The New Covenant in Daily Life

then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Heb. 10:17-18)

The New Covenant promise that God will “remember our sins no more” means that the whole category of “sins” is gone forever from God’s sight, as far as the law and satisfaction of justice are concerned. Believers have been “made prefect” as to their consciences and are no longer to have “consciousness of sin” with regard to the wrath of God! In this sense, there is “no more reminder of sin” (Heb. 10:3) in the New Covenant. “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Heb. 10:18) “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb. 10:10)

What does this mean in daily life? It means that, as a Christian, I can get up in the morning and know that I am accepted in Christ. God delights in me as His child, and the guilt of my sins is gone forever. If I commit a sin, I am “conscious” of my sin as a child, not as a convicted felon, and I confess my sin to God as a son confesses to his Father, not as a criminal confesses to a judge. I come with confidence into the holy place by the blood of Jesus.

-Charles Leiter, Justification And Regeneration (Muscle Shoals, AL: HeartCry, 2007), 43-44. Emphasis by the author.

Justification and Regeneration

One of the most helpful books I have read on Justification and Regeneration was Charles Leiter’s book called Justification and Regeneration. It is simple and concise, yet it is substantial in its presentation of these two doctrines. Leiter cames from a pastoral standpoint where he has grasped the depths of these doctrines and gives them to the sheep in ways they can comprehend and appreciate. Also, his section on regeneration was very helpful when I read it. I had never given much thought to what regeneration entailed for me as a believer until I read this book. I would gladly past along this book to new and mature believers as a source of growing in their knowledge of these two doctrines.

And now the book can be downloaded and distributed for free. Challies has a link to the book if you want to download it.

It is Defeated!

Beloved Christian, sin’s days are numbered in your life! The ax has already been laid to the root of your sin. Like a tree that has been cut off at ground level, its leaves may still appear green for a while, but the fact is that its life is over. It is only a matter of time until every leaf withers and falls to the ground!

Sin is a defeated foe. The war against sin has already been won. Like the pockets of resistance that sometimes continue to struggle on in ignorance after the treaty of surrender has already been signed, so sin continues to fight on in our lives with no hope of ultimate victory. Though the believer’s conflict with sin may at times be fierce, the final outcome of the battle is assured.

For the Christian, sin is but an early summer snow. Such snows fall occasionally even in the warmer climates, but they are only the death throes of a winter that is past. In a day or two they are melted and gone, and they have no power to stop the inexorable advance of summer. Christian, sin does not stand a chance in your life! You can fight against it with the confident knowledge that summer, not winter, is approaching! The remnants of sin that you still face are just the vestiges of what you once were; they are not an expression of who you are now, and they will soon pass away forever!

~Charles Leiter in Justification and Regeneration, pp. 88