Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 6
May 13, 1954
NUMBER 2, PAGE 5

"In His Own Body -- Our Sins"

Roy E. Cogdill

The penalty of sin is death, and has always been. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Spiritual death is the inevitable price men pay for sin. Paul teaches in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." In this same letter the apostle declares that "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." It is by their own participation in sin that spiritual death has come upon all men; by their own guilt they have come under the penalty of death.

It is the central theme of the New Testament that Jesus died in our stead. He took the stroke that was due to us; he paid the penalty of the law for us. His own blood removed that stain from us — a thing the blood of animals could never do. The Son of God was himself innocent of any wrong. Though he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet he did not sin. This was what made it possible for him to take our sin into his body. Paul says that though Christ was "in the form of God" he emptied himself, "and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:5-8) It would be utterly impossible for any man to have the hope of salvation and of eternal life, or to escape the eternal consequences of sin, had it not been for the fact that Jesus Christ voluntarily and in accordance with the will and plan of God, offered himself as the Lamb of God and paid the price of redemption. No wonder the New Testament teaches that by the grace of God he tasted of death for every man! No wonder it is declared that he gave himself as a ransom for all! No wonder Paul states, "in whom we have our redemption, even the remission of our sins through his blood!"

Paul was not alone in teaching these glorious truths. For Peter also says, "For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed." (1 Peter 2:21-24) On the Isle of Patmos the Apostle John spoke of ,Jesus as "the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood." (Rev. 1:5,6) And again, Paul wrote, "But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." (Rom. 5:8-10)

Throughout the Book of Hebrews the writer emphasizes the enormity of the sacrifice Christ made for human redemption. That is almost, in a sense, the central theme of the book. For all the whole scheme centers around Christ and his sacrifice. He is able to save us by a better sacrifice, and upon better promises, offering greater and more perfect provisions for us, all of it wrapped up in a better covenant. The writer says, "For such a high priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered up himself. For the law appointeth men high priests, having infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was after the law, appointeth a Son, perfected for evermore." (Heb. 7:26-28)

The same exalted theme appears in the ninth chapter of Hebrews in these words, "But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:11-14)

We could multiply these passages almost endlessly from the New Testament. They are pointed up for us in the words of the great old song that Christians have sung these many years, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!" That and that alone can purchase our redemption. Peter says we are redeemed by an incorruptible price, even the blood of the Lamb of God, a Lamb without spot and without blemish, who in the eternal purpose of God was offered and in the end of time was manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

All of us need to reconsider, and to believe more deeply than we have ever done before that redemption is ONLY through the blood of Jesus Christ. The whole world needs to be convinced of this. That man who tries to reach heaven through his own goodness, and through the deeds of mercy and charity which he has done is guilty of ignoring the blood of God's Son. No fraternal lodge on this earth can bring redemption from sin. No man can be saved, nor one single sin can be forgiven apart from the blood of Jesus Christ. It takes the blood of Christ to cleanse the soul. Neither goodness, nor deeds of mercy, nor works of charity can remove the guilt of a single sin. Christ's blood is the only hope. And how does one partake of the benefits of the blood of Christ? The, answer is easy. His blood was shed in his death. And Paul declares "we were buried therefore with him through baptism into death." It is by baptism that we are brought into the death of Christ, into that realm where we may benefit from the merit of the blood that was shed. The man who is not baptized cannot partake of the benefits made possible by the death of Christ. It is that simple. Why not obey the gospel and let the blood of Christ cover all your sin and your guilt?