the Third Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
1 John 3:5
‘In him is no sin’
Read Psalms 103:1-12
The Lord Jesus Christ was manifested to take away our sins and in Christ there is no sin. Though he was made to be sin for us, our Lord had no sin of his own. ‘He knew no sin, neither was any guile found in his mouth.’ ‘He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.’ In order for him to be a suitable sacrifice for sin, it was necessary that our Savior be without sin. The sinner’s Substitute must himself be innocent, righteous and holy.
Yet in order to redeem us from our sins and to justify us before God, the Son of God had to be made sin for us. By a legal transfer and imputation, the Son of God was made to be sin for us. Our sin and our guilt were imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ and God’s holy law exacted from him the just penalty of our sins. ‘He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’ ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.’
And having taken our sins upon himself, suffering for us the just penalty of our sins, our glorious Mediator in heaven once again has no sin. That one who sits in heaven and makes intercession for us has no sin. We know and are assured that because he is perfect. He is holy. He has no sin. This is the basis of our assurance and confidence with God. We have a perfect Substitute and sacrifice whom the Father will accept.
But this text is speaking of those who are in Christ. He is telling us that in Christ we have no sin. In ourselves we are sinners. The old nature of sin is with us and will be with us so long as we are in this world. Anyone who denies this is a liar and makes God a liar. But before God, in the sight of God, those who are in Christ by a living faith have no sin. ‘He was manifested to take away our sins.’ And he has done it! ‘And in him is no sin.’ The all-seeing eye of God’s holy law sees no sin in the believer, because the believer has no sin.
