UNDERSTANDING THE REMISSION OF SINS 2

Acts 3: 22-26 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. 24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. 25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Peter being a good student of Jesus in his sermon referenced the prophecies of the prophets about Christ. In his admonition for repentance, he try to draw the attention of the people to an already fulfilled prophecy in the person of Jesus. The fulfillment of these prophecies is the blessing of Abraham. The blessing is Jesus turning away every one from iniquity which is not different from God raising Jesus from the dead. The blessedness of Jesus Christ therefore is that He cancelled or blotted out sin in His resurrection. God used the resurrection of Jesus from the dead to demonstrate the cancellation of sins and not His death.  We all somehow have this idea that God keeps the record of our sins somewhere and that Jesus by his blood can wipe or will wipe them off when we pray for forgiveness of sins and that when we sin again the stains are back and by another prayer we get them wiped off again and so continue the trend. That is absolutely a wrong idea!

Let us consider the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in the four Gospel, i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It must be noted that these accounts were not written simultaneously as the events happened, i.e. these accounts have the benefits of insights of the resurrection that had already happened before documentation. Matthew writing the very last words of Jesus he says in Matthew 28: 18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. The disciples were still in doubt whether He had resurrected or not in verse 17 so it’ll take more explanation from Jesus to convince them before He now gave the commission. Verse 18 is therefore Matthew’s summary of the many things Jesus said before he gave the commission. Mark’s account of this same event in Mark 16:14-15 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.  15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. The word upbraided here is oneidizo in the Greek which means to find fault or spot a wrong. Jesus upbraided them because of their unbelief and hardness of heart towards the word of God. It’ll be wrong to say God doesn’t condemn because Jesus did condemn because of unbelief. We see in James 1:5 that words only have meaning within the context it is used. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him”. Here, God will not upbraid in giving.  It does not say that God does not upbraid, it says God will not upbraid in giving wisdom. Jesus upbraided His disciples because of their unbelieve. God type of upbraiding is for correction.

In John’s account of the same event we see more details in John 20:19-23 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. “…as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” i.e. as my Father hath sent me by my resurrection into your hearts.(John 14,15). The word breath on is the Greek word emphysao meaning to quicken inside someone, i.e. to cause someone to be alive on the inside. It also have a colloquial meaning of causing someone be enthusiastic on the inside. Jesus didn’t put His nostrils on their head. John’s summary of what Jesus said is that the words He spoke to them quickened them in their hearts. We now see Luke’s account of Jesus upbraiding and why in Luke 24: 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Jesus didn’t say everything in the Old Testament is about himself. Many churches today have been built on this false teaching. He expounded (diermeneuo in the Greek i.e. thorough explanation) to them in all the scriptures the things (prophecies) concerning Himself and His resurrection.

These folks didn’t even know it was Him by recognition (Luke 24: 28-31). This is because Jesus was disfigured at crucifixion. Many scholars of the Bible agrees that by the nail hole in His hands during the meal, his disciples saw and recognised Him. Luke 24: 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. When John said Jesus breathed on, he meant Jesus explanation of the scriptures concerning Himself and His resurrection. Luke 24: 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? Jesus indeed breathed on (caused them to be alive on the inside and in their hearts). Jesus opened their hearts and not the scriptures because the scriptures were never closed or unknown. The resurrection of Jesus was not just an event, it is an explanation in itself and the fulfillment of the prophecy. Luke 24: 44 “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.  45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures”. Jesus Christ took them from Genesis to Malachi and explained each verse that is concerning Himself and His resurrection. Jesus at this point brought clarity to the teachings He has done in the four Gospels and that clarity was to use His resurrection to explain those same truth He has been saying. Luke 24:44 will be Jesus teaching the four Gospel teachings of Himself. For 40 days, Jesus Christ taught His disciples and this is the summary written by Luke in Luke 24: 45-46 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. The subject matter of every preacher of the Gospel must carry the same truth. This is how you identify a false preacher. If I don’t preach the same set of truth Jesus taught, then I’m false.