1 Peter 2:24 ESV
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
If I were asked, and I have been asked this before, to give
the gospel in one Bible verse, this is the verse I would give. This covers it,
except for his resurrection. But this verse explains the purpose of his death
on the cross and what takes place, too, when we believe in him as our Lord and
Savior.
When Jesus Christ was crucified on that cross, he who knew
no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. And
Jesus died for all on that cross, that those who live might no longer live for
themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2 Co 5:15, 21).
Okay, first of all, there is nothing any of us can do in our
flesh to deserve or to earn our own salvation. Our good deeds will never outweigh
our bad deeds. Our own righteousness is like filthy rags in our Lord’s sight. All
have sinned and have fallen short of attaining God’s divine approval (Rom 3:23).
Only because of Jesus’ death for us on that cross, whereby
he put our sin to death, can anyone of us be saved from our sins and have
eternal life with God. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God
the Father first draws us to Christ, and that is what faith means, to be
divinely persuaded.
So, God the Father draws us to Jesus, and he gifts us with his
grace and with faith and with repentance so that we are crucified with him in
death to sin, of the Spirit of God. Then we are rebirthed of the Spirit of God
to new lives in Christ Jesus, now free from our slavery to sin so that we now become
slaves of God and of his righteousness, empowered of God.
[Jn 6:44; Eph 2:8-9; Ac 11:18; Rom 2:4; Rom 6:1-23; Eph
4:17-24]
As Jesus put our sin to death with him when he died on that
cross, and then he was resurrected from the dead back to life, only no longer
in a flesh body, but in a glorified body, when we believe in Jesus with
God-given faith, we die with him to sin, and we are resurrected with him to new
lives in Christ, but not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.
Now our lives are no longer our own to be lived for the
flesh, for we have been given new lives in Christ, of the Spirit, to be lived
to God and to his righteousness, for Jesus bought us back for God with his blood.
We Are Healed
So, the healing that takes place when we believe in Jesus,
and we die with him to sin that we might live to him and to his righteousness,
is that our sins are put to death with Christ, and we are reborn of the Spirit
to new lives in Christ, created now to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness (Eph 4:17-24; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Lu 9:23-26; 1 Co
6:19-20).
But it doesn’t end there. We don’t just “get saved” and then
we are good to go until we go to heaven one day. We must die to sin every day.
Every day we take up our cross and we follow (obey) Jesus. We must, by the
Spirit, be those who are putting to death the deeds of the flesh if we want to
have eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Lu 9:23-26; 1 Jn 1:5-9).
And we must be those who are walking (conducting our lives) according
to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God and not according to the flesh. We
must be walking in the light as God is in the light, and the blood of Jesus
cleanses us from every sin (Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Lu 9:23-26).
If we aren’t doing this, but instead we are conducting our
lives according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, because we are
still making sin our practice (habit, addiction), then our lives will end in
death, not in life everlasting with God (Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-21; Eph
5:3-6).
1 Peter 2:25 ESV
“For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
Before we believed in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of
our lives, we were like straying sheep, doing our own thing, going our own way,
living for ourselves and for the pleasures of this life.
We may have been religious people, or people who were “good
deed doers,” and we may not have been those who were involved in all sorts of
gross immorality or thievery, etc. But we were still sinners in need of a
Savior.
But, in Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins he bought us
back for God (he redeemed us) so that we would now honor God with our lives.
Jesus didn’t die that horrible death so we would go on living in sin, only now
without guilt. He didn’t die just to save us from hell so we could go to
heaven, either. He died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
He gave his life up for us so that we would no longer live
our lives like straying sheep. We “were” like that. We aren’t supposed to still
be like that. How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? Don’t you know
that if you are obeying sin you are its slave and that it will end in death,
not life eternal? (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24)
The whole purpose of Jesus’ death for us on that cross was
to transform us and to conform us to his likeness. It was so we would no longer
be like we were before but so we would now be like Him. Being born again means
we aren’t living the old life, but we are now living the new life in Christ.
In Jesus’ death he reconciled us to God so that we no longer
live as enemies of the cross but we now live according to the cross of Jesus in
death to sin and living to his righteousness – all because of what Jesus did
for us on that cross, and only as empowered by God’s Spirit living within us.
We were going left. Now we are going right, meaning in the
opposite direction. We were on the broad road (the easy road) which leads to
destruction, which the many travel. Now we are on the narrow road (the hard
road) which leads to eternal life, and which few find.
We were straying like sheep, but now we have returned to the
Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. Now we have been reconciled to God, so we
are no longer his enemies, but now we are his friends. Now we are living for
him and not for ourselves. Now we glorify him with our lives, and we no longer
glory in the flesh.
But if this is not where you are today, or if you have
bought into the lie that says you can “believe” in Jesus and have heaven
guaranteed you when you die, but you don’t have to submit to Christ as Lord or
obey our Lord’s commands or turn away from your sins, then please repent today
and turn to God and let the Spirit of God change you to be like Jesus.
The Spirit Calling
An Original Work /
November 12, 2019
Hear the Spirit calling.
He’ll keep you from falling.
Tenderly He’s calling,
“Come and follow Him.”
Walk with Jesus daily.
Don’t give in to lazy.
Folks may call you crazy.
Fellowship with Him.
Follow where He leads you.
Eat what Jesus feeds you.
His love will renew you
If you follow Him.
Do what Jesus tells you.
Don’t let your faith fail you.
His love will avail you
If you walk with Him.
Jesus, Lord and Savior,
Reigneth now forever.
He gave us His favor
So we’d live with Him.
Turning now from our sin,
Holy Spirit live-in.
Holiness we walk in,
Purified by Him.
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