Chapter 10

A Saviour From Sin

"Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins" Matthew 1:21.

"Ye know that He was manifest to take away sins; and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not" I John 3:5,6.

It is sin that is the cause of our misery. It is sin that provoked God and brought His curse on man. He hates sin with a perfect hatred and will do everything to root it out.1 It is to take away sin that God gave His Son--that Jesus gave Himself.2 It is God who sets us free. Not only free from punishment, curse, uneasiness and terror, but also free from sin itself.3 You know that He was manifested so that He might take away our sins. Let us receive this thought deep into our hearts--it is God who takes away our sins. The better we grasp this the more blessed our life will be.

All do not receive this. They chiefly seek to be freed from the consequences of sin, from fear and darkness; and the punishment that sin brings.4 It is for this reason that they do not come to the true rest of salvation. They do not understand that to be saved is to be freed from sin. Let us hold it firmly. Jesus saves through the taking away of sin. Then we will learn two things.

The first is to come to Jesus with every sin.5 Now that you have given yourself over to the Lord, do not lose heart over the sin which still attacks and rules you. Make no endeavour to take away and overcome sin merely by your own strength. Bring every sin to Jesus. He has been ordained by God to take away sin. He has already brought it to nothingness upon the cross and has broken its power.6 It is His work-- is His desire to set you free from it. Learn, then, to always come to Jesus with every sin. Sin is your deadly foe. If you confess it to Jesus--surrender it to Him--you will certainly overcome it.7

Learn to believe this firmly. This is the second point. Understand that Jesus Himself is the Saviour from sin. It is not you who must overcome sin with the help of Jesus, but Jesus Himself--Jesus in you.8 If, in this way, you become free from sin and enjoy full salvation, then endeavour to always stand in full fellowship with Jesus. Do not wait until you enter into temptation to ask for the help of Jesus. But let your life beforehand always be through Jesus. Let His nearness be your one desire. Jesus saves from sin, and to have Jesus is salvation from sin.9 O that we could rightly understand this! The saving from sin is not an occasional event, but, rather, it is a blessing through Jesus, to us and in us.10 When Jesus fills me, when Jesus is all for me, sin has no hold on me. "Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not."

Yes, sin is driven out and kept out only through the presence of Jesus. It is Jesus Himself, through His giving to me and His living in me, who is my salvation from sin.

Precious Lord, let Your light stream over me. Let it become clearer to my soul that You Yourself are my salvation. To have You with me, in me-this keeps sin out. Teach me to bring every sin to You. Let every sin drive me to a closer alliance with You. Then Your name will truly become my salvation from sin. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Deut. 27:26; Isa. 59:1,2; Jer. 44:4; Rom. 1:18

2) Gal. 2:4; Eph. 5:25,27; I Pet. 2:24; 1 John 3:3,8

3) Jer. 27:9; 1 Pet. 1:2,15,16; 2:14; 1 John 3:8

4) Gen. 27:34; Isa. 58:5,6; John 6:26; Jas. 4:3

5) Ps. 32:5; Luke 7:38; 19:7,8,10; John 8:11

6) Heb. 9:26

7) Rom. 7:4,9; 8:2; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Thess. 2:3

8) Deut. 8:17,18; Ps. 44:4; John 16:33; 1 John 5:4,5

9) 1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:13; Col. 3:3-5

10)Ex. 29:43; John 15:4,5; Rom. 8:10; Eph. 3:17,18

Notes

1. See of what importance it is that the Christian should always grow in the knowledge of sin. The sin that I do not know, I cannot bring to Jesus. The sin that I do not bring to Him is not taken out of me.

2. To know sin better the following things are required:

-The constant prayer, "Examine me; make known to me my transgression and my sin" (Job 13:23; Ps. 139:23,24).

-A tender conscience that is willing to be convinced of sins through the Spirit, as He also uses the conscience for this end.

---The very humble surrender to the Word, to think about sin only as God thinks.

3. The deeper knowledge of sin will be found in these results:

--That we will see as sin things which we previously did not regard in this light.

-That we will more exceedingly perceive the detestable character of sin (Rom. 7:13).

-That with the overcoming of external sins we come to understand more clearly the deep sinfulness of our nature, of the enmity of our flesh against God. Then we give up all hope of being or of doing anything good, and we are turned wholly to live in faith through the Spirit.

4. Let us thank God very heartily that Jesus is a Saviour from sin. The power that sin has had over us, Jesus now has. The place that sin has taken in the heart, Jesus will now take. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2).