“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)
Jesus died for the remission of our sins. We’ve all heard it repeatedly in our churches and Sunday school classes. But what does the Bible mean by saying that our sins have been remitted? When we remit payment to the bank, we send it away. Yet we all know from personal experience that Christian living does not bring an end to sin.
Several translations of the Bible substitute the word, forgiveness, for remission. I agree that our sins are forgiven when we come to a saving knowledge of Christ, but I’m not sure the word, forgiveness, fully embraces what remission really means. In fact, I’ve come to realize that thinking of remission only as forgiveness waters down the Gospel and overlooks an important spiritual truth. Let me give you an analogy that I believe makes my point.
Southern Gospel fans everywhere know Roger Bennett, longtime pianist for The Cathedrals. Bennett contracted leukemia several years ago and after a bone marrow transplant and a regiment of chemotherapy, doctors announced that his disease was in remission. Does that mean that it was gone? Of course not, because a little more than a year ago, he experienced a relapse, and underwent a second bone marrow transplant. Roger Bennett just left the hospital a week ago and will now undergo tests to see if the transplant worked. Fans everywhere are praying for good news, hoping to celebrate once again upon learning that Bennett’s disease is in remission.
Roger Bennett understands what the Bible means by remission. He knows that it stands for much more than forgiveness. Remission brings a life-saving quality with it, too.
For Roger Bennett, remission means that leukemia is no longer killing him. And when we hear that Jesus shed His blood for the remission of our sins, it means that our sins, past, present and future, no longer have to kill us either. That’s what Paul was trying to tell the Church at Rome when he said, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
There were a couple of trades that took place at the Cross that we should never forget. The one we frequently hear about is the redeeming power of the Cross. John the Baptist put it this way: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) What he meant was that when Jesus died on the Cross for us, he took our sins so that we could have the opportunity to appear righteous in the sight of God. Jesus traded in His righteousness for our sins.
But there was another wonderful exchange that took place that day, too. Jesus also took the death that comes from sin and gave us the opportunity to have life.
We are redeemed, able to appear righteous in the eyes of God. But our sins are also in remission because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. They can no longer kill us, which is why He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
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