Part 5 of 16 -

God’s Remedy for ALL Sins at ALL Times

 

The blood of the innocent “lamb of God” was shed according to God’s prescribed plan… from the foundation of the world. We do not need to plead, grovel, wail, or to convince God to forgive us. He planned for the forgiveness of our sins “from the foundation of the world.”

Revelation 13:8b ... the book of life of the Lamb slain (already) from the foundation of the world.

In the heart of God, Christ was crucified, shedding His blood for the redemption of mankind, from before the world began. Christ’s shed blood was part of the “revelation of the mystery” (Rom 16:25), the secret plan of God that Christ first revealed to the Apostle Paul, for us. Christ’s blood was key to “the eternal purpose that was purposed in Christ Jesus” (Eph 3:11).

It is only the blood of Christ that remits (pays for) a man’s sins. Hebrews 9:22b … without shedding of blood is no remission. Christ’s shed blood makes the believing man clean and then suitable to receive the indwelling “Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2a). Christ’s shed blood is supreme, matchless, and absolutely effective.

In Paul's epistles, revealing his “mystery gospel” of the pure grace of God given him by the ascended Jesus Christ “for ye Gentiles” (Eph 3:1-2), there’s no requirement of repentance to gain for forgiveness of sins. Let’s now compare the remission of sins according to the words of Peter to “Ye men of Israel” on the day of Pentecost, with that of Paul to the believing members of “the body of Christ” in Rome (Rom 3:24-26).

  1. We must note that in Acts chapters 2 and 3 Peter is speaking ONLY to “Ye men of Israel ” (Acts 2:22, 3:12). This is per Jesus’ instructions (Mat 10:5-6). Peter is not speaking to the Gentiles.
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Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

  1. Paul writes here concerning “the remission of sins” accomplished by “faith in Christ’s blood.”
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Romans 3:24-26 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (the atoning victim or sacrifice) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in (pisteuo, trusts in) Jesus.

We clearly see a major difference in these statements of Peter and Paul; see two very different methods for “remission” or “forgiveness of sins,” and both occur after the cross. We must recognize that these apply at the two different peoples at two dispensational times. They apply to the two parties to whom they are spoken. Peter at Pentecost, after the cross, but still under the law dispensation (Matt 5:18), is speaking to “Ye men of Israel ,” while Paul writes to members of “the body of Christ” under the pure grace gospel.

  • Peter to Israel , says sins cannot be remitted (forgiven) until and unless the Jew repents and is baptized in water. Peter says a believing Jew cannot receive the regeneration that comes by the Holy Spirit unless and until he “repents and is baptized” in water. Thus, we see a basis for “baptismal regeneration,” that then applied to believing Jews, after the cross.
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Peter in Acts 2-3 was speaking before the coming of the thorough divine revelation of the cross and blood, which came first to the Apostle Paul several years after the cross, primarily for the Gentile “body of Christ.” Paul, here in Rom 3:25, shares what he received, by divine revelation as core to his gospel message of a “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph 3:2), from the ascended Christ (Gal 1:12). That gospel, which Paul calls “the mystery,” (Rom 16:25, Col 1:26-27), includes a different requirement “for the remission of sins”- faith in Christ’s blood, alone.