We Live Free
We were never meant to continue to live in sin after receiving God’s saving grace. But unfortunately, while we are in this life, we are susceptible to sin. John assures us that the blood of Jesus is not good for only one cleansing but has the power to keep us clean: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (v. 9).
Again, John was not saying that a believer, now freed from sin, should continue practicing sin. There is a clear difference between living in sin and occasionally falling into it. There is a difference between practicing sin and being troubled by it.
Some believe a person can be freed from sin in such a way that he or she will never sin again. The Bible does not teach the attainment of sinless perfection. Rather, it teaches freedom from the power of sin, which means that a person is no longer forced to do it: “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
After you have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, sin becomes a matter of choice. You can reject the power of the indwelling Christ and choose to sin, or you can call upon the righteousness that is in Jesus and experience His help in overcoming sin. You are no longer obligated to do wrong by the “law of sin.” (See Romans 7:14-25.)
Jesus is the solution. We read in 1 John 2:1-2, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
I want to continue to emphasize that the righteousness required of us is not administered or controlled by the Law, and it is not accomplished without God’s help. The good news of the gospel is not only that Christ died for sinners but also that He came to take up residence in the life of a believer. This and only this is what makes real righteousness possible.
The life of Christ in us gives the strength to do what we cannot do by ourselves. The measure of the work of Jesus on the cross is meant to become a measurable work in us. Of all the truths of God’s Word, this is one of the most misunderstood and neglected. For some reason, we gravitate to the Law or to works to make us righteous rather than to Christ, and in the process we miss God’s grace and power.
My brothers and sisters, may it not be so. In this Easter season, may we understand and appropriate the full power of the blood of Christ shed at Calvary over us, in us and through us so that we walk in the freedom, love and strength God intends for us.
Ray Beeson is founder of Overcomers Ministries, a teaching ministry with a special emphasis on spiritual warfare and prayer. He is the author of numerous books, including his latest, Signed in His Blood, which released last month.
Watch evangelist Reinhard Bonnke teach on what it truly means to be marked by the blood of Jesus at blood.charismamag.com
