The Forgiveness of Sins

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us with all wisdom and understanding.” Verses 7-8.

The blood has a two-fold effect: it delivers us from sin, which held us in bondage, and it delivers us from ourselves, that we might live the life of Christ. We know what it means to receive the forgiveness of sins, but perhaps we have not given much thought to the fact that we have received it according to the riches of His grace and with all wisdom and understanding. In other words, we are content with the benefits of the forgiveness of sins and thus fail appreciate how a righteous God could be willing and able to forgive.

Jesus walked in the Spirit and offered Himself up in the power of an eternal Spirit. He had a standard reply for all temptations: “No!” Thus the One who was righteous suffered for the unrighteous. Jesus conquered sin in the flesh, which is the source and root of all sin; as a result, He gained power over the source of sin, over sin itself, and over the consequences of sin. To Him was granted power to forgive or not to forgive, for He trod the winepress alone and conquered the very thing that kept the law from being able to bring anyone to perfection.

The key to the mysteries of Christ lies in this: Christ manifested in the flesh. This mystery of godliness unlocks doors for us. There were no airplanes and no submarines before the motor was discovered. But with the motor, men achieved greater things than ever imagined. So, too, in Christ. One needs a discovery in the Spirit in order to make further progress.

Redemption by His blood is contingent upon the fact that the blood has truly been shed. But the One who actually shed the blood came to quite a different result than all those who only receive redemption by the blood. A great deal of grace from the purpose of God’s will was required to resist sin unto blood. Such faithfulness and endurance cannot be rewarded with anything less than an innumerable multitude of children who will be to the praise of His glory.

This praise of His glory is demonstrated in two ways: (1) those who are saved by His blood, and (2) those who are saved by and in His blood. Those in the first group are earthly; those in the second are heavenly. But both groups are to the praise of His glory, the difference being the difference between the earthly and the heavenly glory.

Those who possess the heavenly glory will be to the praise of His glory to the degree that they suffer with Him, just as the riches of His grace (along with wisdom and understanding) will become our personal possession and be to the praise of His glory to the degree that we earnestly press on according to the purpose of His will and become fashioned according to that will. His grace leads us by the blood, where we are reconciled by the death of His Son into the blood, where in turn we are saved by His life—for the goal is life. That is why the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.