then created you anew both soul and spirit and joined Himself to this new inner you in an unbreakable union, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Now one Spirit with Him, inseparable, eternal.

Sin has been removed from the real you, the inner person. It has been quarantined in the flesh. The flesh is not your identity. Sin in the flesh now wars against the real inner you, the new creation, your real identity. This war occurs in your mind.

The Spirit must renew your mind!

As you experience the unconditional love of God that is being lavished on you, you find yourself returning that love to Him. A back and forth loving relationship, being loved, and giving love.

As you ponder His indescribable limitless love and acceptance for you, your mind begins to be renewed. Your true nature begins to manifest itself outwardly into the natural realm through your works. You choose to love others. You choose to represent your Lord in your actions and deeds. Fruit begins to manifest itself in selfless works. The world sees your works and they are drawn to you. They want what you have. 

You don’t look to an external standard or moral law to gauge how you are doing, because you are not living by a standard, but learning to live by the life of Another who is within you. He is your life and has met every standard ever contrived against you. 

Amazingly, as you rest in this finished work, you find yourself doing the very works of God. For it is God working in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. The works are in you at your new birth, and they only manifest themselves when you see His love deeper and deeper. It becomes easier to “obey”, because “obedience” is just fruit of your relationship with Him, and not a work to become more righteous.

But you don’t always make the right choices. Sin in the flesh is constantly trying to distract your mind from the things of God. When you set you thoughts on the flesh (ex. doing to earn God’s favor in some way because you do not see His unconditional love for you), your mind starts to lose its “grip” on spiritual things. You lose your clarity, and the deeds of the flesh start to manifest. You then can find yourself doing the works of the flesh. Hate, anger, jealousy, adultery, etc. But even so, in the new covenant, these sins are not being held against you. This is not who you really are.

As you begin to see who you really are in deeper ways, that likeness starts to manifest through your body via your mind and will. As you behold as if in a mirror the glory of God in the face of Christ, you see in that mirror that you are not an adulterer, so you choose not to commit adultery. You see your are not a thief, so you choose not to steal. You see you are loved beyond measure, so you choose to love without expecting anything in return. You see you are totally forgiven, so you choose to forgive when you are wronged, even when your emotions would say otherwise. His life is being manifested through your members.

You can choose to sin anytime you want. You just don’t want to, or at least not as much. This is not your nature any longer. When you do sin, something in you “grieves”. You are not expressing your true self, who is in the image of God. You are not expressing the Spirit, you are grieving the Spirit, or suppressing the Spirit. Don’t mistake this as if God is disgusted with you, or He is mad at you. It is a gentle impression in your spirit that this is not the way to manifest His life. As you grow in grace and the true knowledge of Him, you become super-sensitive to this prompting. The grace of God does not lead you into sin. It actually teaches you to deny ungodliness. The more you see your freedom, the more you begin to manifest and not grieve the life of God that is in you.

As you go on this journey, the Spirit is constantly leading and prompting you. You have no need that anyone teach you, because the Spirit is teaching you. But He has given you teachers in the body of Christ. This seems to be a contradiction. But a teacher comes along side to speak into your life by way of reminder, or a word of revelation, etc., to confirm what the Spirit is already speaking to you, but something you may not have not fully seen yet. It is all about the renewal of the mind. We are all at different levels of renewal. A teacher is imparting to you from their deeper understanding (renewal) on a spiritual issue. The teacher acts like a catalysis and your mind renews at a faster rate as you hear the “deep things” of God. You hear truth, you believe and receive, and you are changed. As your mind is renewed, you are then able to impart that new revelation to others, and the process is repeated.

So when Paul says “consider yourself dead to sin” or “let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth”, he is looking into that mirror with you so to speak, and pointing out that you are not a sinner any longer, but a saint. I can hear him say to the husband, “look with me, do you see who you are, I know you love your wife, but look, love your wife as He (Christ) loves the church.”

The new covenant is totally “other” than the old. The new covenant is life and peace in the Holy Spirit.

Jim

The thing about sacrifices in the Old Testament, the sacrifices were consumed (Lev 9:24, Judges 6:21, 1kings 18:38). Even the sacrifices in the temple that were burned were burned until there was nothing left but maybe ashes. The sacrifices were not able to overcome the fury of God. God’s power was too awesome. Wrath was not and could not be satisfied completely or permanently. 

While Jesus hung on the cross, the judgment on God fell on Him. The fury, anger, and righteous indignation of God the Father against all unrighteousness was poured out on the Son. Wave after wave after wave of the wrath of a Holy God pounded the Son without mercy, over and over during that time.

So merciless was the event that the Son for the first time addressed the Father as “My God”. He stood as us when He cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me”? The tender fellowship that the Son had with the Father before eternity, was for the first time removed.

Words fail me in describing the terror of the Lord that descended upon the Son. But after all of God’s perfect, righteous and complete judgment fell on this Sacrifice, for the first time in history the Sacrifice remained. The Sacrifice was greater than the judgment. The Sacrifice exhausted God’s wrath for the first and last time.

When the wrath was complete, the Son cried out with Words that resounded throughout eternity. Words that tore the space time continuum. Words that caused the forces of darkness to bow and shake with uncontrollable fear. Words that shook the heavens and earth.

“It is finished!!!!”

Then He bowed His head, and like a King dismisses a servant, He gave up (dismissed) His Spirit. For no man took His life, but He freely gave it for us. Because the sacrifice worked, God raised Him from the dead. He rose again three days later so all who would believe on Him would be given Eternal Life as a free gift.

The issue of sin is so over with for the believer. Nothing else can or will be done to further God’s complete acceptance of us because of the Son. This Sacrifice removed all sin, not just past ones like the blood of bulls and goats did.

Jesus is our Sacrifice, yet He lives, never to die again (a living sacrifice). He is in us, and we are in Him. We died with Him, yet we live, yet not us (a living Sacrifice in us). Paul said that if this is the case, isn’t it reasonable that we present our bodies a living sacrifice unto Him, with no confidence in our own ability or our own righteousness.