The Sins That Are Past -
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
In
Chapter 3 of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans he declares that God has
set forth Christ as a satisfaction for man’s sin and that redemption is
obtained by faith in “His blood,” or His payment for sin at Calvary,
entirely apart from works, religious or otherwise (Rom. 3:21-26).
But
in this same passage he states that this “remission” concerns the “sins
that are past” (Ver. 25). What does he mean by this? Some have taught
from this verse that when a sinner turns to God for salvation all his
sins are forgiven up to that time and now that he is saved he is
henceforth responsible for himself. But this would mean that God saves
men by His grace only to turn them over again to their own weak and
sinful natures. If this were the case, the converted sinner would be
lost again the same day, for what Christian believer is wholly free from
sin?
Paul
rather looks back here at past ages and declares that we now know and
proclaim that men like Abel, Noah and Abraham, and also like Moses,
David and Daniel (who lived under the Law) were actually saved by the
redemption wrought by Christ, although Christ’s death was still future
in their day. In other words, Christ died, not only for the sins which
we have committed, but also for the “sins which are past.” The believers
of past ages simply believed what God told them then, and God counted
them righteous (Gen. 15:6) on the basis of Christ’s coming payment for
sin.
We
have the same truth set forth in Hebrews 9:15, where we are told that
Christ’s death availed also “for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first covenant,” i.e., the Law.
How
blessed we are to live at a time when God’s plan of salvation has been
fully revealed, and that we can now look to the Lord Jesus Christ and
exclaim with Paul:
“He loved me, and gave Himself for me!” (Gal. 2:20).
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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