Your Sins Are Gone

Charles Spurgeon preached, "Now, he who believes in Jesus, who puts his hands upon the head of Jesus of Nazareth, the Scapegoat of His people, has lost his sins. His faith is sure evidence that his iniquities were of old laid upon the head of the great Substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ was punished in our place."

The scapegoat in the Old Testament symbolically took away the sins of the nation of Israel (Leviticus 16). The High Priest laid his hands upon the scapegoat. That symbolized the transfer of the peoples sins to another. Then, the scapegoat was led into the wilderness, symbolizing sins taken away. That Old Testament figure points to our Lord Jesus Christ. As a believer in Christ, your sins are gone. 

The scapegoat in the Old Testament foreshadowed Jesus taking our sins away. The Lord Jesus Christ was punished in our place as sinners at the cross. That's the Gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). He who was sinless, was punished for our sins. Through faith in Christ, your sins are gone.

Spurgeon taught the truth of the Gospel, when he declared faith is the evidence. By grace through faith in Christ, your sins are gone. The Bible teaches, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). God's Son has taken all our sins away. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is evidence that your sins are gone.

Unbelief Rejects Christ

Unbelief is a sin which rejects God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unbelief cannot receive God's blessings in Christ. Unbelief spurns the goodness of God. Unbelief is the choice of a heart that is hard against the goodness of God. It never considers that it could be wrong, even eternally wrong. Unbelief defiantly says, no, to all that God graciously offers in Christ. Unbelief is a sin that rejects the love, goodness, and grace of Christ. Unbelief sees the promises of Christ as foolishness.

Unbelief rejects the blessings of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1). All the blessings of God come to us in Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Believing is receiving Christ.

The Holy Spirit comes to expose the sin of unbelief. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit convicts of unbelief, "of sin, because they believe not in Me" (John 16:9). Don't let unbelief rob you of God's blessings in Christ. The sin of unbelief rejects Christ.

Faith is an abiding gift of the Holy Spirit; unbelief rejects the gift of God in Christ. Faith is testifying that Christ is trustworthy; unbelief will not trust in Christ. Faith is walking the light of Christ; unbelief stands in darkness without Christ. Faith in Christ is from a heart transformed by the grace of God; unbelief is from a hardened heart rejecting Christ.

God's Covenant Oath

God promised with a covenant oath. God's promises to believers are based upon a covenant oath that cannot be broken. In ancient times, covenant vows were sealed in the death of a sacrificial animal. God's everlasting covenant is sealed in the blood of His Son (Hebrews 13:20). It's God's covenant word to you as a believer in Christ.

God promised with a covenant oath forever. Our faith in God, the forgiveness of our sins, our eternal destiny, and God's work in our lives are all guaranteed through God's covenant word. "Forever O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89). God's covenant promises are made with an oath forever.

God promised with a guarantee in Christ (Hebrews 7:22). His oath of covenant promises are for every believer in Christ. Jesus is your surety or guarantee to the covenant promises that cannot be broken (Hebrews 7:22). The Bible declares God's word is forever settled in heaven. That's God's covenant word to every believer. 

God promised in an everlasting covenant for all who believe in Christ. Read the promises of God in the Bible, which are forever the same. God has sworn with a covenant oath, and will not repent. He will not change His mind. "God, who cannot lie, promised before time began" (Titus 1:2). God's covenant promises in Christ are Yes and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20).

How to Be Justified

Be justified based upon the righteousness of Christ. His sinless life and substitutionary death on the cross for sinners is the basis for your justification. Your sin debt is paid in full, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24).

Be justified by faith in Christ. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Faith is trust and confidence, relying upon Christ alone. By faith in Christ, you are justified with God.

Be justified through grace in Christ. Faith receives the grace of God in Christ. Faith is the evidence that you are justified before God. It is your assurance of faith. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed (Romans 4:16).

Be justified in Christ unto righteousness. The only way you can become righteous before God is by faith in Christ alone. Righteousness is the gift of God to believers. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans 4:5).

The Holy Spirit In You

The Bible teaches that God is everywhere. He is omnipresent. However, God's will is to indwell believers. He makes His home in your heart. Believers in Jesus Christ become the house of God. You are God's temple. The Holy Spirit is in you. "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God" (1 Corinthians 6:19).

The Holy Spirit is in all who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells you to do God's will. He changes your heart. He gives you new desires. God works in you according to His good pleasure. "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). God is pleased with you, because the Holy Spirit is working in you.

The Holy Spirit is in your heart. That is your mind, will, and emotions. He is doing more in you than you can understand. He is always doing more than you ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). The Lord will use your life to bring glory to His name. The Holy Spirit gives you the ability to do God's will.

Thank God today that the Holy Spirit is in you. Rest in the assurance that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Rely on God's ability to do more through you. Give God all the glory for what He does in you and through you. Remember, wherever you go and whatever you do, the Holy Spirit is in you.

The Prince of Princes

 The Prince of princes (Daniel 8:25) is our Lord Jesus Christ in prophecy.  The expression refers to the one who is ruler over rulers, the highest one above all rulers. Jesus said after his glorious resurrection, "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). He is the "God of gods" (Daniel 11:36). Jesus is the "King of kings" (Revelation 19:16). These titles make it clear. Jesus is Lord over all.

Daniel (8:17, 23) speaks of the "time of the end." Jeremiah the prophet called it the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). It is a time when God's wrath will be poured out on planet earth (Revelation 16:1). It is the final period of history we know as the great tribulation (Matthew 24:15-22). 

The background for Daniel 8:23-26 is the end times, when Antichrist will oppose God and God's people. The "king of fierce countenance" is the Antichrist. He will be an evil character like unto Antiochus Epiphanes in several ways. Compare Daniel 8:23-26 with Daniel 8:9-14. Both blaspheme God and persecute the Jewish people. Both claim to be gods who deceive the people.

All of the above sets the stage for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Prince of princes, Lord over all, will defeat all his enemies with the sword of his word (Revelation 19:21). That's when Jesus our Lord defeats Antichrist. The beast and his false prophet are "cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20).

How to Trust God

Trust God's word. The Bible gives you the written promises of God. You can trust the promises of God, because He is the Promise-Keeper. His word of promise is your sure foundation. You can trust God through every situation of life. Trust God with absolute confidence in His word of promise. 

All relationships are built upon trust. Your relationship with God is trusting Him. God is trustworthy. As a child will trust his father, so God invites you to trust Him as your Father in heaven. If an earthly father can be trustworthy, your Father in heaven is infinitely much more. In God you trust as your Father in heaven.

Trust God when you don't understand. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding"(Proverbs 3:5). We cannot understand all the ways of God. Trusting God is confidently believing in His ability to help us and direct us.

Trust God in all circumstances. "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust" (Psalm 91:2). No one can force you to trust God. On the other hand, no one can stop you from trusting God. If your heart is changed by the grace of God, you will trust in the Lord.