Having Sin—Entering into Rest

Having Sin—Entering into Rest

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8; 1 Peter 4:1-2. John writes further, “My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin.” 1 John 2:1. Based on this we understand that having sin and committing sin are two widely different things.

What does it mean to have sin?” For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), nothing good dwells . . . .” Rom. 7:18. This is why the apostles write about the flesh with its passions and desires (this is the same as having sin), which is why we are tempted. Many people believe that this means that in our heart dwells nothing good, and they refer to what Jesus says in Matthew 15:19 and 20: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man.” However, Jesus also says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matt. 5:8. And Peter says, “Purifying their hearts by faith.” Acts 15:9. “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Eph. 3:17. Then one has experienced a new birth. However, if something impure should enter one’s heart, it is clear that one has given in to temptation that originated from sin in the flesh.

Imagine having sin and being tempted, yet not committing sin. That is a great victory, a great glory! We are called to this through the gospel. This is the salvation Jesus finished for us by emptying Himself. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil . . . .” Heb. 2:14-18. The devil has the power if the flesh, with its passions and desires, is not put to death. To render him powerless, Jesus had to partake of the same flesh and blood as we. Therefore He had to become a “merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” This could not be done any other way.

Antichrist has erased this great salvation for people by denying that Jesus partook of the same flesh as we. 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7. They try to explain that Jesus had a holy flesh without being tempted as we are. With that they have also explained away Jesus’ death, the death we are to bear in our body so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. 2 Cor. 4:10-11. Then they have also explained away the name “Son of Man,” which He constantly used when referring to Himself. They have also explained away that we can be His brothers. Antichrist has a keen interest in these explanations, and many are the false prophets who have worked in his spirit.

They explain away this glorious victory—having sin but not committing sin by putting it to death—by denying that Jesus came in the flesh. Millions of people have been deceived; they do not see any salvation from their sinful nature before they leave their body. Consequently they have missed out on being conformed to the image of Jesus and overcoming as He overcame. Rom. 8:28-29; Rev. 3:21.

“Therefore, since Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.

Reading this, one could almost believe that Jesus sinned, and that it was difficult for Him to overcome. That would have been the case if having sin were the same as committing sin—which is not the case at all—but it is the same as being tempted, and we read in a number of places that Jesus was tempted. Therefore we can draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Heb. 4:15-16.

What does it mean that Jesus ceased from sin? It means that all sin in the flesh was put to death. He was not tempted anymore; Satan’s power was crushed. It cost sufferings in the flesh to bring sin in the flesh into death. This work was brought to completion on Calvary when He cried out: “It is finished!” Then even death could not keep His body. God raised Him up, and He was able to send the Holy Spirit—the Spirit in which He had sacrificed Himself—over the disciples. Now they could walk in that same Spirit and not fulfill the desires of the flesh, but crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 2:20, 5:16, 24) and bear the fruit of the Spirit. V. 22.

Many people believe they are freed from sin in the flesh—their self-will—by the baptism of the Spirit, so that they are not aware of any sufferings that result from denying their “self.” Such people have deceived themselves, and the truth is not in them. However, Paul esteemed the knowledge of Christ so highly that he regarded everything that had previously been gain to him as dung. He writes: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death . . . .” Phil. 3:7-10.

In other words, we come to experience the same sufferings in the flesh in order to cease from sin so that we can live according to God’s will during the time we still live in the flesh. We have lived in sin, but that has come to an end by having become a partaker of the sufferings of Christ. Not only that, but the death of Christ will also work through the sufferings of Christ. It is not the intention that we are always to be tempted by the same thing. Death must work over sin in the flesh so that we come to rest where we suffered before. This is the new and living way into the sanctuary which Jesus consecrated for us through His flesh. Heb. 10:20. This way leads to the personal testimony that Paul gives in Galatians 2:20. What a glorious result!