For Our Sins

Galatians 1:3-5 - Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 - For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

1 Corinthians 1:20 - Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

John 1:29 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

2 Corinthians 4:4 - The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Conclusions:

• Paul’s source of the early Christian tradition was other Christians
• The heart of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried and that He was raised from the dead
• Wise man is probably a reference to Gentile philosopher in general
• Scholar is probably the Jewish teacher of the law
• All humanly devised philosophical systems end in meaninglessness because they have a wrong concept of God and His revelation
• Lamb of God is an expression found in the Bible only in John 1
• John was saying that Jesus would be the sacrifice that would atone for the sin of the world
• The god of this age is the devil, who is the archenemy of God , the unseen power behind all unbelief and ungodliness
• Those who follow the devil have in effect made him their god.
• Christ, who is both the Incarnate Son and the Second Person of the Trinity, authentically displays God to us, for He is the very radiance of divine glory
• Christ is the image of God in which man was originally created and into which redeemed mankind is being gloriously transformed until at last, when Christ comes again at the end of this age, we who believe will be like Him
• “Not against flesh and blood” is a caution against lashing out against human opponents as though they were the real enemy and also against assuming that the battle can be fought using merely human resources
• Rules and forces are Paul’s allusions to powerful beings in the unseen world

Application:

• Is your source of tradition other Christians?
• Do you have a wrong concept of God and His revelation?
• Did Jesus sacrifice atone for your sins?
• Has your mind been blinded?
• Do you lash out against human opponents?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Atoning Sacrifice For Our SIns

1 John 4:10-11 - This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Romans 5:10 - For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

1 John 2:2 - He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 Corinthians 10:14 - Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Conclusions:

• Man is the enemy of God, not the reverse
• The hostility must be removed from man if reconciliation is to be accomplished
• God took the initiative in bringing this about through the death of His Son
• To reconcile is to put an end to hostility, and is closely related to the term justify
• “Saved through this life” is a reference to the unending life and ministry of the resurrected Christ for His people
• Since we were reconciled when we were God’s enemies, we will be saved because Christ lives to keep us
• God’s holiness demands punishment for man’s sin
• God, out of love, sent His Son to make substitutionary atonement for the believer’s sin
• In this way the Father’s wrath is satisfied; His wrath against the Christian’s sin has been turned away and directed toward Christ
• Forgiveness through Christ’s atoning sacrifice is not limited to one particular group only; it has worldwide application
• Forgiveness must be received by faith
• 1 John 2:2 does not teach that all people ultimately will be saved, it teaches that God is an impartial God
• Corinthian Christians had come out of a background of paganism
• Temples for the worship of Apollo, Asclepius, Demeter, Aphrodite and other gods and goddesses were seen daily by the Corinthians as they engaged in the activities of everyday life
• The worship of Aphrodite, with its many sacred prostitutes, was a particularly strong temptation
• God so loved the world is the great truth that motivated God’s plan of salvation
• Although believers are also called sons of God, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique sense

Application:

• Have you been reconciled?
• Have your sins been atoned for?
• Do you flee from idolatry?
• Are you a son of God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Atoning Sacrifice For Our Sins

1 John 2:2 - He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 1:29 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Conclusions:

• He is the One who turns aside God’s wrath, taking away our sins, and not only ours but the world’s
• God’s holiness demands punishment for man’s sin
• God, therefore, out of love, sent His Son to make substitutionary atonement for the believer’s sin
• In this way the Father’s wrath is satisfied; His wrath against the Christian’s sin has been turned away and directed toward Christ
• Forgiveness through Christ’s atoning sacrifice is not limited to one particular group only; it has worldwide application
• Forgiveness must be received by faith
• 1 John 2:2 does not teach universalism, but that God is an impartial God
• God so loved the world is the great truth that motivated God’s plan of salvation
• The world is all people on earth—or perhaps all creation
• Although believers are also called sons of God, Jesus is God’s son in a unique sense
• Lamb of God is an expression found in the Bible only in John 1
• Many suggestions have been made as to the precise meaning of Lamb of God
• Lamb of God seems to be a general reference to sacrifice, not the name for a particular offering
• John was saying that Jesus would be the sacrifice that would atone for the sin of the world

Application:

• Has God's wrath been turned away from you?
• Are you a son of God?
• Has Jesus atoned for your sins?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible