03/29/2020
We concentrate on the fact that we have all sinned, and are sinners, but in order to be transformed we need to redirect our focus. Jesus died to sin once and for all, and as we strive to be like Him we must also die that same death, and consider ourselves dead to sin. Jesus didn’t die just to give us a topical treatment for sin, that we apply every time we sin, no, he died to provide us with a lasting cure. Are you using the Cross as a Band-Aid that you apply to each wound of sin, or as a vaccination against sin in your life?
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 6:11 ESV
We are dealing with Coronavirus in the world right now so let’s look at how we will ultimately defeat it... by vaccination. As children we received vaccinations against such things as mumps, measles, smallpox, and others. The way this works is by letting our body create antibodies to those diseases by presenting small amounts of the dead virus, or a similar virus, to it, and thus allowing those antibodies to remain within us where they will continue to attack and destroy the virus that causes us to become ill before we become sick. Jesus is our inoculation against sin, His death is our vaccine. He doesn’t keep sin from attacking us... but He defeats it in its infancy allowing us to kill it before it multiplies in us. We do this by recognizing the sin, and being equipped to attack it.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
Sin surrounds us; it swirls in the air, and in every interaction we have in life. When we do business cheating might be there, when we see another’s success we might covet, when we meet someone we might lust after them, all of these sins, and so many more, desire to infect us, but we have received an inoculation against them. Each attack is a little different, and our body must create its defenses against it as if it were a new virus, but it is always a mutation of the same old virus... sin. It enters us, and attempts to take hold, but Jesus, being our inoculation against all sin, gives us the ability to destroy it. Yes, it might enter into us, but we have defenses in the Word of God to deploy against it, and Jesus to cover it, and wash it away. We are confronted by sin, we pray for repentance, and for God’s mercy, then God forgives us through Christ, and we are cleansed.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
Psalms 119:9-11 ESV
The danger comes when we don’t deploy our defenses; when sin, the enemy, is treated like a friend, and we neglect the Word of God. When new strains of a virus attacks our physical body we often don’t have a defense against it... no antibodies specific to it. Our body fights; it throws everything it has against this new assailant, but it just isn’t enough, and as we attempt to form new antibodies to combat the attacker... we get sicker, and sicker; we might even die in the process.
“For the wages of sin is death...”
Romans 6:23 ESV
But Jesus is spiritually our universal cure against all sin. If we trust in Him, and apply His blood, then we can defeat ALL sin, and resist ALL temptation. Romans 6:23 doesn’t end by telling us that sin brings death; but that is where Satan would have you stop reading. There is much more to the story...
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:20-23 ESV
As we have read, we were once without a defense, and sin had its way with us. We were dying, and had no recourse. But now through Jesus Christ we have become true servants of God, and the fruit of Jesus in us is eternal life. He is more than a topical treatment, more than a goat that we sacrifice over and over again, He is our perfect sacrifice, and has defeated sin once and for all. Jesus is out universal inoculation against sin.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
So as we face sin, don’t consider yourself to be a sinner, and become convinced that you are without defenses, and that once having sinned you can treat the wound it leaves topically through your faith in God’s forgiveness.
No... face sin knowing that you are dead to it, and that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus all sin has died to you. Be transformed by this spiritual inoculation against sin that transforms you body, and soul, into a new creation.
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV
We fear the effects of Coronavirus because as yet we have no vaccine, and we pray that one will be developed soon, but in Jesus we have been vaccinated against all sin and have nothing to fear any longer. Are you ready to accept Him, and the perfect sacrifice He has made for you? Are you ready to see yourself as transformed into something more than a sinner who receives the topical treatment for sin over and over again? Are you ready to see yourself as being dead to sin, and it to you, just as Jesus sees Himself? Are you ready to be transformed?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who lived, died, and was resurrected that would be freed from sin. Thank you Lord for His perfect sacrifice that heals us from the past wounds we have received from sin, and for the transformation that He brings to us now that protects us against sin in all its forms, and the damage it can do, once and for all. Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that defends us, and your Holy Spirit that gives us understanding, and instruction as to how we should deploy it in our lives. Help us Father to see every escape you provide us from temptation, and open our eyes wide to Jesus so that we are transformed to be like Him. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loved us so much that you sent your Son to become sin for us, and to defeat that sin so that we might be transformed, and reconciled to you. we thank you that He now abides in us, and continues His good work in us. Praised be your name for your mercy and grace, and for the suffering of Christ that healed the wounds in us. Great are you whose armor defends us, and whose strong right arm defeats our enemies. Hear our prayers Father as we offer them up in thanksgiving, contrition, and along with the prayers of Jesus where they are bound to his prayers of intercession on our behalf. Your grace is without borders, and the promise of your forgiveness forever true. Help us in our transformation Lord, that we can be with you forevermore.
“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
Romans 6:6-8 ESV
Rich Forbes