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were forgiven? What sins is the scripture referring to? Since Jesus said this 2,000 years ago, and He was
speaking about our sins, He must have been referring to all our sins. To Him, at that time, all our sins
were future. So when we believe, it is not just our past sins that Jesus’ blood removes but all sins for all
time. This means even the sins which are yet future to us today. Many believe that Jesus’ statement only
refers to those sins which were past when we believed on His name and were saved. But if we think
through this carefully we will see that He was referring to all the sins of someone who comes to believe in
Him. All their sins are washed away by His blood of the covenant. Acts 10:43 (RSV) "To him all the
prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Now what is your new condition according to God’s word? In 1Cor 6: 11 (RSV) we read the
following: "And such were some of you. But you were washed [by His blood], you were sanctified, you
were justified [Note: all verbs are past tense] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our
God. “To be sanctified” means to be made holy! “To be justified” is to be made right before God. God has
made provision for your sins that He might now have a relationship with you.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he gives us the gospel of Jesus Christ in a few brief lines. Here is
the gospel in all its simplicity: 1Cor 15:3, 4 (RSV) "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures," 4“that he was buried, that he
was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures," Put very simply, this is the good news that
Jesus died for our sins but was resurrected. He could have gone on to say that in the resurrection we have
the assurance of eternal life. For when He died, we died, and when He was resurrected, we were
resurrected to eternal life. Rom 6:6 (NKJV) "knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that
the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." That is how Jesus
took care of our sin. The old man, who had the character or nature of Adam, was crucified along with
Jesus. Once and for all, the old man within us died. He is no longer part of our problem! When we sin, it
is not because the old man is still in there somewhere. He was put to death when Jesus was, and he is dead
and gone.
Some people feel like their old man is still around causing them to sin but that does not agree with
scripture. Paul again mentions this in Gal 2:20 NKJV "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I
who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul continues in Romans 6:7, 8 (NKJV) “For he who has died
has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,” Col
3:3 (NKJV) “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." So long as we believe we still
have the “old man” within us with all his sinful character, we will never come to know our true identity in
Christ Jesus.
Now it is difficult to see how we might have died when Jesus died. We must remember that in eternity
where our spirit dwells, there is no time dimension. God exists outside of time which He created. Time
cannot contain our God. When God looks at our situation, we exist alongside Jesus in the same picture so
to speak. So in God’s realm where there is no time, we can be and were crucified when Christ was.
If this is difficult for you, try to think of God’s view from above and outside of time as a picture and
in that picture are all the things that ever happened or ever will happen. In that picture, Jesus is born, Jesus
preaches, Jesus dies on the cross. And right there in Christ on the cross is you - dying when He dies. On
Him is all the sins of the whole world. That is the great pain of the cross - Him bearing all the sins of
mankind of all time. It’s very much like some of the huge paintings we see in European art galleries
where painters of old painted many things going on at the same time in the same picture. That’s how
eternity is - no time dimension.
speaking about our sins, He must have been referring to all our sins. To Him, at that time, all our sins
were future. So when we believe, it is not just our past sins that Jesus’ blood removes but all sins for all
time. This means even the sins which are yet future to us today. Many believe that Jesus’ statement only
refers to those sins which were past when we believed on His name and were saved. But if we think
through this carefully we will see that He was referring to all the sins of someone who comes to believe in
Him. All their sins are washed away by His blood of the covenant. Acts 10:43 (RSV) "To him all the
prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Now what is your new condition according to God’s word? In 1Cor 6: 11 (RSV) we read the
following: "And such were some of you. But you were washed [by His blood], you were sanctified, you
were justified [Note: all verbs are past tense] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our
God. “To be sanctified” means to be made holy! “To be justified” is to be made right before God. God has
made provision for your sins that He might now have a relationship with you.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he gives us the gospel of Jesus Christ in a few brief lines. Here is
the gospel in all its simplicity: 1Cor 15:3, 4 (RSV) "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures," 4“that he was buried, that he
was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures," Put very simply, this is the good news that
Jesus died for our sins but was resurrected. He could have gone on to say that in the resurrection we have
the assurance of eternal life. For when He died, we died, and when He was resurrected, we were
resurrected to eternal life. Rom 6:6 (NKJV) "knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that
the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." That is how Jesus
took care of our sin. The old man, who had the character or nature of Adam, was crucified along with
Jesus. Once and for all, the old man within us died. He is no longer part of our problem! When we sin, it
is not because the old man is still in there somewhere. He was put to death when Jesus was, and he is dead
and gone.
Some people feel like their old man is still around causing them to sin but that does not agree with
scripture. Paul again mentions this in Gal 2:20 NKJV "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I
who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul continues in Romans 6:7, 8 (NKJV) “For he who has died
has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,” Col
3:3 (NKJV) “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." So long as we believe we still
have the “old man” within us with all his sinful character, we will never come to know our true identity in
Christ Jesus.
Now it is difficult to see how we might have died when Jesus died. We must remember that in eternity
where our spirit dwells, there is no time dimension. God exists outside of time which He created. Time
cannot contain our God. When God looks at our situation, we exist alongside Jesus in the same picture so
to speak. So in God’s realm where there is no time, we can be and were crucified when Christ was.
If this is difficult for you, try to think of God’s view from above and outside of time as a picture and
in that picture are all the things that ever happened or ever will happen. In that picture, Jesus is born, Jesus
preaches, Jesus dies on the cross. And right there in Christ on the cross is you - dying when He dies. On
Him is all the sins of the whole world. That is the great pain of the cross - Him bearing all the sins of
mankind of all time. It’s very much like some of the huge paintings we see in European art galleries
where painters of old painted many things going on at the same time in the same picture. That’s how
eternity is - no time dimension.
