Obtaining Victory Over Sin - NetBibleStudy.com

Victory Over Sin 22Christ’s death included all of Hitler’s sins! God values Christ so much that Hecould accept Hitler with Christ’s merit, but He cannot accept the best personwithout Christ’s merit! Visualize the worst sin imaginable – I tell you on theauthority of God’s Word that Christ died for that sin!Jesus’ last word from the Cross was when He cried – “It is finished!” – Thisphrase is translated from just one word in the Greek – “tetelestai” –- It is aword used in business transactions. When this word was written across a bill,it meant, “Paid in full!” It means that we need never try to make up –- or payfor -- our sins on our own. Christ’s death paid for our sins in full!When God forgives us, our sins are blotted out so completely that He does notremember them; He never holds them against us again! The sins we confessedyesterday will never again be a barrier between us and God –- unless werefuse to accept God’s forgiveness or doubt the value of Christ’s sacrifice.To illustrate, Let’s say that you are working on a computer to find answers to aproblem. What happens if you get your information confused and make anerror? You press the “cancel,” or “delete,” button and all the information iseliminated. Now you can begin your calculation again without trying to sortout previous mistakes. The previous information is lost forever – somewhereout there in cyberspace, never to be retained! That’s what happens to our sinswhen God forgives us. Perhaps consequences might remain, but the guilt, thelegal condemnation for the offense, is gone forever!Because of the completeness of God’s forgiveness, we need never confess thesame offense twice. Of course, if we commit the same sin again, we mustconfess it again to be restored to fellowship. However, once a specific sin hasbeen confessed to God, determine, on the basis of God’s own Word, that youdo not have to confess it again, even if guilt feelings should emerge.A woman who confessed that she had committed sin, said that she still felt soguilty about the whole thing. When she was asked if she had confessed it toGod, she answered, “Oh yes, I’ve confessed it a thousand times.” She was asked,“Do you believe that God has forgiven you?” Her answer, “I’m not sure.”What was this woman really saying? Quite unintentionally, she was denyingthat God had included her sin in Christ’s death.Why do people constantly reconfess the same sins? Sometimes, it’s becausethey cannot believe that God would actually forgive so freely – surely theymust suffer guilt first. Or it may be that they doubt whether they were sincerewhen they confessed their sins the first time. Maybe they have neverexperienced forgiveness from any one in their life before and just do not knowhow to receive God’s precious grace of forgiveness. Whatever the cause, Satanis winning a victory when we refuse God’s forgiveness.The Bible presents Satan as “the accuser of the brethren” – and just when is heactively in this business? Revelation 12:10, referring to the time when Christwill rule the world, states, “for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which