Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgivenesses of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
Do you remember when Cain and Abel sacrificed for sins? Abel carried out God’s instruction and was accepted by God. Abel did it by faith that the blood of the animal would cover his sins before God. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, therefore we must not be like Cain who tried to use the work of his labor to gain acceptance by God.
Redemption is the payment of a price to ransom, i.e., to buy back or to deliver one from a situation from which one is powerless to liberate himself or herself from, or for which the penalty was so costly that they could never hope to pay the ransom price. We need to come before God and believe by faith that our sins are all forgiven because of the redemption through His blood. We were redeemed by His blood. The ransom was paid in full! The ultimate sacrifice is the blood of Jesus that was offered up once and for all and it satisfied the judgment and wrath of God. Therefore, it is written in this verse very clearly, it is in Him that His blood covers and washed us clean. We are hidden in Him!
When we are born-again, our sins are forgiven. They are totally gone. Under the Old Testament, sins were covered and atoned for, but they could never be washed away. Now in the New Testament, the blood of Jesus has power to wash us clean from sin.
Hebrews 8:12-13 (NKJV) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
The blood of Jesus established through the new covenant washed away our sins completely and caused us to have a clear conscience by doing what the sacrificial system could not do in eradicating our sins from us. When Christ completed the redemptive work, the sacrificial system became obsolete. In fact, the offering of Christ blood is so complete that we cannot even compare it to Abel’s offering of the animal because his offering only covered the sin but Christ’s blood removed it completely. Therefore, we are righteous and blameless in God’s sight! We can now have a cleansed conscience because of the blood of Christ that washed all our past away. Stop allowing those thoughts that condemned you based on the past. Rest on the completed work of Christ instead and draw near to God.
Hebrews 9:14 (NKJV) how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Can you release your past if God has already forgiven you of the wrongs? He remembers it no more. When we act and behave in line with the positional truth, we will have victory over sin and boldness to approach God. We are blessed, chosen, adopted as sons, without blame, righteous, holy, accepted and redeemed by His blood. Thus, we have the forgiveness of sins and the riches of His grace is pointed towards us!
All these belong to us in Christ, we can boast in the Lord about what He has done for us and we are strengthened by remembering these truths. Did you do anything to receive these spiritual blessings? Did you earn it through works? Absolutely not! It is purely the grace of God because of the redemptive work of Christ! Our resources in Christ are beyond what we can comprehend. If you try to add anything to Jesus, you subtract from Him because you can’t add anything to Him. Everything is resident in Him. That is why we preach Christ. When you come to know Christ, He is your life, and in Him resides every spiritual blessing that God could ever give you.
Sermon-series: Inner man
祂的血洗净了我们
以弗所书 1:7 我们藉这爱子的血得蒙救赎，过犯得以赦免，乃是照他丰富的恩典。
你记得该隐和亚伯所献的祭吗？亚伯执行了神的旨意并得神悦纳。亚伯凭着信心用动物的血在神面前遮掩了他的罪。在基督里，我们借着祂的宝血蒙救赎，所以我们不应该像该隐一样，想通过自己的劳动来得到神的认可。
救赎就是付上赎价，也就是说，将一个人从他自己无力解救自己，或因得释放的代价非常高昂而此人无支付能力的情况下，将这个人买赎回来。我们需要来到神面前相信我们的过犯得以赦免，因为宝血救赎了我们。我们通过耶稣的宝血蒙了救赎。救恩的代价已经付清！最终级的牺牲是耶稣的宝血，为众人一次献上，满足了神的审判和震怒。所以，在这些经文写得很清楚，是耶稣的宝血遮掩并洗净了我们。我们被隐藏在基督里！
当我们得到新生命的时候，我们的罪得以赦免。不再纪念了。在旧约中，过犯被遮掩和赎回但无法洗净。在新约中，耶稣的宝血有能力将我们从罪恶中洗净。
通过新约中耶稣的宝血，我们的罪完全被洗净，并且让我们有清洁的良心，这样的良心是除罪的献祭系统无法给我们的。当基督完成了救赎的工作，献祭系统就废止了。其实，基督所献的祭是完美的，是亚伯献动物为祭无法相比的，因为祭牲只是遮盖了过犯，而基督的宝血把罪恶完全除灭了。所以，我们在神的眼中是公义、毫无瑕疵的！我们现在拥有清洁的良心是因为耶稣的宝血将我们的过去洗净了。因此，不要再让过去来定罪你。安歇在基督完全的工作里，来亲近神吧。
希伯来书 9:14 何况基督藉着永远的灵，将自己无瑕无疵献给 神，他的血岂不更能洗净你们的心，除去你们的死行，使你们侍奉那永生 神吗？
你能因神已饶恕你的过犯而放过自己吗？祂已经不再记念你的罪了。当我们活出这个位份上的真理，我们能胜过罪并且能坦然无惧来到神面前。因着基督的宝血，我们蒙福、被选招、被接纳为神的儿女，毫无瑕疵、公义，被悦纳，得救赎。所以，我们的罪得赦免，并且祂丰富的恩典都要临到我们！
这是我们在基督里拥有的一切，我们能在主里夸耀祂为我们所作的一切，并且每当我们记起这些事的时候，我们也要得坚固。你是做了什么才得到这些属灵福分呢？你是通过你的努力得到这些吗？当然不是！这是借着神救赎的工作而得的恩典！我们在基督里的丰盛超越我们的理解。 若你想给耶稣添加任何东西，你仍是从祂那里提取，因为你并无法为耶稣添加任何东西。万有都本于祂。这就是为什么我们要宣扬基督。当你认识基督的时候，祂就成为你的生命，并且在基督里有着神要赐予的所有属灵福气。
讲章系列: 内在的人
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