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Subject 28 : If You Have Confusion and Emptiness in Your Heart, Seek the Light of the Truth
[28-10] How Has Jesus, the Son of God, Saved Us from the Sins of This World?
(Romans 3:25-31)
“Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law."
“Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law."
Today, with the Word of God, I would like to bear witness of the fact that Jesus Christ has saved us from the sins of the world. Jesus Christ has saved us, His believers, by being baptized by John to offer His own body as the sacrificial offering for sinners, being crucified and dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead again. Referring to Jesus, the Bible says that God the Father raised His Son to be our everlasting Priest according to the order of Melchizedek the Priest who appeared in the age of the Old Testament.
Who Is Melchizedek the Priest?
It is written in Genesis 14:18, “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.” When Abraham was returning from his battlefield victory, Melchizedek the Priest, who was king of Salem, brought bread and wine to him and blessed him.
That Melchizedek the Priest brought out bread and wine and blessed Abraham like this in the days of the Old Testament is a shadow of what was to come in the age of the New Testament, showing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would shoulder the sins of this present world through the baptism He would receive from John and become our propitiation.
Jesus said in John 6:55-57, “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”
The flesh of Jesus here testifies the fact that Jesus took upon the sins of this world once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist. We can eat His flesh by believing in His baptism. Moreover, the baptized Jesus sacrificed Himself as our propitiation with His crucifixion and death. The Lord has saved us from the sins of this world once and for all by receiving His baptism from John, being crucified and shedding His blood as our propitiation, and rising from the dead again. We must receive everlasting life by believing in all these facts, and thus eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking His blood.
By believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and the shedding of His blood, everyone must receive the remission of sins and be saved from the condemnation of sins. We must believe that Jesus has become our everlasting Priest by being baptized by John. We must believe that Jesus, the Son of God, has become the everlasting Priest of mankind in the age of the New Testament. This is because Jesus, who has now become our everlasting Priest like Melchizedek the Priest in the Old Testament, has fulfilled our salvation once and for all with the baptism He received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross when He came to this world.
In the days of the Old Testament, Abraham accepted by faith the blessings that Melchizedek the Priest offered him. In the same manner, those who accept by faith that Jesus Christ has saved them from all sins now in the age of the New Testament, through the baptism He received from John and His blood on the Cross, will receive the blessings of faith like Abraham. In other words, we can be saved from all our sins by believing that Jesus shouldered the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John.
This means just as Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek who brought out bread and wine, we can now be washed from our sins by believing in the work of the baptism that Jesus received from John. And by believing that the blood that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shed on the Cross was for the punishment of our sins, we, too, can receive the blessings of salvation.
We must have faith in the baptism that Jesus Christ received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross for us. Only if we have the proper knowledge of the Truth that saves us from all our sins now can we also believe properly. The way for all of us to be truly washed from our sins by faith is to believe in the baptism of Jesus Christ and the shedding of His blood.
When we receive Holy Communion in the church, the very first thing we do is thanking Jesus in our prayer for the bread, which signifies His flesh. This is because we believe that Jesus shouldered our sins by being baptized, and we are performing this rite in its remembrance. Put differently, it is because we believe that Jesus Christ took upon all the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John to become our Savior. When we break bread during Holy Communion, it is absolutely imperative for us to believe that the baptism that Jesus received on His body was the work through which He took away our sins (Matthew 3:13-17).
After this, when we use the wine of Holy Communion in remembrance of the precious blood that Jesus shed on the Cross, we do so by faith to remember that Jesus bore the punishment of our sins in our place. This means we believe and remember that Jesus shouldered the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John, went to the Cross, was crucified, and has thereby washed away our sins now. Like this, we receive Holy Communion with bread and wine in remembrance of the fact that Jesus accepted our sins through His baptism and sacrificed Himself as our propitiation. With this, we are confessing to God our faith in the flesh and blood of Jesus, that Jesus offered His own body to accept the sins of mankind, was punished for these sins with His blood on the Cross, and has thereby become the Savior of all sinners now. This is what Holy Communion is all about.
Like this, the baptism that Jesus received on His body and the shedding of His blood on Cross denote His flesh and blood. This is the sacrifice that the Lord made to fulfill our salvation, and it also tells us that the remission of sins is received by believing in this work of sacrifice. By being baptized by John, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shouldered the sins of this world once and for all, and by being crucified, He was punished for our sins as our propitiation.
Therefore, we are now able to be remitted from all our sins by placing our faith in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood on the Cross. Mankind’s everlasting remission of sins has now been made possible, for the Son of God made Himself our propitiation to bear the condemnation of our sins, and we are to reach our salvation by believing in this.
Eucharistic Theology
Now then, let us take a moment here to examine what various theological claims are made about Holy Communion. Let’s first see what theologians these days are saying about the bread and wine that we use in Holy Communion. In general, two doctrines are used when explaining the bread and wine of Holy Communion. One is transubstantiation, and the other is memorialism. First, “transubstantiation” is the notion that at the very moment the priest says the eucharistic prayer over the bread and wine of Holy Communion, this bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus. This is why it’s called transubstantiation.
Another theological take on Holy Communion is “memorialism.” This position sees the bread and wine of Holy Communion as merely symbolic memorialization of the death of Jesus Christ. It is said that Protestant churches today believe in memorialism while the Catholic Church believes in transubstantiation.
In contrast, the Bible says that the bread and wine we use for Holy Communion refer to the baptism that Jesus received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross. Spiritually speaking, this means that Jesus gave up His flesh and blood to take upon our sins on His body. The Bible is therefore saying that those who eat the flesh of Jesus and drink His blood by believing in the baptism He received on His body and the shedding of His blood will receive the everlasting remission of sins and eternal life on account of this faith.
Through the baptism He received on His body, Jesus Christ shouldered the sins of this world; His body was crucified and shed His precious blood on the Cross; and He has thereby saved us now from the sins of this world and the condemnation of our sins. The Lord told us that we can receive everlasting life only if we believe in this fact. We ought to realize and believe that anyone can be saved forever through the work of the baptism that Jesus Christ received on this earth and the shedding of His blood.
We need to realize and believe here that “My flesh” in the Bible refers to the fact that Jesus took away the sins of this world by being baptized by John. And “My blood” refers to the precious blood that Jesus shed when He bore the punishment of our sins by being crucified while shouldering the sins of this world. These are all speaking of the gospel Word, that Jesus shouldered the sins of the world once and for all through the baptism He received from John, shed His blood on the Cross, and has thereby saved every sinner from all sins once and for all.
The Lord said in John 6:58, “This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” Where Jesus said here that He is the bread that came down from heaven, this means that Jesus Christ, who came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, shouldered all the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John. And it means that He was punished for our sins once and forever with the crucifixion of His body and the shedding of His blood. In short, Jesus Christ is telling us to be saved by believing in the sacrifice He made by accepting our sins on His body through His baptism and giving up His body on the Cross.
This all came about according to Psalm 110:4, where God said, “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” It was the fulfillment of this Word. Born on this earth, Jesus took away the sins of the entire human race once and for all through His baptism, offered His body to be crucified as our propitiation, and has thereby saved us from our sins as our everlasting Priest.
Referring to His Son, God the Father swore in the Bible, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” To become our everlasting Priest incarnated in the flesh of man according to this Word, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, was crucified, and shed His precious blood on the Cross. And He has forever saved all those who now believe in His work from their sins. This Word is the new covenant that God established to save us from the sins of the world and make us His people. In other words, God has fulfilled the Word of the new covenant that He spoke of in Jeremiah 31:31.
In Psalm 110:4, God was saying, “I will raise My Son as your everlasting Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and I will save you by making Him shoulder your sins once and for all through His baptism, shed His blood on the Cross, and sacrifice Himself as your propitiation.” According to the will of God the Father, Jesus came to this world incarnated in the flesh of man, took upon the sins of this world on His body through the baptism He received from John, sacrificed Himself as our propitiation by being crucified, and has thereby delivered His believers from their sins. All this Word is telling us that whoever believes in the work of Jesus will reach salvation from his sins.
What Is the Truth of Salvation That the Apostle Paul Speaks of in Romans?
Romans 3:25-26 say, “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” The Truth that all of us must know is this: long before we were even born in this world, we were all destined to be born as sinners because of our ancestors, Adam and Eve. All human beings born in this world had no choice but to inherit their ancestors’ sins and live in their sinful state. Sin therefore came between human beings and God, and as result, they could not commune with Him no matter how much they yearned for it.
However, to save us, the sinners, from the sins of this world, the Father of Jesus Christ, the Creator of mankind, sent His Son as our Savior and made Him shoulder all our sins by being baptized in the Jordan River. Taking His Son as the sacrificial offering for all of us to be punished for our sins in our place, God the Father let the Son be crucified and thereby become the everlasting Savior of those who now believe in Him.
God the Father made His Son, Jesus Christ, offer Himself as the propitiation for our sins once and for all by being baptized by John. This was the first step in the work of salvation that God the Father planned out of His love for us to take away our sins and wash them away. By sending His Son, Jesus, to this earth, making Him receive baptism from John, and letting His body be crucified, God the Father has made His Son the everlasting Savior of those of us who now believe. The Apostle Paul is bearing witness of this amazing Truth of salvation to us now.
Has Jesus Saved Us through the Work of the Cross Alone?
The Apostle Paul said in Romans 3:25, “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” From this passage, and based on the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has spoken to us, we need to think long and hard about whether God the Father has saved us from the sins of the world just through His Son’s sacrificial blood.
The Apostle Paul is speaking about how Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself as mankind’s propitiation. Although he is speaking of “His blood” in Romans 3:25 while omitting the baptism that Jesus received from John, this is preconditioned on the fact that Jesus took away the sins of mankind through the baptism He received from John. Paul is saying that it is because of the prior step of shouldering the sins of mankind through His baptism that Jesus shed His precious blood on the Cross to be our propitiation. When the Apostle Paul speaks of the sacrificial blood of Jesus and how He has become our propitiation, his premise is that Jesus, the Son of God, shouldered the sins of mankind once and for all through the baptism He received from John. We need to be cognizant of this fact.
What we must grasp here is that even before the foundation of the world, God the Father prepared and raised His Son to be the Savior who would solve away our sins, and according to this plan, He made His Son our propitiation. As prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ was born on this earth from the body of a woman, took away the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John, shed His sacrificial blood to death on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby become our everlasting Savior for those of us who now believe.
God the Father planned the salvation of mankind before the foundation of the world, saying, “I will endow My Son with everlasting priesthood and save you from all the sins of the world once and for all.” Such was God’s plan of salvation. For the method of saving mankind from the sins of the world, God the Father said that He prepared the plan of salvation whereby the Son would save us from our sins by making His Son shoulder the sins of this world by the baptism that He received from John and shed His precious blood on the Cross for mankind as our propitiation.
God the Father decided to make His Son, Jesus Christ, take upon the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist, let the Son be crucified and shed His blood to death, resurrect Him from the dead, and thereby make Him the true Savior for those of us who now believe. Jesus was crucified and shed His blood on the Cross because He had shouldered the sins of this world by being baptized by John. We must know and believe that the Lord has become the Savior of mankind by bearing the sins of this world through the baptism He received from John when He came to this world and shedding His blood on the Cross.
With the baptism He received from John, Jesus Christ has washed away our sins once and for all, and by bearing even the punishment of death for our sins on the Cross, He has become our Savior. As Jesus Christ rose from the dead and has thus made it possible for mankind to be born again from the sins of the world, we can now be saved and born again from our sins by believing in this fact. We must believe that Jesus Christ has become our Savior once and for all by being baptized and shedding His blood as our everlasting Priest. Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shouldered the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John, He was able to offer His body on the Cross as our sacrificial offering for the punishment of our sins. Therefore, it is now possible for us to reach salvation once and for all by placing our faith in the work of Jesus Christ.
Before the work of the blood that the crucified Jesus shed, there was the work of the baptism that He received from John. If you do not know this, it can only mean that your present life is still bound by your sins. This is because you cannot be washed from your sins if you believe without the knowledge that God the Father made His Son, Jesus, shoulder your sins once and for all by being baptized. You need to realize here that the consequence of faith is drastically different for those who know and believe that Jesus took upon the sins of this world by being baptized by John, and those who believe without knowing this fact.
When we believe in Jesus, it is imperative for us to realize the fact that Jesus shouldered our sins once and for all and was crucified because of the baptism He received from John. This is because there is a huge difference of faith between believing in Jesus with the understanding that His baptism and blood both constitute the same work of salvation on the one hand, and believing in Jesus without this understanding on the other hand. Indeed, whether we believe with the knowledge of the Truth that enables us to be born again of water and the Spirit, or we believe without this knowledge, makes as much difference to the consequences of faith as the difference between Heaven and hell. If you are offering prayers of repentance to wash away your sins every time you commit them while living in this world, then you do not know the fact that Jesus shouldered the sins of mankind on His body by being baptized and carried them to the Cross. That is why I am saying that there is a huge gap between the faith of someone who knows and believes in the Word of the baptism of Jesus and someone who does not believe in this Truth. Realizing this, all of us must believe in both the baptism and blood of Jesus and be born again from all our sins.
Jesus said in John chapter 6 that He has given us His flesh and blood, and we must understand and believe in this Word in a biblically sound way. In other words, we must believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood on the Cross as our salvation exactly as written in the Bible. Jesus took away your sins and mine once and for all by being baptized by John; He was punished for our sins by shedding His blood on the Cross; and we must reach true salvation by believing that this work was for our propitiation—that is, a sacrificial offering made for the remission of sins. We ought to realize here that the faith that enables us to eat the bread of true salvation is believing the baptism and blood of Jesus.
The bread and wine that Melchizedek the Priest brought out when he blessed Abram in the Old Testament refer to the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood on the Cross in the New Testament. They tell us that Jesus has saved His believers by being baptized and sacrificing Himself on the Cross as the propitiation for our sins.
In the age of the Old Testament, if the sacrificial offering of the Day of Atonement was bled and killed without the High Priest’s laying his hands on its head for the people of God, this sacrifice was not accepted by God. The sacrifice of the Day of Atonement was offered once a year, and to wash away the sins of the people of Israel with this sacrifice, the High Priest had to pass his people’s sins to the sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head without fail, and then draw its blood of life and sprinkle it on the mercy seat.
If the High Priest drew the blood of the sacrificial animal and offered it to God without passing his sins and the sins of the people of Israel to its head through the laying on of hands, it would render the sacrificial offering in vain and unacceptable to God. Therefore, to offer sin offerings properly, the High Priest had to pass the people’s sins to the sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head and then offer its blood. In other words, every sacrifice of the Day of Atonement required the High Priest to first pass all the Israelites’ sins to the sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head. And according to this method, God wanted Jesus to accept the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John and wash away the sins of mankind with this blood in the age of the New Testament. We are therefore able to receive the proper remission of sins by placing our faith in the baptism and blood of Jesus.
So far, I have explained the reason why Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had to be baptized by John. God the Father made His Son, Jesus, shoulder the sins of this world by being baptized by John and shed His blood on the Cross, so that the Son would become the propitiation for the sins of mankind. Like this, Jesus Christ had to fulfill His duties as the everlasting Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven.
To fulfill His everlasting priesthood, Jesus Christ accepted the sins of this world on His head by being baptized by John, shed His precious blood on the Cross, and has thereby become the Savior, delivering us from the sins of this world. Having come to this earth as the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus Christ took away His people’s sins once and for all through His baptism and the shedding of His blood, thus becoming our Savior. To offer His body to God the Father as our propitiation, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was baptized by John and crucified, and with this precious blood, He has saved us, His believers, from all the sins of the world once and for all.
To those of us who believe that Jesus took upon the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized and shed His blood on the Cross, He has given the everlasting remission of sins. Therefore, all of us must be forever saved from our sins through faith, by accepting that the work of the baptism that the Lord received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross to become the sacrificial offering of the New Testament constitutes our salvation.
Mankind’s salvation from sin has been fulfilled by the work of salvation that Jesus Christ completed once and for all with the baptism He received from John and the shedding of His blood. If you now realize and believe in this fact that Jesus took away the sins of mankind through the baptism He received from John and shed His precious blood on the Cross, then by this knowledge of the Truth of the everlasting remission of sins and faith in it, you will be able to be saved from all your sins once and for all. This is why Jesus said to us in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
In John 6:55-58, Jesus told us to “eat His flesh and drink His blood,” and it is imperative for us to believe in this Word with a proper understanding of its meaning. We must grasp and believe that the baptism that Jesus received from John and His sacrificial blood on the Cross are what has now washed away our sins once and for all and paid off the wages of our sins. In short, we must realize and believe that Jesus is the true Savior who has delivered us from our sins by sacrificing Himself as our propitiation.
With our hearts, we must believe in the fact that Jesus came to this world and was baptized to wash away our sins by offering His body to God the Father as our propitiation. We must believe that the Lord has saved us, His believers, from the sins of this world by shouldering them, being crucified to death, and rising from the dead again. It is to be saved now from the sins of this world that we believe in this gospel Word.
By believing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, forever took away our sins for us, we can receive salvation into our hearts. Jesus, the Son of God, came looking for us the sinners, shouldered our sins by being baptized by John, paid off the wages of our sins by shedding His blood on the Cross, and has saved us from our sins forever. By believing in the Truth of the baptism of Jesus and His blood, we can be saved from all the sins of this world through faith.
As we know, everything in this world has a beginning and an end. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 22:13). When Jesus came to this earth, He took away all sins from the beginning of this world to its end by being baptized by John, was crucified, and thereby completed His work of salvation to deliver us from all sins. It is therefore now possible for us to have the faith that washes away all sins, thanks to Jesus Christ our Savior. So that we may reach salvation, Jesus made Himself our propitiation by being baptized by John and crucified, and by rising from the dead again, He has become our Savior giving us, His believers, the everlasting remission of sins.
By understanding and believing in the work of Jesus Christ who came to this world 2,000 years ago, we can now receive the remission of sins. We can be saved by believing in the sacrifice of Jesus, who shouldered our sins once and for all by being baptized by John at the age of 30 and sacrificed Himself on the Cross for our sins. And by believing in this work of the Lord, we can know that He has blotted out all our sins. We are saved by believing that Jesus has fulfilled His work of salvation to deliver us from the sins of this world once and for all with the baptism He received from John and the sacrifice He made by shedding His blood.
We must know and believe in the work that Jesus carried out when He came to this earth. We are saved by believing that Jesus, our Savior, accepted all sins from the beginning of this world to its end by being baptized by John, was crucified in our place, and has thereby saved from all sins those of us who now believe. Salvation is reached by believing that the Lord shouldered our sins and made Himself the propitiation for our sins. The Lord has saved His believers by bearing our sins and their punishment once and for all with His baptism and the price He paid with His death. As the Savior of the believers, He has completed the work of salvation fully. Jesus Christ has saved us, the sinners, from the sins of the world, and He has reconciled us to God the Father.
In the Bible, atonement is made when those who became God’s enemies offer the sacrifice that He prepared for them and restore their relationship with Him through this sacrifice. By being baptized by John to take away our sins and shedding His blood on the Cross, the Son of God has broken down the wall of sin that had blocked us from God. This means when Jesus came to this world, He restored our troubled relationship with God. By believing in this gospel Word of salvation, we have been reconciled with God the Father and we can commune with Him.
Having been baptized by John, Jesus paid off the wages of our sins once and for all with the blood He shed on the Cross. We are now able to be saved from all our sins and condemnation by believing in the Truth that has blotted out our sins. By believing in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we can have the faith that saves us from all our sins and condemnation now. The Lord came to this earth only once, and He has saved us once and for all with His baptism and His blood on the Cross. Jesus took upon our sins through the baptism He received from John. And with the sacrificial blood He shed on the Cross, He was condemned for all our sins, and He has thereby saved us once and for all from our sins and condemnation. It is by believing in the fact that Jesus has become our propitiation that we are saved from all our sins once and for all.
When we think about this based on the point when we were saved from our sins, this means that the Lord at once took upon even the sins that we would commit in this world in the future through the baptism He received from John and washed them away by being crucified. Because we are weak in our flesh, we cannot help but sin every day before God while living in this world. However, Jesus our Savior shouldered our sins once and for all through the baptism He received from John and shed His blood on the Cross. Through the work of Jesus, we are now able to reach salvation from all our sins and their condemnation by faith.
In other words, since Jesus has solved away our sins now by being baptized by John and shedding His blood on the Cross in the age of the New Testament, we can be saved from all sins by faith. We ought to be saved from all sins by believing in the Lord who has become our propitiation for us, and we ought to praise our God for this.
What Have We Gained from the Lord’s Baptism and the Shedding of His Blood?
The Apostle Paul said, “In His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed” (Romans 3:25). Here in the phrase, “passed over the sins that were previously committed,” the expression “to pass over” means “to disregard.” In this passage, God is saying to us, “Through My baptism, I took away and blotted out all your sins once and for all, from your past sins to your present sins and even your future sins.”
The Lord is saying to us, “I took away not only your sins but also your descendants’ sins once and for all through the baptism I received from John. I shed My blood and died on the Cross for your sins, and through My sacrificial death and resurrection, I have given you the everlasting remission of sins.”
Romans 3:26 says, “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God the Father is saying that if we believe, we will be saved from our sins, for His Son, Jesus Christ, came to this earth, was baptized by John to blot out all the sins of mankind, was crucified, rose from the dead again, and has thereby given the everlasting remission of sins to those who now believe. God the Father raised His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the everlasting Priest of mankind.
God the Father made His Son fulfill the salvation of mankind through His baptism and His blood on the Cross. For us living in this world now, Jesus Christ shouldered all our sins and was condemned for them with the baptism He received from John and His sacrificial blood on the Cross, and He has thus given us, His believers, the remission of sins. God the Father has addressed the condemnation of all the sins of mankind with the baptism that His Son, Jesus Christ, received on this earth and His blood on the Cross. That is why God said, “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness.”
Even if Jesus shouldered just the sins that we have committed until now by being baptized by John and sacrificed Himself for these sins by being crucified, we would be utterly grateful. However, God the Father is telling us that Jesus, through the baptism He received from John and His blood, shouldered all at once not only the sins that we have committed until now while living on this earth but also the sins that we will commit in the future, and that He has blotted them all out once and for all. How wonderful and amazing is this salvation? We ought to believe with thanksgiving.
We must know the Truth of salvation that Jesus our Lord took upon our past, present, and future sins and solved them away through His baptism and blood, and we must believe in this with our hearts. We ought to be grateful for the work of salvation that God the Father has fulfilled in Jesus Christ through His baptism and the shedding of His blood. That is why our Lord is saying, “That He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
The Apostle Paul was a man of impeccable logic and intellect. When he preached the Word of God, he did not preach it in vague, nebulous terms. Romans 3:25 says, “To demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” This passage shows us just how great and eternal the salvation is. Yet, when people read this passage, many of them still believe in just the fact that Jesus was crucified. If there are such people among us, they must realize now that the Lord shouldered their sins through the baptism He received from John and was crucified, and they must believe in this as their salvation, or otherwise they will render in vain the baptism that Jesus received and the blood He shed on the Cross for them.
Many Christians today are trying to receive the remission of sins into their hearts by believing in the crucified Jesus alone. This is why their sins remain in their hearts constantly. Even though they believe in Jesus unwaveringly, they are still living in this world as sinners. I feel so sorry for them. So, let us all answer God’s love now by placing our faith in the baptism that Jesus received from John and the sacrifice He offered with His blood on the Cross, and let us receive the washing of sins through this faith.
Some people say that even though they believe in Jesus as their Savior, their hearts are always sinful. Such people believe that by believing in the sacrificial blood of Jesus, they have been remitted from the sins they had committed before believing in Jesus, and that they are washed from their future sins by offering prayers of repentance. They say that they will eventually be sanctified and perfected before dying and then receive the Lord. They believe that since they believe in Jesus as their Savior, the Lord will just look over the sins they are now committing.
These misguided Christians say that even though their sins remain in their hearts, they will not be condemned for these sins and the Lord will just skirt over them. They think that because they believe in Jesus as their Savior, the sins they commit from then on would not be condemned and instead be looked over by Jesus. And they say that the sins they commit after believing in Jesus are washed away by offering prayers of repentance whenever they commit them.
Is Jesus really such a God who would look over sinners and just pretend that they have no sin? Look into your own conscience! Just as you cannot skirt over your sins, Jesus cannot pretend not to see your sins. Yet, many Christians believe that because they believe in the crucified Jesus as their Savior, they have already been saved from the sins they have committed from the day they were born in this world until now, and that they can be remitted from all their future sins once they are sanctified later.
However, the written Scripture says that Jesus shouldered the sins of this world by being baptized by John, shed His blood on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby saved His believers from all sins. Those who believe otherwise are ignoring the fact that Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself as their propitiation for the sins of the world by being baptized by John. These people believe in the religious doctrines of their own making.
In Isaiah 1:18 in the Old Testament, God said that He would wash away our sins “as white as snow.” In the New Testament, God is telling us that His Son, Jesus Christ, has saved us, His believers, from the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John, shedding His sacrificial blood on the Cross for our sins, and rising from the dead again. To those of us who believe in the baptism of Jesus Christ and the shedding His blood, the Lord is saying that He has blessed us to be born again from all the sins of the world and given us true salvation. God the Father is telling us that His Son, Jesus, has fulfilled salvation by being baptized by John and shedding His blood on the Cross, and that He has saved those who believe in this salvation from the sins of the world.
From both testaments of the Bible, we must realize and believe that the Lord has blotted out all the sins of mankind once and for all with the baptism He received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross. Yet, worldly theology teaches that people are saved from their sins when they believe in the blood of Jesus, that they are being saved continuously, and that they will be saved from their future sins also. Its adherents separate their sins into the sins of the past, present, and future. However, in the Bible, God speaks of the sins of mankind singularly as the sins of the world. And God is saying that Jesus shouldered all those sins once and for all through the baptism He received from John and completed our salvation on the Cross, transcending both time and space.
Therefore, those who try to be remitted from their sins by learning mankind’s theological and philosophical thoughts remain sinners despite believing in Jesus, for they do not know the Word of Truth that the Lord has saved us from the sins of the world through the baptism that Jesus received from John and the sacrifice He made on the Cross. As God’s creation, the human brain is limited in its faculty, and therefore without the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, no one can interpret the Word of God successfully no matter how hard he tries. The Lord is saying that if you try to understand the Word of God and believe in it according to your own thoughts while ignoring the written gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, you will fall into such a grave error before God that you will not be able to escape from darkness.
The Lord has saved us from the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John and His blood on the Cross, and by believing in this work of salvation, we have been saved from all our sins thanks to the grace of God. We have now come to understand from the written Word of God what the gospel of the remission of sins is. I give all thanks to God for giving us this Word of salvation. When we turn to the Word of the Old Testament, we can see God telling us through the sacrificial system that Jesus Christ, His Son, would come to this earth and save us from the sins of the world once and for all.
As we have done so to this day, we will continue to testify to everyone what the sins of mankind are, and what the Word of salvation that can bring the washing of these sins is. We will testify that all human beings can be born again by placing their faith in the baptism that our Lord received from John and His blood on the Cross. Because we have been born again from our sins, when we look at those who listen to the Word of salvation preached by us, we can see them transformed as they receive true salvation. While preaching the Word of the water and the Spirit, we have seen the faces of those who hear and believe in this gospel light up like the sun. And such people have come to us looking for our help for living out their faith.
These new believers have reached out to us to seek our counsel, asking us how they should address the problems they are facing after receiving the remission of sins by believing in the Word of salvation. So, we have counseled them on faith, and in the process, we have turned into gospel witnesses preaching the baptism and blood of the Lord. Before I began my ministry, my original plan was to serve the gospel as a layman with the money I made. However, God did not allow me to pursue two different goals. That is why I am now standing before you today as someone who preaches the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.
The Apostle Paul said in Romans 3:27-28, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” God the Father vowed and promised us that He would raise up His Son to be the everlasting Priest of this earth according to the order of Melchizedek the Priest (Psalm 110:4). When the time came, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth, was baptized by John the Baptist, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby saved us, His believers, from the sins of this world; and as a result, we have come to be born again from our sins through our faith in the Truth of salvation.
On account of our faith in the Lord’s work of salvation, we have been reconciled with God the Father, and we have come to live as friends of Jesus Christ our Savior. We are the witnesses of the gospel preaching the righteousness of Jesus Christ throughout the whole world. We are living an evangelical life, carrying out the gospel work of salvation that He has entrusted to us. Jesus Christ calls us His friends because He has made His will known to us, and He has made us carry out the will of God. This, of course, does not mean that we have become equal to Him. So, knowing this, I hope and pray that we would all submit to the will of Jesus Christ our God and live as His faithful witnesses in this world.
The Lord treats us as His close friends. It is because He has broken down the wall of sin that had blocked us from God. Thanks to the baptism that He received from John and His blood, the wall of sin that had stood between God and us has been removed. We are now able to love our God through our faith in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood. We are therefore able to live in communion with God our Savior.
Our God answers us whenever we call His name and pray to Him. He is the Savior who has delivered us from our sins once and for all. God has blotted out our sins justly, and by believing in His sacrifice, we have been saved from our sins. God is rejoiced to work with those who have the born-again faith.
All Our Boasting Is in Jesus Christ
The Apostle Paul said, “Do we have anything to boast of ourselves because we have received the remission of sins into our hearts? No, there is none.” Here Paul is saying that our salvation is found in the baptism that Jesus Christ received and the blood He shed on the Cross. He is telling us that we have now become sinless and righteous only because of the work of the baptism that Jesus received from John and the sacrificial blood He shed on the Cross. All of us, therefore, can boast of only the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
We praise the Triune God who has saved us. We have been remitted from our sins by believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ received from John and His sacrificial blood, and it is with this faith that we praise Him for His grace. The hymns we sing at the hour of worship praise God’s righteousness that we have come to have in our hearts by faith. You and I praise God our Savior to express the joy of salvation that is in our hearts with our hymns.
We are of those who have received eternal blessings from God, boasting of Him who has saved us from all the sins of the world. We can express our faith by commending and praising God. We praise the righteousness of the Lord because we believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has saved us from our sins by being baptized by John, dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead again. We are now able to praise Jesus for His mercy and love, for we believe in His work that has saved us.
The Apostle Paul told us that in our flesh we have nothing to boast of now. He also told us that we are to thank God for the salvation He has given us and live in joy. If there is an opportunity for us to boast of the Lord’s work by faith, it is when we preach the gospel of salvation that our Lord has given us. That is why the Apostle Paul said, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (Ephesians 1:1).
We should not forget our old selves when we were sinners. We have been washed from our sins and become righteous by faith all because we believe that the Lord shouldered our sins and was condemned for them through the baptism He received from John and the sacrificial blood He shed on the Cross. It is through our faith that we have been made righteous, for we believe that the Son of God who sacrificed Himself as our propitiation is our Savior. So, we can’t help but testify that we have become God’s workers thanks to His mercy.
The reason why we were able to realize and understand the Truth of the salvation of the water and the Spirit like this is because of the Word of revelation, in which God the Father manifested Himself as the Savior through the baptism that His Son received and the shedding of His blood. It is through our faith in the Lord’s Word of salvation that we have come to receive the remission of sins into our hearts. We have been saved from all our sins by faith, thanks entirely to the gift of the remission of sins that God has given us.
That is why the Apostle Paul said that we have nothing to boast of in our flesh, for we have been saved by believing in the righteousness of God. It is not because of our own merits that we have reached salvation, but it is because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has delivered us from the sin of the world through the baptism He received from John and the price He paid with the sacrificial blood He shed on the Cross.
It is written in Romans 3:29-31, “Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” The Apostle Paul said here that God is not the God of the Jews only, but the God of the Gentiles also.
To save the human race, whom God the Father created, from all sins, He raised up His Son, Jesus Christ, as the everlasting Priest and made Him carry out the work of salvation to deliver us the sinners. And today, God wants this Truth of salvation to be testified to people all over the world, so that they may be saved from their sins by believing wholeheartedly in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood. The Jewish people could be saved by believing in Jesus as their Savior. Does this then mean that the Gentiles are excluded? No, the Gentiles can also be washed from all their hearts’ sins once and for all by placing their faith in the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John the Baptist and the sacrifice He made with His blood.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist to shoulder your sins and mine once and for all, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby given us, His believers, the everlasting remission of sins once and for all. It is therefore now possible for us to be at once saved from all our sins by realizing and believing in the righteousness of God. Accordingly, we are now able to show our gratitude to our God by placing our faith in His righteousness alone.
Does this then mean that we can void the Word of the Law of God? No, of course not! God is the God of the Word. We must therefore believe in the Word of our God and follow it even more faithfully. Since the Word of God is God Himself, we must fear this Word, praise His grace, and worship Him in our lives. This is because the Word of God is God Himself.
There Are Some Christians Today Who Seek to Void the Word of the Law of God
There are many so-called “evangelicals” throughout the whole world nowadays. These people believe that the crucified Jesus alone has saved them from the sins of this world. They believe that the moment they believe in Jesus’ blood of sacrifice on the Cross, they are freed from all their sins. Among those who hold this faith, there are some people who say that the Word of the Law of God is no longer necessary now that they have been saved from the sins of the world. They say that since Jesus has saved them from the sins of the world by bearing the curses of the Law on the Cross, the Word of the Law is no longer needed. While what they are saying does mean that human beings have been delivered from the curses of the Law, it is utterly mistaken to claim that the Word of the Law of God is no longer necessary.
The Word of God is God Himself to us. Even though some Christians say that they have been saved from their sins once and for all thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, by no means does this vacate their need for the God of the Word. Such thoughts and beliefs are completely untenable. After all, just because we have been saved from our sins and are no longer our old sinful selves, this does not mean that we can once again drift away from Jesus Christ. This is akin to saying that since we are living in our own country as its citizens, the laws of the land are not needed and can be ignored.
Those who claim that the Word of the Law of God is not needed are just using His Word to pursue their own fleshly interests. They must admit their mistaken thoughts before God and turn around. It is an absolute must for us to wholeheartedly recognize every Word of God written in the Bible, believe in it, and follow it. Isn’t this the case? While it is true that the Lord has saved us from the curses of the Law, if we were to try to abolish the Word of God that points out our sins, we would surely have to be cursed just as it is written in His Word.
The Bible says, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).
God has revealed His justness with the Word of the Law, and to give salvation to the human race through His Word, He put on the flesh of man and became our Savior. It is with the Word of the Law that God speaks to human beings, His creatures, about their sins. And it is with the written Word that God has led sinners to be saved by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus.
When we believe in Jesus, we must believe in the Word of His baptism and His blood on the Cross. If you believe in only Jesus’ sacrificial blood on the Cross without believing in the baptism that He received from John, then you are standing against the Word of God. We must accept every Word of God into our hearts. We should not forget that we will otherwise fall into fallacy from misunderstanding God’s Word and end up leading not only our own souls but also other souls to ruin.
Today, there are Christians who, even while professing to have been saved from their sins by believing in Jesus, claim that they no longer need to admit their sins based on the law of God because they have been remitted from the sins they commit while living in this world. Why do they make such a claim? It is because they think their sins have all ended. However, their understanding of the salvation that Jesus has given is completely wrong.
The Apostle Paul said, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” Paul said this because we all sin while living in this world, but we can realize such sins through the Law, and whenever we do so, the Word that Jesus Christ took away our sins through His baptism exercises its power to cleanse our hearts.
Like this, the Word of the Law of God is as effective as the Word of the baptism of Jesus, and it teaches what is right and wrong for our acts. Therefore, the Word of the God-given Law and the Word of salvation are both indispensable to all of us. Every Word of God is even more indispensable to the born-again. That is because God’s Word is the guiding light that illuminates our path as we carry on with our lives in this world, helping us recognize darkness, and at the same time shining for us with the light of salvation. The Apostle Paul said this because every Word that God has spoken to us all is God Himself. The Word of God makes us realize that we are sinners before Him, and once we are born again by believing in the righteousness of God, it always illuminates our path ahead.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth over 2,000 years ago, was baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood and died on the Cross as the propitiation for our sins, rose from the dead again, and has thereby blotted out all the sins of His believers once and for all. Therefore, for those of us who have now been saved, the Word of God is the true Word of everlasting salvation. That is why God’s Word is so indispensable to us.
Although, in our hearts, we have the Word that has saved us from our sins, we must live by believing in every Word of God. Even though we have been saved from our sins by believing in the righteousness of God, it is all the more important for us to always have His Word in our hearts and be led by Him, for it is through this Word that we have been saved. Every Word of God is forever alive for us, and accordingly, it is now reigning over all our hearts, thoughts, and souls. We must therefore live by faith, recognizing that God is the God of the Word. Believing in the written Word of God as our God, we must follow Him by this faith.
It is written, “On the contrary, we establish the law.” The Word of the Law of God is His living commandment for us. Even though we have been saved from all our sins, God is not pleased if we do not admit the sins we commit before Him. This is because the hearts of the born-again are dwelt by the Holy Spirit along with the Word of God. God is saying to us, “You have been saved from the sins of the world. So how can you say that you no longer need My Word? This is akin to saying that you do not need Me anymore.”
We have been saved from all the sins of the world through our faith in the Word of God. If, despite this, we were to live just for our flesh rather than following God’s Word by faith, then we would be turning ourselves into evildoers before Him. Just as God told us to love Him and our neighbors as we love ourselves, we must live accordingly by faith. If we really believe that the Lord has saved us from our sins by being baptized by John and sacrificing Himself on the Cross as our propitiation, then we ought to live by placing our faith in His Word alone. None other than this is God’s guidance that leads us to the Word.
We must never forsake the Word of God intentionally. If you were to forsake God’s Word, you would be forsaking the very God who has saved you from the sins of the world. Through His written Word, God has made us realize our sins, led us, the sinners, to Jesus Christ, and blessed us to receive, through faith, the grace of salvation that has delivered us from the sins of the world once and for all. So let us thank God for His Word of salvation that has enabled us to realize that His Son, Jesus Christ, shouldered our sins once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and was condemned for our sins by being crucified as our propitiation.
By believing in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood, we have now been saved from all our sins. We are the believers whose faith is placed in the Word that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has become our everlasting Priest. Thanks to the true Word of the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and the blood He shed, we have reached salvation from all our sins. And God has turned such people like us into witnesses preaching His righteousness. We have come to love our God, for we believe in His Word, and it is with the Word that God has saved human beings from the sins of the world and loves them. The Word of God has saved us from our sins, and it is also with the Word that God has given salvation into our hearts and blessed us to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Obeying the Word of God by faith, we are now preaching the Truth of salvation throughout the whole world.
If anyone does not believe in the God-given Word and voids it instead, this person will make himself God’s enemy. Every Word that God has given us is indispensable to all human beings. Regardless of whether one has been saved from his sins or not, everyone needs the Word of God. Just as God is alive now, all His Word is also forever alive for mankind.
To bear on His own body the sins of those who broke the God-commanded Law and their punishment, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was baptized by John and shed His blood on the Cross. He has thereby saved mankind, making it possible for whoever believes in this Word of God to reach salvation.
As God’s children, we now have the duty to live a life that is worthy of being His people. We are living by trusting in the Word of God, for we have been saved from all our sins by believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received and His blood, and our existence is to please God. We must live a life that brings joy to God through our faith in His Word.
We have been saved from all our sins by believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and His blood on the Cross. When we look at how our hearts’ sins have all been blotted out, we can see how sure the Word of salvation that we have found is. The more we hear the gospel of salvation from the Word of God, the more assured we are of our salvation. Jesus is God Himself, coequal to God the Father. The Son of God came to this earth as our everlasting Priest, was baptized by John and crucified, and sacrificed Himself as our eternal propitiation to save us from the sins of the world. We can only thank Him, for salvation is reached by faith alone. We must find in this gospel Word of salvation the confidence to be certain of our salvation. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has now saved us from the sins of the world once and for all by being baptized and sacrificing Himself on the Cross.
The Word of God makes it known to us that His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Savior who has delivered us from our sins through the baptism He received from John and the sacrifice He made on the Cross. We have received such wonderful salvation by believing in the Word of our Lord God who has saved us from our sins. So I give all my thanks to God. Hallelujah! The Word of God has given us the grace of salvation. We believe in this Word of God, and with our faith we praise and thank Jesus Christ, God His Father, and the Holy Spirit who is guiding us. Hallelujah!
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