Yet Without Sin

Hebrews 4:15-16 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.


2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Application:

· I can be comforted with the truth that nothing that entices me is foreign to my Lord
· God the Father made Christ to be regarded and treated as sin even though Christ Himself never sinned
· I may come before God and speak plainly and honestly, without fear that I will incur shame of punishment by doing so

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Cleanse Them From Sin

Zechariah 12:11-13:1 - On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives. “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.


Leviticus 16:29-30 - “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you—because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins.

Hebrews 9:14 - How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Jeremiah 31:34 - No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Application:

· Do I lead in repentance and mourning?
· Have I been cleansed from sin and impurity?
· Am I assured of sins forgiven?
· Has my conscience been cleansed from acts that lead to death?
· Do I know the Lord? Do I have true knowledge of Him?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Arm Yourselves Also With The Same Attitude

1 Peter 4:1 - Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

1 Peter 2:21 - To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Romans 6:11,14,18 - In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus…For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace…You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Philippians 2:5-7 - Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Conclusions:

• The patient endurance of injustice is part of God’s plan for the Christian
• It was an important feature of the true grace of God experienced by the readers
• Christ is the supreme example of suffering evil for doing good
• His experience as the suffering Servant-Savior transforms the sufferings of His followers from misery into privilege
• A Christian has changed masters
• Whereas a Christian was formerly a slave to sin, he becomes a slave to righteousness
• In spite of all that is unique and radically different about the person and work of Christ, Christians are to have His attitude of self-sacrificing humility and love for others
• Made Himself nothing means He emptied Himself
• He made Himself nothing, not by giving up deity, but by laying aside His glory and submitting to the humiliation of becoming man
• Jesus is truly God and truly man
• Another view is that He emptied Himself, not of deity itself, but of its prerogatives—the high position and glory of deity
• Nature of a servant emphasizes the full reality of His servant identity
• As a servant, he was always submissive to the will of the Father
• Count yourselves is the first step toward victory over sin in the believer’s life
• The believer is dead to sin and alive to God, and by faith he is to live in the light of this truth
• The first occurrence in Romans of in Christ is found in Romans 6:11, which is often found in Paul’s writings
• True believers are in Christ because they have died with Christ and have been raised to new life with Him
• Paul conceived of sin as power that enslaves, and so personified it
• The meaning of not under law is not that the Christian has been freed from all moral authority
• The Christian has, however, been freed from the law in the manner in which God’s people were under law in the Old Testament era
• Law provides no enablement to resist the power of sin; it only condemns the sinner. But grace enables.

Application:

• Do you patiently endure injustice?
• Are you a slave to righteousness?
• Do you have Christ's attitude of self-sacrificing humility and love for others?
• Do you see Christ as a servant?
• Have you died with Christ?
• Have you been freed from the law?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Believe In The Name Of The Son

1 John 5:13-16 - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.

1 John 3:23 - And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Hebrews 10:26-27 - If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Jeremiah 7:16 - "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.

Conclusions:

• This command has two parts: (1) Believe in Christ, and (2) love each other
• “Deliberately keep on sinning” refers to committing the sin of apostasy (total rejection of Christianity after being Christian)
• To reject Christ’s sacrifice for sins is to reject the only sacrifice; there is no other
• A true prophet would pray for his people
• In Jeremiah 7:16, there is virtually no hope for his people
• On various occasions, Jeremiah prayed for his countrymen

Application:

• Do you believe in Christ and love others?
• Do you deliberately keep on sinning?
• Do you pray for people there is no hope for?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Darkness

1 John 1:4-8 - We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

John 8:12 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Hebrews 9:14 - How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Proverbs 20:9 - Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"?

John 8:44 - You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Conclusions:

• It is also true that God is light
• And as Jesus followers reflect the light that comes from Him, they too are the light of the world
• Darkness is both the darkness of the world and that of Satan
• God is light; but Jesus is also the light from God that lights the way for life—as the pillar of fire lighted the way for the Israelites
• He was the one who offered the sacrifice, and He was the sacrifice itself
• Christ was unblemished in the entirety of His being, not just superficially
• To cleanse our consciences means to remove sin’s defilement from the very core of our being
• No one is without sin—but those whose sins have been forgiven have clean hands and a pure heart
• The Jews relationship to Satan was stated explicitly
• Jesus clearly excluded the idea of the universal fatherhood of God
• The Jews problem was basically spiritual, not intellectual
• Being oriented toward Satan, the Jews were bent on murder and eventually would succeed
• Truth is foreign to Satan and those who are his

Application:

• Do you reflect the light that comes from Jesus?
• Have you removed sin's defilement from the very core of your being?
• Do you have clean hands and a pure heart?
• Do you have spiritual problems?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Nor Does He Tempt Anyone

James 1:13-15 - When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Genesis 22:1 - Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

Genesis 3:6-7,15,22 - When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves…And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."… And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

Job 15:35 - They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit."

Conclusions:

• Tempted refers to temptations that test one’s moral strength to resist sin
• Because God in His very nature is holy, there is nothing in Him for sin to appeal to
• Isaac had grown into adolescence or young manhood when Abraham was asked to sacrifice him
• God tested Abraham. God did not tempt Abraham, for God does not tempt
• Satan tempts us in order to make us fall; God tests us in order to confirm our faith or prove our commitment
• Abraham answered with the response of a servant, as did Moses and Samuel when God called them by name
• The three stages—desire, sin, death—are seen in the temptations of Eve and David
• Good, pleasing and desirable are three aspects of temptation
• Once initiated, sinful thoughts develop quickly into evil acts
• No longer innocent like children, Adam and Eve had a new awareness of themselves and of each other in their nakedness and shame
• The antagonism between people and snakes is used to symbolize the outcome of the titanic struggle between God and the evil one, a struggle played out in the hearts and history of mankind
• The offspring of the woman would eventually crush the serpent’s head, a promise fulfilled in Christ’s victory over Satan—a victory in which all believers will share
• In a terribly perverted way, Satan’s predictions came true
• Sin, which always results in death, cuts the sinner off from God’ gift of eternal life

Application:

• Do you accuse God of tempting you?
• Do you answer with the response of a servant?
• Do you conceive desire?
• Do you give in to temptation?
• Do you conceive sinful thoughts?
• Are you ashamed when you sin?
• Are you a believer?
• Have you been cut off from God's gift of eternal life?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible.