The Sin Bearer – Part Two

The Sin Bearer

Part Two

This is the second of three messages on the theme of the Sin Bearer. These messages are written to all those going through struggles and persecution. It’s written to the hurting, the dying, and the LOST. We must always anchor our hope as we pass through tribulations in this life and stand fast by the Cross of Christ. If that is gone, the star is extinguished whose light cheers the downtrodden, shines on the injured and brings light to the oppressed

Text: 1 Peter 2:24-25 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. [25] For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

The second thing that the Sin Bearer has done on the cross is to change our spiritual condition. The text describes the results of this as “that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” The change is a dying and a reviving, a burial and a resurrection. We are brought from death to life and from life to death.

That is the message of the Cross! It is the key to all victorious Christian living and having power over the sin nature that drives us to disobey God. It is impossible for us as believers to live a consistent, overcoming Christian life, victorious over the world, the flesh, and the Devil, without properly understanding the Cross and the work of the Sin Bearer in our lives!

Less than one percent of the Bible is given over to the principle of “How to Be Saved.” To be sure, what is given on this all-important subject is clear, concise, and to the point.

Romans 10:9-10- That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 7:37-39

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. [38] He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [39] (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The Holy Spirit through Paul said, “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13). That is incorporated the principle of believing on Christ.

Dead To The Punishment Of Sin

As we believe in Christ, the Sin Bearer, we must realize that it is the same Sin Bearer, who KEEPS us victorious over sin AFTER our initial salvation experience! It’s when we leave the simplicity of that child-like faith we had when we first got saved that Satan puts us in all types of bondages that brings us into serious captivity.

We are legally dead to the punishment for sin from this point onward! If I were condemned to die for an offense, and someone else died in my place, then I died in the one who died for me.

The LAW could NOT lay the charge against me a second time, bring me before the judge again, condemn me, and lead me out to die. Where would be the justice of such a procedure? I am dead already; how can we die again?

Likewise, we have borne the wrath of God in the person of my glorious and ever blessed Substitute; how then can I bear it again? What was the use of a Substitute if I am to bear it also? If Satan were to come before God to lay an accusation against us, which he does daily, the answer would be and always is, “This man is dead. He has borne the penalty, and is dead to sins, for the sentence against him has been executed upon Another!” What a wonderful deliverance! What a powerful claim! No other way to explain that but GRACE! No other way to understand the power behind that eternal statement but the BLOOD OF CHRIST! It’s the cross friend; That’s what happened legally at the cross.

When Christ died on that cross, WE died on that cross with him! We “reckon” ourselves dead with Him when we believe in what He did for us at the cross!

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [4] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Peter also meant to remind us that, through the influence of Christ’s death upon our hearts, the Holy Spirit made us now to be actually dead to sins. In other words, we no longer love them, and they have ceased to hold dominion over us! Sin is no longer at home in our hearts; if it enters there, it is as an intruder. We are no longer its willing servants. Sin calls to us by temptation, but we give it no answer. Why? Because we are DEAD and DEAD men can’t speak!

Unborn In Sin

Sin promises us a high reward, but we do not consent, for we are dead to its allurements. If we do sin, it’s by the weakness in our flesh, not the fact that we will to sin. If our will is to sin, then we are not born again! Our will is NOT to sin! It would be heaven to us to be perfectly holy. Our hearts and lives should pursue perfection in CHRIST, but sin is abhorred in our souls!

Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin (the sin nature) that dwelleth in me.

Our truest and most real self hates sin, yet we fall into it. Even so, we run from the evil of sin with the greatest speed, for the new life within us has no dealings with sin; it is dead to sin.

The Greek word used here cannot be fully translated into English. It signifies “being unborn to sins.” We were born in sin, but by the death of Christ AND by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, that birth is undone! We are actually “Unborn” to sins. What was in us by sin, even at our birth, is through the death of Jesus counteracted by the new life that His Spirit imparts.

We are unborn to sins. I like that phrase! Charles Spurgeon used it many ages ago to define what happens to us as believers when we come to Christ in faith! Does it seem possible that birth can be reversed - that the born can be unborn? We are unborn to sins and born to God. It’s what Jesus called being “born again!”

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Brought Into Life

Our Lord’s sin bearing has also brought us into life. Dead to evil according to law, we also LIVE in “newness of life.”

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

The Kingdom of GRACE is a kingdom built upon this promise! Not only are our lives to be righteous, but also we are made alive and made sensitive and vigorous in righteousness! Through our Lord’s death, our eyes, our thoughts, our lips and our hearts are renewed unto righteousness. If the doctrine of His atoning sacrifice does not bring life to us, nothing will! When we sin, it is the sorrowful result of our former death; but when the Holy Spirit works righteousness in us, we throw our whole souls in it.

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. [25] For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Because our divine Lord has died, we by the reaction of that great sacrifice give our entire LIVES to Him in devotion and praise. We present our BODIES a LIVING, not dead, sacrifice. The “life” that posses that body is the life of the Holy Spirit. The tree that brought death to our Saviour is a tree of life to us, even through it was a tree of death to Him.

16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was,

He died so we can live! Sit under this Tree of Life and we will shake off the weakness and disease that came through the other tree- the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! The glorious truths that come from the bitter wood of the cross are far better than any earthly remedies a human doctor can find! These remedies go to the SPIRITUAL remedy for all of mankind’s ills!

We as believers embrace that remedy when we anchor our faith in the Cross of Christ! Peter said, we being dead to sins, “LIVE UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS!”

The book of Romans establishes the principles we just laid out for you in a graphic way. The First Chapter of Romans establishes the terrible, lost condition of the Gentile world. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the Jewish question. It was to the Jewish race, incidentally raised up exclusively by the Lord, to whom the great promise of Redemption was given. Paul declares that they need a Redeemer exactly as the Gentiles. That Redeemer is Christ, as promised by their Prophets, and unless the Jewish people accept Christ, they will be eternally lost – the same as the Gentiles!

Chapters 1-3 deals with the fact that the entirety of the human race is totally depraved, and all because of the FALL. There is no way that man can save himself. Within man, there is no hope for the fallen sons of Adam’s lost race.

In Chapters 4 and 5 of Romans, the Holy Spirit through Paul shows us the answer to this dilemma. It is “Justification by Faith!” In these two Chapters, Paul laboriously points out that Salvation is never by works, but always by Faith. The central theme of these two Chapters is “Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for Righteousness.”

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Paul uses two men from Old Testament times to prove his point. He uses Abraham to establish the fact that Salvation comes to Faith, and Faith only. And he uses David to establish the fact that our maintaining Salvation comes, as well, by Faith. When Paul speaks of “Faith,” without exception, he is speaking of Faith in Christ and what Christ did for us at the Cross.

After the great Salvation principle is established, which is by Faith, we then see in Chapter 6, which tells the believer how to live for God, The power of the Holy Spirit is the only power that can help us do that! The Holy Spirit works because of what the Sin Bearer done on the cross!

If we not properly learn and obey the teaching of Chapter 6, which deals with the sin nature, we are doomed to find ourselves in Romans Chapter 7. Romans Chapter 7 is the personal story of Paul as he attempted to live for God without understanding the principles of Chapter 6. To his credit, there was no one else in the world at that time who understood the principle of Grace through Faith. That great truth, the meaning of the New Covenant, was actually given to Paul. Paul concluded this struggle in Romans 7 by saying:

This is the experience of man, even Paul, who does not understand Romans 6. Of course, when Paul wrote Romans 7, he very well then understood Romans 6, but he is showing us what happens to the Believer who doesn’t understand the great principle of Faith.

In Romans 8, we are told “what” the Holy Spirit will do in our lives, once we understand “HOW” He works! That is the teaching of Chapter 6. Romans 6 represents the Mechanics of the Holy Spirit, which tells us “how,” He works, while Romans 8 presents to us the “Dynamics of the Holy Spirit,” which tells us, as stated, “WHAT” He does for us, once we learn the “HOW.”

Romans, Chapter 9 –11, are mostly misunderstood by virtually the entirety of Christendom. They think that Paul is dealing with Prophecy as it regards the Jewish people. While some prophecy is definitely included in these three chapters, that is not really the full intent of the Holy Spirit in giving us this particular teaching. What the Holy Spirit is saying is this:

If the Church ignores what is taught in Romans 6, which means that it rejects God’s prescribed victorious living, the Church will come to the same sad end as did Israel. Israel went about attempting “to establish their own righteousness,” and would not “submit themselves to the righteousness of God.”

For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

As a result the nation completely LOST ITS WAY! The Holy Spirit through the Apostle is telling us that if the CHURCH does the same thing as did Israel, which means to reject CHRIST and what He has done for us at the Cross, that the Church will be cut off exactly as was Israel. Paul said to them:

Well; because of unbelief they (Israel) were broken off, and you (The CHURCH) standest by faith (Faith in Christ and Him Crucified and what He did at the Cross). Be not high-minded, but fear: [21] For if God spared not the natural branches (Israel), take heed lest he also spare not thee. [22] Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity (because they refused to believe in what Christ did at the Cross!); but toward thee (CHURCH), goodness, if (the condition) you continue in his goodness (the result of what Christ did for us at the Cross): otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

The truth is, the Church, at least as it regards the institution, has already been “cut off.” There is definitely a “remnant that is truly living for God, as with Israel of old, that “Remnant,” is small.

Esaias also cries concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

The seven Messages that Jesus gave to the seven Churches of Asia portray the entirety of the Church Age from the time of its inception on the Day of Pentecost to the close of that Dispensation. The Message of Christ to the Church at Laodicea presents the last stage of the Church, in fact, the time in which we now live. In other words, the Laodicean Church is the apostatized Church, and pertains to the modern Church of this day. This is what Jesus said to that church:

Rev. 3:17-21

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: [18] I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. [19] As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. [20] Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. [21] To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

At the beginning of the Church Age, Christ is pictured standing in the very “midst,” of the Churches (Rev. 1:12-13). At the close of the Church Age, which is the Age we now live in, He is pictured as being outside the Church, in effect, trying to get in. He said:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

So presently, instead of the Lord dealing with the institutionalized church, He instead is dealing with individuals, saying, IF ANY MAN. He gives a promise to the individual who will open the door that “I will come in to Him and will sup with Him and Him with Me.”

The Church has been cut off neighbor as it regards the institutionalized church of today. And the reason it has been cut off is the same as with Israel of old – we have rejected the message of Christ and what Christ has done for us at the Cross. Christ must NEVER be separated from the Cross! Paul preached:

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

Romans 12 through the conclusion of the Epistle deals with the practical aspects of Christianity, in other words, what the Christian will do as it regards living for the Lord, once he knows and understand God’s order for victorious Christian living – CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED!

The only way we can present our bodies a living sacrifice is by being transformed by the Holy Spirit.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Anytime the word “sacrifice,” it is speaking without exception of the “sacrifice of Christ.” In other words, we can be a LIVING SACRIFICE only as our Faith is constantly placed in Christ and what Christ has done for us at the Cross. This is what Jesus meant when He made the great demand of the Kingdom:

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

We must look away from ourselves, looking entirely to HIM and what He did for us at the Cross, taking upon ourselves the benefits of the Cross, even on a daily basis. It is through this that we embrace the Sin Bearer and have victory over sin.

Look to the cross! That was the message of our first message in this series and it’s the message of this journal – LOOK TO THE CROSS! Look to the One who has set the captives free. He loves you today.