Even then our inability to comprehend fully the loss this entails calls me to be cautious in any attempt to describe what freedom from the presence of sin might be like. Nonetheless what says the Scripture?

Everything about our existence is marred by sin. Nothing has escaped the touch of sin’s denigrating influence. Everything is in decay. Nothing is sustained indefinitely. Our hearts cry out in pain. We cannot feel because sin has dulled our sense of touch. We cannot see because sin has clouded our vision. We cannot hear because sin has silenced the voice of God. We cannot taste because sin has made us calloused to the true things of God.

Our bodies are racked with pain. Our dreams continue to go unfulfilled. We are called upon to live by faith and not by sight because sin has blinded us to what is real. We think we know what reality is, but we cannot fathom the depth of our ignorance.

The penalty of sin has been broken. In its wake lies freedom from the power of sin. This is true now. What lies ahead is a liberating freedom from the presence of sin. In that day the siren voice of sin will be silent FOREVER.

Revelation 21 provides for us a beauty of what awaits those who are freed from

the penalty of sin. “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

I believe this is true for all those who know God. I do not believe this will take place only after the believer sits in utter shock and mournful regret for failed opportunities. There is coming a day when sin will be completely eradicated from the very presence of the believer.

When believers meet God for the first time, the very presence of sin will be completely removed. In time, the old self has been crucified with Christ. For us who believe today, our old self is judicially dead. But there is coming a day when believers will experience the actual removal of the old self. This will take place immediately upon either death or His return. The official event will be at the Bema Seat Judgment when Jesus Christ will make complete His cross work, when He will unveil for the first time the work of the Holy Spirit in and through His people. In that day, His people will see for the first time the full work of the Holy Spirit in them and through them to those around them. It will be a crushing moment of unbridled joy and celebratory worship.

It is a day when the glory of God will encircle the globe and everyone everywhere at all times will bow down before Him and worship Him. In that day, the residue of sin’s presence will be completely wiped out from the people of God. Wow, what a glorious day awaits the people of God! It is this hope that sustains us in our present pilgrimage. So today, as the people of God, let us joy in a future hope, a hope that penetrates and sustains in this present moment. May God continue to be glorified.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series When Victory Seems Lost.

It is the freedom from the penalty of sin that now affords me freedom from the power of sin. Sin’s authority over a people marked by the cross has been completely removed. Our death to sin has freed us from sin. Sin is no longer to rule over us. Sin once reigned and its reign resulted in death (Rom. 5:21), but sin’s reign has come to an end (Rom. 6:12).

The reign of sin speaks of its authority or power over its subjects. Sin was once king but has since been dethroned. Our Lord Jesus Christ led an insurrection against it and won. Sin no longer has authority over the people of God. It is hard for us to process the idea that sin no longer has authority over us when it would appear that we sin so easily. Yet, sin has no power over us because of Jesus Christ.

Sin pulls relentlessly at the hem of our garments. It leans against us ever so slightly but persistently until we bow under its enduring weight. This is the power of sin. It makes us doubt the goodness of God. It wants us to believe that His love for us is conditional and His acceptance of us is performance based. It delights in keeping us in bondage to its residue. It wants us to believe that God’s forgiveness, although complete, is still qualified. This is the power of sin. And it is this that the power of the cross has destroyed. As His people we have freedom from the power of sin.

Sin is no longer our master. We no longer have to obey its dictates. We can and should and must say no to sin. Its voice has been silenced. What and when we do hear from it, is but a whisper of its former shout.

To submit to sin is like offering to pay the tip when the entire meal was free. It is trying to “do” something . . . anything . . . so that a sense of personal worth and accomplishment can be embraced. But to refuse the rest that is ours in Christ Jesus as it relates to our battle against the power of sin is to refuse rest. It is to work when there is nothing more to do.

But what about the various commands of the New Testament as it relates to our “battle” against sin and the old nature? Would not these commands suggest that the work is far from over? There are various commands throughout the New Testament that speak of our fight against the flesh (Rom. 6:13; 12:1, 2; 13:14; Gal. 5:16, 24; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:5; 1 Pet. 2:11; 1 John 2:15).

This is only representative of the idea as it exists in the New Testament. Unfortunately for us we have made the commands of the New Testament prescriptive instead of descriptive. We have so individualized the commands of Scripture that we isolate them from the broader idea and in so doing become enslaved to them. The commands describe for us what freedom from the penalty of sin looks like in the life of God’s people. Because we are freed from the penalty of sin we are free from the power of sin. Power over my sin is true because of freedom from the penalty of sin.

• Power over sin presents the members of the body to God.
• Power over sin no longer makes provision for it.
• Power over sin puts off the old nature.
• Power over sin no longer walks according to the flesh.
• Power over sin considers the members of the earthly body as dead.
• Power over sin abstains from fleshly lusts.
• Power over sin is no longer in love with the world or the things of the world.

This is what freedom from the penalty of sin looks like in the people of God. To think you have to access this power in order for it to be true is erroneous. It is true whether or not you access it. This does not mean you will never sin or that you will be able to live in sinless perfection. This does mean you will not be under its authority.

We have died to sin. We are no longer a part of its family. We have no inheritance with it. We are no longer alive to it. With all of this noted John tells us that we are foolish to live in sin denial (1 John 1:6, 8, 10). Sin is real and we are confronted by its reality on a daily basis. And even though this is true I do not have to obey its dictates.

When I find myself having failed in my fight against the flesh, what do I “do?” I would like to note several biblical ideas. But remember these thoughts are descriptive not prescriptive. You could do a number of different things and still be biblical and you could not do several other commands and still be biblical. The listing is descriptive not prescriptive.

• When I find myself having sinned I agree with God concerning its nature and speak to Him about it (1 John 1:9).
• I realize that the sin is not my identity. It is what I once was, but no longer am, although I still have. As such the sin is not my pattern. It does not define who I am (2 Cor. 5:21).
• I ask the Holy Spirit to put sin from me and to work the Spirit of Christ in me and through me (Eph. 4:22-24).
• I also ask the Holy Spirit to make Christ more real to me than my fleshly appetites that war against my soul (2 Pet. 2:10).

I am not giving this to you to tell you what you should do. There are a number of descriptive verses that address the issue of sin and the Christian. These ideas are broad generalizations as to what freedom from the power of sin looks like in those who have been freed from the penalty of sin.

If Jesus were to speak audible to us today He would say, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11) and “I say these things in order that you sin not, but if you do, you have an advocate before the Father and I am He” (1 John 2:1, 2).

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series When Victory Seems Lost.

Let me begin with a sentence that I will break down into five short statements.

The work of Christ (1 Pet. 2:24)

as the outworking of the Trinitarian eternal purpose (Eph. 1:4)

in behalf of His people (Matt. 20:28)

against sin (Rom. 8:3)

is finished (John 19:30).

So what…what difference does this “doctrine” make in the daily grind and routines of life?

My attempt in this short meditation is to unpack this idea.

First, sin is what separates the created from its Creator. The idea of sin might not be politically correct, but it is biblically non-negotiable. Everyone everywhere at all times has sinned and will sin. There is not only the sin of Adam that has been“imputed” to everyone’s account, but there is also the personalized and individualized transgressions through acts of commission and ignorant omission of God’s unchanging laws that places everyone everywhere at all times in open rebellion against Him.

It is this sin that makes you and I “feel” lousy at our ineptness. It is this sin that “fills” us with feelings of guilt when we breach known law. It is the twinge of conscience at your our blatant hypocrisy and righteous self-deception. You might live in a world of your own making and deny sin, but you can never escape its penalty.

Second, the penalty is what sin incurs. It is the inherent or intrinsic demerit that all sin carries with it. There is a horizontal consequence that happens in time and is temporary and then there is a vertical consequence that awaits everyone everywhere at all times who faces God in the absence of the Lord’s wrath placating sacrifice.

This penalty creates debt and guilt. It causes a breach in a relationship that is humanly incapable of being mended. The penalty for sin makes us so repulsive and vile that nothing known to man can wash us clean. God’s response to sin is undiluted wrath. The enormity of God’s wrath against sin has yet to be measured and is perhaps incapable of being measured. The wrath of God against sin has been seen at Calvary and attempts have been made for finite minds to wrap around a biblical definition, but in the end we can still not fathom the sheer horror of God’s wrath against it.

Every feeling you have that undermines your sense of self worth, every time you feel woefully inadequate and apathetically complacent and entirely empty, that feeling is part of the penalty of sin. Your inability to measure up as a spouse, parent, employee, friend, and all-around guy is the penalty against sin.

Third, freedom from the penalty of sin is what we have as His people. Let us go back to our initial sentence.

The work of Christ (1 Pet. 2:24)

as the outworking of the Trinitarian eternal purpose (Eph. 1:4)

in behalf of His people (Matt. 20:28)

against sin (Rom. 8:3)

is finished (John 19:30).

The cross was the work of Christ. The Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). This is the work given to Him by His Father that He came to fulfill. It was His work. It was not a work that we could do for ourselves.

The work of Christ on the cross was the outworking of the Trinitarian eternal purpose. The entire Godhead was involved in the freeing of His people from the penalty of sin. It was not done in isolation. It was done in counsel within the eternal Godhead. The redemptive activity of Christ in behalf of His people was no accident. It was not a response prompted by man’s fall.

When the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world this action on His part was intentional and certain. He would secure for Himself a people called by His name. The enormity of His actions in behalf of His people has huge ramifications for everyone everywhere at all times, but as it relates to His redemptive activity it is singularly focused on His people.

The redemptive activity of Christ negates the penalty of sin. There is an effectual element to the cross. It destroys the penalty of sin. Everything noted earlier has been negated by the cross. We are free from the penalty of sin.

Finally, the work of Christ as the outworking of the Trinitarian eternal purpose in behalf of His people against sin is finished. Nothing more can be done and nothing more will be added. When you and I accepted by faith the work of Christ we entered into a reality that no longer acknowledged the penalty that existed because of sin. We are free from that world. As slaves we have been emancipated from the tyranny of sin. The grasp of sin has been forever broken.

We do not have to live in a world of rejection, failure, guilt, unrest, coupled with feelings of inadequacy and breakdown. The penalty against sin has been fully met in the provision of Christ. This is what we have and this is what we are to enjoy.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series When Victory Seems Lost.