Question 152. What recompense does every sin deserve at the hand of God?

 

Question 152. What recompense does every sin deserve at the hand of God?

Answer. Every sin, however very small, is against the sovereignty, goodness, and holiness of God, and against his righteous law, and therefore deserves his wrath and curse, both in this life and in that which is to come; and cannot be expiated but by the blood of Christ.

Matthew 12:31-32 “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven them, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven them, either in this age or in the age to come.”

There are sins that can be forgiven and sins that cannot be forgiven, and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. When those who do not believe in Jesus repent and believe that he died in union with Jesus Christ, all the sins of the world can be forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.

But whoever does not believe in the works of Jesus blasphemes against the Holy Spirit. This means that even believers who claim to believe in Jesus do not believe in the works of Jesus.

When Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, John the Baptist said to Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus, as the Lamb of God, will take away all the sins of the world, and this was accomplished by Jesus’ death on the cross.

However, even though all the sins of the world are forgiven through Jesus Christ, the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not forgiven. This is because even though Jesus took all the sins of the world, there are people who do not believe in this fact, and so the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit remains. However, many church people say that we must repent every time a sin occurs in this world. However, Jesus already took all the sins of the world 2,000 years ago. Jesus said that he took all the sins of the world, but church people living today still insist on repentance for sin.

When Jesus said that He took away all the sins of the world, does that mean He forgave everything that happened up until then, but not everything that happened after that? Those who believe in Jesus believe that this also applies to people born 2000 years later. If they believe that Jesus took away all the sins of the world on the cross 2000 years ago and that this applies today, why don’t they believe that believers are forgiven for all the sins that they commit after they first repent and believe in Jesus?

While saying that Jesus took all the sins of the world on the cross can be applied to people today, 2000 years later, what is the basis for thinking that it does not apply to oneself? It is impossible to think that believing in Jesus Christ and being forgiven of all sins means believing that sins will still occur and remain until the believer dies.

So, rather than relying on the words that Jesus took all sins on the cross, they think that they can be forgiven only if they repent, and they make Jesus continue to shed blood on the cross for those who repent.

The reason why believers only partially believe in what Jesus did is because they only see their own identity with their physical eyes. When they enter into Christ, their identity is not in the flesh but in the spirit. The spirit is imprisoned in the body, but through Christ, the spirit is revived and receives the life of resurrection. That is why they are seated in heaven.

But since the flesh is alive, the mind of the saints is a coexistence of the mind of the flesh and the mind of the spirit. Romans 8:5-7 『For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God; for it does not submit to the law of God, nor indeed can it.』

Those who consider humans as a mixture of spirit and flesh cannot distinguish between the mind of the spirit and the mind of the flesh, and become confused about their own identity. So they sometimes think of their identity as the mind of the flesh, and sometimes as the mind of the spirit, and they conclude that humans cannot help but sin. So they look at themselves sinning every day realistically and repent to receive forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus.

God knows the difficulties of the saints who place their identity in the mind of the spirit, and He tells them that He will never ask them again about the sins of the world, and He demands that they put effort into evangelism. Romans 8:1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” The saints must achieve spiritual growth through the filling of the Holy Spirit and fight and overcome the sins that come from the flesh. In other words, a spiritual war with oneself begins.

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