Thursday

Related Verses
John 1:29
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Rom. 8:2-3
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.
3 For that which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh,

1 John 3:20-21
20 Because if our heart blames us, it is because God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not blame us, we have boldness toward God;

Lev. 4:3
3 If the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him present a bull of the herd without blemish to Jehovah for a sin offering for his sin that he committed.

Lev. 5:6
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to Jehovah for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a sheep or a goat, as a sin offering; and the priest shall make expiation for him on account of his sin.

John 1:29
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

1 Pet. 2:24-25
24 Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed.
25 For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Related Reading
The efficacy of the sin offering is not just in the fact that it deals with sin. The result is far greater. In the sin offering, the fallen man, the old man, included in the flesh of Christ, is dealt with (Rom. 6:6); sin in the nature of fallen man is condemned (8:3); Satan, sin itself, is destroyed (Heb. 2:14); the world is judged; and the ruler of the world is cast out (John 12:31). 

If we see this revelation, we will see that taking Christ as our sin offering is not simply a matter of confessing our sin and having it dealt with. Taking Christ as our sin offering also means that our old man, Satan, the world, and the struggle for power are dealt with. Since all these things are included in the sin offering, taking Christ as our sin offering is not a simple matter. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 174-175) 

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The New Testament emphasizes the fact that Christ was crucified in the flesh and died in the flesh. He did not die in anything other than the God-condemned flesh…When the Lord Jesus was crucified in the flesh, God condemned sin in the flesh [Rom. 8:3]. Sin is not merely a matter; sin is a person, and this person needed to be condemned. Through the Lord’s death on the cross, God condemned sin in the flesh. This means that when the flesh was crucified, sin in the flesh was condemned. 

Romans 6:6 tells us that our old man was crucified with Christ. Our old man is in the flesh. Because Christ was crucified in the flesh, our old man, who is in the flesh, could be crucified with Him. 

Through the death of Christ not only was sin condemned and not only was our old man crucified, but also Satan, the devil, was destroyed (Heb. 2:14). Furthermore, through the cross of Christ the world was judged and the ruler, the prince, of the world was cast out (John 12:31)…This means that through Christ’s death in His flesh all negative things were dealt with. 

We need to have this realization whenever we take Christ as our sin offering. The sin offering means that sin in the flesh has been condemned, that our old man has been crucified, that Satan has been destroyed, and that the world has been condemned and the ruler of the world cast out. 

When we repented to the Lord and received Him as our Savior, we were enlightened to see that we are evil and under God’s condemnation. The more we love the Lord, the more we realize that we are evil. The more a believer prays, the more he feels that he is too evil. Eventually, we are brought to the realization that even today as a Christian seeking after the Lord we are nothing but a totality of sin. 

If we realize that we are sinful and begin to confess our sins, we may find that the more we confess, the more there is to confess…One day, having the deep sense that I needed to be alone with the Lord, I went to a secluded place, kneeled down, prayed, and began to confess my sins. My confession went on for a long time. Prior to that time, I did not know how sinful I was or how many sins I had. I saw that everything I had done since my youth was sinful, and I made a thorough confession to the Lord. 

God is light (1 John 1:5). In order to have fellowship with Him, we must walk in the light as He is in the light. If we do this, we will realize that we have something called sin (vv. 7-8). 

The sin spoken of in 1 John 1 is not an insignificant matter. Sin is God’s enemy, Satan himself, and it involves the power struggle between Satan and God. This power struggle includes us; we are involved in it. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 169, 179-180) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msgs. 18—22, 25—26; CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Knowledge of Life,” ch. 6