No More Condemnation (2)

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” – Romans 8:1-2 (NIV 2010)

Leviticus probably ranks high up there for some of us as one of the most legalistic books of the Bible filled with ‘the law of sin and death’. Yet when we approach it with the light that grace brings we find even here the shadows of ‘the law of the Spirit of life’ in operation as we see very clearly God’s eternal answer for man’s guilt in passages like Leviticus 5:1-13.

It starts by saying: ‘If a person sins…- even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty’ (vs. 1-2). Man’s guilt comes from sinning against God. Man has offended his Creator and because of his vital link with God, the disconnection that sin produces leaves a weight upon man’s soul. This is why the problem of guilt is too deep to be resolved by man-made solutions.

So what is God’s solution for guilt? In verse 5 we read ‘he must confess in what way he has sinned’. The first step towards freedom from guilt is not to deny your sin or try to justify yourself. It is to agree with God by confessing your sin. Confessing our sin is taking sides with God against ourselves. Think of a court-room where you stand guilty of your sins before the righteous demands of God. Now imagine that at the same time you also have the opportunity to be your own advocate – to defend yourself. But instead of being your own advocate by defending yourself, you become God’s advocate by defending his verdict on you and declaring yourself guilty. That is what we do when we confess our sins – we take sides with God. ‘Let God be true and every man a liar’. (Romans 3:4 NIV)

Our problem today is that we are often not willing to take sides with God against ourselves. We would rather hide or excuse our sins hoping that it will make the guilt go away. Confession of sin is not just what our mouth says but what our heart is saying. This is the powerful first step to deliverance.

‘If we claim we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’ – 1 John 1:8-9 (NIV)

Immediately we take sides with God, we receive forgiveness on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ. This is so aptly illustrated in David’s example when he sinned in 2 Samuel 12:13. Confronted with the conviction of God, David takes side with God against himself;

‘Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die’.

Notice that God’s immediate response through Nathan was forgiveness. God took away the sin and freed David from his guilt.

In verse 6 of Leviticus 5, we read ‘and the priest shall make atonement for him (the guilty one) for all his sins’. Can you see that God provides a way out of sin and guilt! Essentially God was saying bring this and do that and your guilt with be taken care of. He comes as the Great Physician to deal with the sin-sick heart. Even in the Old Testament God provides a way out from guilt for helpless men. God provided these sacrifices to make a way out of guilt. God was not in need of their goats or bulls, he was providing a way out of guilt. And those sacrifices were pointing to the Perfect Sacrifice to come – the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And there is no sin that he does not take away. Yes God’s will is that we live free from sin, but if we sin there is forgiveness and cleansing.

‘My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” – 1 John 2:1-2 (NIV).

In verse 13 of Leviticus 5 God says, ‘and he will be forgiven’. That is the goal of God – to provide a way out of sin and guilt. Listen, it is not God’s desire that any man should live in guilt. Once he has forgiven you, he has forgotten it. It is finished. What he forgives, he removes; it does not exist again.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us” – Psalm 103:11-12 (NIV 2010)

Picture the court-room again: You have sided with God and declared yourself guilty. Then God, whose righteous judgement had declared you guilty and worthy of punishment, now takes sides with you – not to say you are not guilty but taking your guilt upon himself! He steps forward and provides a Way out. He steps forward through Jesus and pays the price. You are free, there is no more condemnation! Let it sink in – God has forgiven and forgotten. He calls you now to leave the past behind, and to go on and grow into Christlikeness.

He that is dead, is freed from Sin

(Offerings in Righteousness part 3):

‘Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years’ Malachi 3:3-4.

There is a numbness that has come upon many souls in recent times. It is a lukewarm and passive spirit that wraps itself around our hearts like a blanket. This is why so many can carry on living lower than God’s highest for their life and not grieve. The first step to personal revival is recognising one’s state. When someone begins to hate his sin and hunger for all God has for him, then he is close to deliverance. For God wants us to walk in the understanding of what it means to be ‘dead to sin’.

The bible clearly teaches that God’s will for us as believers is that we walk in righteousness and so be victorious over sin. Yet too often believers fight a continually losing battle with sin. The problem often is that we are fighting with the wrong weapon. Victory over sin can never be won by more fasting, more determined resolution, increased spiritual activities or by any other human efforts.

Romans 6:7 summarises our victory over sin in one phrase; ‘anyone who has died has been freed from sin’. Death frees a man from many things that he used to face. Imagine a slave whose master used to bully and oppress him. Then he suddenly dies. Now that he is dead there is nothing the tyrant of a master can do to that dead body to harass it. He is dead to him and all the power he used to exercise over him. Yes the master could kick that dead body in annoyance but he can no longer touch that man. He has escaped his master’s power because he is dead.

In the same way God’s provision for dealing with the tyranny of sin in our lives is to make us become dead to sin. Romans 6:3,6-7 says:

‘Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?…For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin’

Do you get it? When we give our heart to Jesus for him  to be our Lord, we experience two baptisms – we are baptised into Christ and at the same time baptised into his death. By being baptised (totally immersed) into Christ we are immersed (fully enter) into his death. It is as if we are transported back to his cross to have our old self crucified with him. And by this operation we, and sin, go separate ways. We have died to sin, which means we are free from slavery to sin. We are like that slave who died and then is free from his former master. Sin can shout with its loud voice of temptation but it no longer has power over us. ‘…because anyone who has died has been freed from sin’. Do you get this glorious truth? Please let it sink in.

The power that sin has over the lives of believers is in deceiving us that it still has power over us. So victory over sin comes only by faith in the work that Christ has done on the cross over the power of sin in our lives. Along with Christ, my sinful nature has been crucified. And he has now clothed me with his righteousness.

It is in believing this that victory comes. That is why Romans 6:11 says ‘In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus’. Victory comes by seeing yourself the way God sees you. So begin to look at yourself as dead indeed to sin and alive to God. When temptations come, you are free to refuse to yield to it. (By the way, temptations and sin are not the same thing. Temptations are suggestions to sin and are not sin, if we refuse to entertain them or yield to them). If you have given your heart totally to Christ then begin to see yourself as you really are – dead to sin and alive to God.

‘Dead in Sin’ or ‘Dead to Sin’?

(Offerings in Righteousness part 2):

‘Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years’ Malachi 3:3-4.

I was about to send out the message I had prepared for this week, when I felt the need to share something different as we pursue this theme of bringing God offerings in righteousness. I will post the other message next week. But I believe some people on this list need to hear what follows.

There is no way a man who is not born of God can bring an offering in righteousness to God. It is just not possible. You might well expect a dead man to rise up and run in the Olympics than for an unregenerated man to walk in God’s righteousness.

The bible describes a man outside of Christ as ‘dead in sin’. He is dead spiritually because he is cut off from the life of God – this life of God that brings righteousness. And because of this deadness he lives on in sin, powerless against it and many times unconscious of his depravity.

I believe that one of the reasons why so many of those in our churches are unable to walk right is that they are like the king Agrippa. Agrippa said to Paul that he was “almost persuaded” to be a Christian (Acts 26:28) yet he never became one. In the same way, we have many who are persuaded and almost Christians but who are not yet born again. They might have responded to an altar call but they have never given their heart completely to the Lord. So they remain ‘dead in sin’.

Just because you are an active members of a vibrant bible-believing church, read your bible and pray, love attending Christian programs or even hold position in your church does not mean you are born again.

Being ‘born-again’ cannot happen until a man comes to the end of himself. Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The invitation is only for those who have come to the end of themselves. It requires you coming to the place where you are tired of going in sin and you want to be changed.

Jesus has done everything we need to be born again. He died to pay for our sins. And through his death and resurrection, we can be reconnected to the life of God so that we are no longer dead, but alive to God. But we must respond to what Christ has done by repenting and accepting what he has done. We cannot change ourselves but God wants us to want to be changed. And to accept what Christ has done by simply asking him to come and become the Lord of our lives.

Like I said earlier the bible describes a man that is not born again as ‘dead in sin’. But it describes those who are born again as ‘dead to sin’. So beloved, which are you ‘dead in sin’ or ‘dead to sin’? If the former describes your state, I invite you to pray with me now with all your heart:

‘Lord, I am tired of my sins. I don’t want to continue living in sin. I want you to give me a new life. I am tired of playing Church. I am sorry for my sins. Lord, I thank you that you died for me. Please forgive me.  Come into my life and change me. I ask this in Jesus’ Name.’

If you have prayed this prayer with all your heart then God has answered you. And your new life has begun. I would like to send you some free materials to help you in this new life. Please send me an email immediately if you prayed this prayer.

Next week we will continue on this theme as we explore what it means to be dead to sin.