Due to COVID-19 and disruption to international mail service
we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
In the light of this situation we are not able to mail you the books at this time.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 28 : If You Have Confusion and Emptiness in Your Heart, Seek the Light of the Truth
[28-9] By What Kind of Faith Can We Receive the Remission of Sins Now?
(Leviticus 1:1-9)
“Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock. ‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bull before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire. Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.’”
“Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock. ‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bull before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire. Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.’”
How Can We Commune with God?
When Christians think of ways to commune with God, they generally think of the following.
Prayer: Prayers are private conversations with God, and they include telling God our hopes, thanking Him, confessing to Him, and asking Him for help. It is therefore through prayer that people open up their hearts to God, obtain His help and guidance, and express their gratitude and respect.
Reading the Word: It is important to read the Bible and other writings of faith, so as to understand and apply God’s teachings and revelations. Such writings provide us with lessons on how we can apply our faith in God to our everyday lives.
Meditation: Meditation is a way of calming the heart, thinking profoundly about God’s being and His love, and finding spiritual strength. Through meditation, one makes a deep connection between his heart and mind and the Word of God.
Participating in worship service: Worship includes praising God together in a community of fellow believers, listening to the Word, and praying. Through worship, one deepens his relationship with God and builds solidarity with fellow believers.
Good deeds: Our relationship with God is expressed through our acts by serving others, loving them, and helping them. Such acts spread God’s love in the world and deepen our relationship with Him.
Confession: Admitting our sins and asking for God’s forgiveness restores our relationship with Him and enables us to start anew with a clean heart.
In both testaments, however, the Bible provides different explanations on how we are to commune with God. Today, I would like to share the Word with you on this issue. We just read Leviticus 1:1-9 for today’s Scripture reading. God gave the Law to the descendants of Abraham on Mount Sinai. And He opened a way for them to be washed from all their sins through their sacrificial offerings when they sinned. This sacrificial system is the only way by which God and the people of Israel could commune with one another.
When we read a book, we can see that there is a purpose that the author wants to convey to the reader. The same way, the Book of Leviticus speaks about how a sinner can be reconciled with the holy God through sacrificial offerings.
Today’s Scripture reading is the introduction to the Book of Leviticus, and it begins in verse 1 as the following: “Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting.” God called Moses to the Tabernacle of Meeting here to teach him what kinds of sacrificial offerings the people of Israel had to give, and how they had to give them, in order to be washed from their sins. Having heard this through Moses, the people of Israel had to give their offerings according to the God-established rules of the sacrificial system.
Moses can be described as a representative of the Law. His role was receiving the Word of God and relaying it to God’s people. Through Moses, those who broke the Law of God could know what kinds of sacrificial offerings they had to give, as they learned the sacrificial system from him. Moses was someone raised by God, and the sacrificial system that God showed him contained His will and desire to be reconciled with His people.
Where the Bible says here, “Now the Lord called to Moses,” we are shown that God always spoke through the representative of the nation of Israel. The role of this representative of the people was relaying God’s will to them as His ambassador. God called Moses from the Tabernacle of Meeting here to teach the sacrificial system, which would enable His people to wash away their transgressions.
It’s written in Leviticus 1:2, “When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord.” For those who sinned against God, Moses provided guidance on the method by which they had to offer sacrificial offerings to be washed from their sins. It was an absolute must for the people of Israel to offer sacrifices to God according to the requirements of the sacrificial system set by Him. They had to bring their sacrificial offerings and come before God according to the rules of His sacrificial system. The “offering” here refers to the sacrificial animal that the people of Israel had to offer to be remitted from their sins. Like this, God set up the sacrificial system through Moses for His people so that they could be remitted from their sins.
Through the Word of the Mosaic Law, God also made it possible for us to realize our sins. It is only when we reflect ourselves upon the Law that we can realize what our present sins are, and it is such people who come to offer sacrifices to God to wash away their sins.
Sin Offering for the People of God in the Age of the Old Testament
The age of the Old Testament had sin offering, which was offered for God’s people. It was an offering made as the following: for anyone who sinned against God in the days of the Old Testament to be washed from his sins, he had to pass them to his sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head, draw its blood, and the priest put the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. This sacrifice was made for sinners, to obtain the washing of sins for their hearts through the sacrificial animal’s vicarious death. In this way, the sin offering made it possible for God’s people to recognize their transgressions, be washed from their sins through the sacrificial offering, and restore their relationship with God.
During the age of the Old Testament, on the tenth day of the seventh month every year, the High Priest offered to God the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement on behalf of the people of Israel. The people of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. Can you imagine just how large their number must have been? When the High Priest offered the yearly sacrifice of the Day of Atonement in the Tabernacle, he had to pass the people’s sins to the sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head. God raised Aaron the High Priest as the representative of the people of Israel and made him make sin offerings. He made a sin offering for himself and his household first and then he made another sin offering for God’s people.
It is written in Leviticus 16:11-22: “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”
The words “laying on of hands” used here for the sin offering that God would be pleased to accept refer to the High Priest’s act of passing the sins of the people of Israel to the sacrificial animal. During the age of the Old Testament, the laying of hands used in the God-established sacrificial system was the method by which one’s sins were passed onto the head of the sacrificial animal. In other words, the phrase “laying on of hands” was used to mean “passing one’s sins on to the head of the sacrificial animal.” This was one of the rules of the sacrificial system set by God.
God raised Aaron and his descendants to be High Priests, and He allowed sin offering to be made only once a year. Thus allowed to offer the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement, Aaron the High Priest, on the tenth day of the seventh month, passed the sins of the people of Israel to the sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head, drew its blood, put the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, sprinkled it seven times on the mercy seat, and thereby made atonement for the people. Like this, the High Priest offered the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement once a year to wash away the people’s sins.
Here we see the Bible mentioning a bull. The bull refers to Jesus Christ. Every Word of the Old Testament points toward Jesus Christ, the Son of God, telling us that He would come to this earth, take away the sins of mankind by being baptized by John, shed His blood on the Cross, and thus become our everlasting propitiation. It tells us that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would be born on this earth, shoulder the sins of mankind by being baptized by John at the age of 30, shed His blood on the Cross, and sacrifice Himself as mankind’s propitiation.
The laying on of hands in the age of the Old Testament, and baptism in the age of the New Testament, were both for passing sinners’ transgressions to the sacrificial offering. The Old Testament’s sin offering refers to the sacrifice whereby the people of Israel passed their sins to their sacrificial animal as specified by God by laying their hands on its head, and this sacrificial animal was condemned for their sins in their place. While the word “atonement” means passing one’s sins and condemning them, it also means appeasing the wrath of God the Father.
Because God loved human beings created in the likeness of His image, He took His Son as their sacrificial offering, made Him receive baptism and shed His sacrificial blood on the Cross, and sought to save those who believe in Him from their sins. This was the sacrifice that Jesus offered to God to pass mankind’s sins to Himself and stop the wrath of God. God sought to appease His heart by passing His people’s sins to Christ and condemning Him for these sins.
Like this, God sought to save us by preparing the baptism and sacrificial blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, in our place, so that God may condemn our sins. This is the remission of sins that God prepared for our everlasting atonement.
God the Father is showing us here that His Son, Jesus Christ, would be baptized to take away the sins of the world, shed His sacrificial blood on the Cross, and thereby offer the sacrifice of salvation that would deliver mankind from sin. Having sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this world, God made Him receive baptism from John, the greatest of those born of women, and thereby passed the sins of this world to the body of Jesus once and for all (Matthew 3:13-17). God then allowed Jesus to be crucified while shouldering the sins of this world through His baptism, thus saving the believers through His sacrifice.
This is exactly as the Lord said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God the Father sent His Son to this earth, made Him shoulder the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John, the representative of mankind (Matthew 11:11), and blotted out our sins once and for all with Jesus’ blood on the Cross.
“Permit It to Be So Now, for Thus It Is Fitting for Us to Fulfill All Righteousness” (Matthew 3:15)
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”
This passage describes John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. Jesus came to John to be baptized by him. However, John recognized that Jesus was a higher Being than himself, and he insisted that he should be baptized by Him, but Jesus said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
From this passage, we can realize for certain that Jesus Christ is our Savior. We can see in greater detail why Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. To be appointed as the High Priest in the age of the Old Testament, it was legally required for one to turn 30 years old before taking on the priesthood. For all the descendants of Aaron also, they could be appointed and begin ministering as the High Priest when they reached the age of 30.
In the same vein, to fulfill His duties as the everlasting Priest who would accept the sins of mankind in the age of the New Testament, Jesus also assumed His priesthood as the High Priest by being baptized by John at the age of 30 and taking away the sins of mankind. The Bible tells us that like Jesus, John the Baptist was also 30 years old at the time.
Jesus received His baptism from John. With this, He took upon all the sins of mankind. God the Father and the Holy Spirit bore witness of this, as it is written, “Suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:17). By shouldering the sins of mankind through His baptism and shedding His precious blood on the Cross, Jesus the Son of God fulfilled His work of atonement, sacrificing Himself as mankind’s propitiation.
This shows us Jesus’ work, who fulfilled all the righteousness of God through His baptism and His sacrificial blood. We can realize from this that Jesus made Himself our propitiation. From the work of the baptism that Jesus received and the blood He shed, we can reach a deep understanding of just how much He loved mankind.
Let Us Examine the Birth of John the Baptist and the Ministry of Jesus
The birth of John the Baptist is accounted in the Four Gospels. In particular, Luke and Matthew provide a more detailed account. In Luke chapter 1, we see the angel Gabriel appearing before Zacharias the Priest while he was ministering in the Temple and promising him that he and his wife Elizabeth, who were barren in old age, would be given a son. A baby was indeed born according to this Word of prophecy, and this baby was John the Baptist.
In Luke chapter 1, the Bible notes while listing the genealogy of Jesus that Mary, Jesus’s mother, and Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother were relatives. In Matthew chapter 3, the Bible writes how John the Baptist passed the sins of mankind to Jesus by baptizing Him.
So, the birth of John the Baptist is recorded as a miraculous birth just like the birth of Jesus, and he is highly relevant to Jesus’ ministry. John the Baptist was a witness testifying that Jesus, who came after him, was the Savior.
Let us turn to the Word here to take a closer look at the birth of John the Baptist. His father Zacharias was a priest ministering as the High Priest. It is written in Luke 1:11-17: “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,” and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’”
Through the Word relayed by the angel inside the Temple, Zacharias the Priest was prophesied to the birth of John the Baptist. In the end, John the Baptist, too, came to succeed his father’s priesthood.
We know from Jesus’ own testimony that John the Baptist was the greatest of those born of women in this world (Matthew 11:10-11). Jesus Christ is the Savior who came to fulfill His work of washing away the sins of mankind by shouldering the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist. It is written in Matthew 3:16-17, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”
By being baptized by John the Baptist, the greatest of those born of women, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was able to shoulder the sins of mankind once and for all. At that moment, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took away your sins and mine, and all the sins of the world, through the baptism He received from John. As Jesus took upon the sins of this present world once and for all through the baptism He received from John, He made Himself mankind’s propitiation. So, thanks to the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John the Baptist, we can now receive the grace to pass all our sins to the body of Jesus by faith.
By accepting all the sins of this present world once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, Jesus became the sacrificial offering for your sins and mine. After receiving His baptism, Jesus Christ was crucified and shed His blood on an accursed wooden Cross as the sacrificial offering of mankind, and He could say just before passing away, “It is finished!” By being baptized by John the Baptist and crucified, Jesus could offer Himself as the propitiation for the sins of mankind and become their Savior. It is with the baptism He received from John and His blood on the Cross that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, completed His work of salvation to deliver all of us, who now believe in Him, from all our sins once and for all. Jesus Christ was more than able to become the Savior for us the sinners.
Therefore, we can now be saved from all sins by believing in this Jesus who was baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood to death on the Cross, and rose from the dead again. It is written, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). It has now been made possible for us to be remitted from all our sins by placing our faith in the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and His blood on the Cross.
To What Extent Have Our Sins Been Blotted Out Then?
By being baptized and shedding His blood, Jesus Christ has completely blotted out all our sins once and forever. When He was baptized by John, all our sins were passed onto His body once and for all. And by being crucified and shedding His blood on the Cross, Jesus made Himself the propitiation for all the sins of mankind, thus becoming our Savior. Accordingly, we can now receive the eternal remission of sins once and for all by placing our faith in the work of salvation that Jesus fulfilled.
If we now believe wholeheartedly in the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John, our sins will be forever passed onto His body and washed away from our hearts by faith. And we will reach salvation by believing that the punishment Jesus endured on the Cross was to sacrifice Himself for our sins. We are therefore able to enter the everlasting Kingdom of God by faith, which the Lord has prepared for us.
The Bible says, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). It’s written here, “unto righteousness,” and the word “righteousness” means what is right and just. The Bible is telling us here that the sacrifice that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made—that is, taking upon the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John and shedding His blood on the Cross—is the right and just work that brings the remission of sins to us now. God gives the gift of true salvation to all those who believe in the Word of Truth.
We can believe with every conviction that Jesus Christ, the Son of God who shouldered the sins of this world through the baptism He received from John, shed His blood to death on the Cross, and rose from the dead again, is our Savior. Those who now believe in the baptism and blood of Jesus Christ can say that He is the One who has truly saved them from all their sins. This Truth of salvation is testified in the Word of the Bible. The Bible says that this Truth of salvation is the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Therefore, we can say with every confidence that we have been saved from all our sins through our faith in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood on the Cross. At this moment, those who realize the Truth that Jesus took away the sins of mankind through the baptism He received from John the Baptist can wash away all their sins with their knowledge of and faith in this Truth.
However, those who still have not accepted this amazing Truth into their hearts will live merely as religious practitioners only to disappear like morning dew. We are admonishing those who do not believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood to accept true salvation. Some people say blindly that it is on the Cross that Jesus has saved sinners, but in reality, these people do not know the Word of salvation. Even though many people try to make their hearts sinless by believing in the crucified Jesus, the problematic reality is that their sins remain intact in their hearts. We need to preach to them now that anyone can receive the remission of sins into the heart by realizing and believing in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood.
In the days of the Old Testament, a sinner’s transgressions could be passed onto his sacrificial animal because of the prior step the sinner took when he laid his hands on its head, and this sacrificial animal could then wash away his sins by shedding its blood of life. Similarly in the New Testament, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shouldered all the sins of this world on His body by being baptized by John, and He was crucified in our place as our sacrificial offering.
If Jesus Christ had not taken the step to be baptized by John, He could not have become our propitiation by being crucified. It was to take away our sins forever that Jesus Christ shouldered the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John, and it was after this that He was crucified, shed His blood on the Cross, and rose from the dead again; and this is how Jesus has become our Savior for those who now believe.
Therefore, we ought to believe in Jesus’ righteous work of salvation, be saved from all our sins and their punishment, become children of the holy God, and give thanks to the Lord for fulfilling our everlasting salvation.
The Lord Has Blotted Out All Your Sins and Mine
To blot out the sins of mankind, God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth. To save us from the sins of the world, the Son of God was baptized by John, died on the Cross, and rose from the dead again. As a result, we are now able to be saved from our sins through faith and live a new life.
By placing our faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we can receive the everlasting remission of sins from our God. By believing in the work of Jesus Christ, we can praise Him and begin a new life, all thanks to the love and the grace of salvation He has given us. The love of salvation that Jesus has given us is what has transformed us so greatly now. As we carry on with our lives in this world, we are now able to share God’s love of salvation with people all over the world and follow Him in our everyday lives.
The Lord Triune God loves you and me. That is why Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was baptized by John the Baptist to shoulder the sins of His beloved people, was crucified, and has now become our Savior. With our faith we praise the Lord for saving us from the sins of the world.
In the love God has for us, His mercy is always found. It is because God loves us that He has saved us from all the sins of the world once and for all and given us new life. God loved us the sinners, and He sacrificed Himself to make atonement for our sins. God the Father wanted this Son of His to be exalted throughout the whole world. It is therefore only fitting for us to believe in Him and praise His highness.
God wanted to bestow His love of salvation on us His creatures. This is the reason why God has saved us from all the sins of the world. Since He has saved us from all sins out of His love for us, we, too, can believe in His holy love and His just salvation, and praise Him as our Creator, our Savior, and the Judge of sinners.
Love can be categorized into four types. First is agape, which is God’s merciful love for mankind. This is the love of salvation that God has bestowed on us to deliver us from the sins of the world and all our condemnation. Second is storge love refers to natural or instinctual affection, such as the love of a parent towards offspring and vice versa. Third is philia, which refers to brotherly love between friends. And the fourth love, eros, refers to romantic love between opposite sexes. The highest of these is the just and merciful love that God has for us.
God the Father loved us so much that He gave us His only begotten Son. To save us from the sins of this world, the Son of God sacrificed His own body as our propitiation. It is all because of His merciful love that we have been saved. Through the baptism He received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross, Jesus has completed our just salvation once and for all. To accept all our sins once and for all, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was baptized by John, and He was punished for our sins by being crucified and shedding His blood while shouldering the sins of the world. Having risen from the dead again, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has become your everlasting Savior, and mine, for all of us who believe in Him now.
Such love of God is forever preserved in the merciful love with which God has loved us. The baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and the sacrifice He made on the Cross to deliver us from the sins of this world demonstrate His love, and this love is the singular love of salvation that the Lord has given to mankind. This can be found only in the love out of which God had mercy on us. This love of salvation is all revealed in the baptism that Jesus received from John, His blood and death on the Cross, and His resurrection. From now on, we ought to sing praises of thanksgiving to the Lord in our everyday lives for blessing us to be saved from all sins by believing in God’s merciful love.
Even now, there still are many people trying to blot out their sins by offering prayers of repentance, but we must realize that no one’s sin can ever be blotted out with any prayer of repentance. If you try to be saved from your sins before God through your own prayers of repentance or your own devotion, you will fall into great despair, for you will not be able to receive the merciful love that God wants to give you. We must grasp that God does not allow anyone who relies on his own effort to be saved and born again. If human beings were to be saved from their sins through good deeds, we should realize that there is not a single person among us who could ever be saved from his sins.
For all of us, we can be washed from all our sins and reach salvation by believing in the Word of the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and His Cross. We should therefore realize here that we are saved from our sins only if we believe in the Word of baptism and blood. And if we have indeed been washed from all our sins by realizing the righteous love of God and believing in it with our hearts, then with this faith we can all give thanks to God for the salvation He has given us.
In obedience to the will of God the Father, we must be remitted from our sins by placing our faith in the baptism that the Lord received and the sacrifice He made on the Cross with His blood, and we must preach this gospel from now on. By faith, our hearts’ sins have been cleaned away, and we also know that the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts is walking with us. Moreover, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us wants us to live out our faith in unity with the Church. Those who can live such a life of faith that is pleasing to our Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God our Father are those who have received the God-given blessings of salvation. We are such people who bring joy to the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, for we now have faith in God’s just salvation. So let us thank the Lord for blessing us to live out our faith!
You and I are now able to obey the will of God and bring joy to His heart. That is because we have received the remission of sins by believing that the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross constitute our salvation. The Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts is rejoiced to see the faith we now have in the baptism and blood of Jesus. Let us never forget this one fact: we can now live the life of faith that is pleasing to the Lord—that is, we can devote our lives to preaching the gospel just as our Lord wants us. The Lord is rejoiced by those who live such a life. God comforts such people, saying to them, “Well done! You have worked so hard to spread the fact that I have saved mankind from the sins of the world.”
The Holy Spirit Works in Our Hearts
Do you know that the Holy Spirit is pleased by your faith? Those whose hearts are dwelt by the Holy Spirit are in peace, and they can be led by Him to the path of righteousness. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has given the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who have been saved from their sins by faith. Because Jesus Christ was baptized by John, shed His blood on the Cross, and rose from the dead again, we were able to reach salvation by faith. Through the Lord’s work, God has given us the true remission of sins, and with the Holy Spirit, He has also given us the assurance of our salvation. And we are the people of faith who believe in this God.
God pours the Holy Spirit to fullness on those who have received the remission of sins by believing with the heart in the love of salvation with which God has delivered mankind from the sins of the world. The Holy Spirit is the hallowed Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is our God just like Jesus. By believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and His blood on the Cross, we can be saved from all sins and receive everlasting life. And He has made it known to us that He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Lord pours the Holy Spirit on us and fills us. The Lord permits the fullness of the Spirit to those who believe in and serve the everlasting salvation that He has given us by washing away your sins and mine once and for all with the baptism He received from John and His crucifixion.
Having received the remission of sins into our hearts by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we are now guiding people all over the world into the Lord’s salvation. We will abide in the Lord’s salvation and carry out His work like this, and soon, we will stand before Him. The Lord protects His people. He is managing our lives of faith through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us timely gifts so that we can serve the work of spreading the gospel, and He is also helping us to follow the Word of God by faith.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took away our sins once and for all through the baptism He received from John, and the Lord was punished for our sins in our place. God has blessed those who believe in this fact to receive the remission of sins by faith, giving them the Holy Spirit to dwell in their hearts, and He has made us carry out the Lord’s work. The Lord is saying to us, “Submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and receive the fullness of the Spirit.” With this, the Lord is telling us to spread this gospel throughout the whole world, for He has washed away all the sins of mankind.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has given the blessings of salvation to those who have faith in the baptism He received from John and His blood on the Cross, so that they may receive the remission of sins into their hearts unto salvation. That is why the Lord dwells in and leads the hearts of those who believe in Him as their everlasting Priest. For those who have reached such salvation, the Kingdom of God has been fulfilled in their hearts. This means that the Lord’s Prayer, where He said, “Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), has been fulfilled.
Our salvation from all sins is the mystery of salvation that no one else can know but those who have received the remission of sins by believing in the Word of God. By being baptized by John and crucified, the Lord sacrificed Himself as the propitiation for our sins. He is the Savior who has now washed us from the sins of the world. With the baptism He received from John and His blood of sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus has fulfilled our salvation once and for all. Therefore, whoever believes in this gospel Word of salvation now can receive the salvation that our Lord Jesus Christ is offering. This true salvation cannot be received in any other way but by believing wholeheartedly in the baptism of the Lord and His sacrifice on the Cross.
Today, what those who believe in Jesus only as a matter of religion are saying about the work of the Holy Spirit is all theoretical. No one who has any sin in his heart can know the work of the Holy Spirit. After all, how could a sinner comprehend the work of the Holy Spirit or even speak of it? Because these people are stuck in spiritual darkness, they cannot understand the work of the Holy Spirit until and unless they realize and believe in the salvation that our Lord Jesus has fulfilled through the baptism He received from John and the sacrificial blood He shed on the Cross. They are just living a worldly religious life in the name of Jesus. They are no more than nominal Christians claiming to believe in Jesus, when in fact they are leading a worldly religious life. Those who have any sin in their hearts are yet to discover the Truth that enables them to be born again from their sins by believing in the baptism that the Lord received from John and His sacrificial blood.
Do You Have Faith to Become the Lord’s Disciple?
I respect every religious belief and faith, and I know very well that they play an important role in providing stability and hope to people. Religious beliefs are formed in diverse ways, depending on each person’s choices and experiences. However, to become a disciple of the Lord, one must first be saved with the knowledge of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and through faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and only such people can follow the Lord’s will and live a life of faith.
What would you do then? Would you place your faith in the Lord’s baptism and blood and become His disciple following His will? I am now preaching to you, by faith, the Word of the baptism that the Lord received from John and His blood. The lying makers of the Nicene Creed have deceived so many people today with false Christian doctrines. False gospels do not have in them the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John. To this day, the advocates of such false gospels have misled countless people away from the Lord by claiming to have received the remission of sins just by believing in the crucified Jesus without the Word of the baptism He received from John. This is why we are spreading the gospel of salvation to those who have been deceived by falsehoods, preaching the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John and His sacrificial blood on the Cross. Countless Christians these days are trying hard to live a devout life, faithfully offering prayers of repentance according to Christian doctrines. But, they say that it takes a very long time living a life of faith before their hearts are sanctified. In reality, such claims are completely spurious and useless.
You have probably heard that you can be born again from your sins only after believing in Jesus’ blood on the Cross and leading your life of faith for a long time. But, what is your spiritual condition now? After doing what you have been taught to do all this time, are you really in a born-again state now? Has your heart been sanctified? No, of course not. Far from it, there are only more sins piling up in your heart despite believing in Jesus. What is then happening to your faith now? It is most likely getting increasingly more corrupt and rotting away.
For human beings to be born again now from their sinful selves, they must have in their hearts the Word of the baptism that the Lord received from John and His blood. This is all the more so because the Lord told us that “one must be born again of water and the Spirit.” The Word of God is what enables us to be born again, and we must be born again of water and the Spirit now by believing in this Word of God exactly as it is. The Lord already knows that we were born in this world as sinners. That is why He carried out His righteous work, shouldering all the sins of this world on His body by being baptized by John. With this baptism, the Lord has washed away all our sins. We must believe in the fact that the Lord took away all the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John in the Jordan River. It is then that we can escape from our sins and be born again truly. And it is then that we can become the Lord’s disciples.
Because there are liars in this world who have deceived their followers with countless Christian doctrines, many people are now living as sinners. We must preach to them the Truth of salvation revealed in the Word of both testaments—that is, the gospel Word proclaiming that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shouldered and washed away all the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John. This will then open up the possibilities for salvation to come to them also.
Those who remain sinners in their hearts despite believing in Jesus as their Savior must be born again by placing their faith in the baptism that Jesus received from John. This is why we have undertaken our literature ministry, to preach the Word of the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross. Only if we spread our salvation through the Word of God like this can all the souls that have been trapped in darkness until now come into the light of salvation.
Christians today are all the more confused because they have believed in the Nicene Creed alone with their hearts for hundreds of years to this very day. They do not know the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has solved away the sins of this world by being baptized by John. They must therefore listen to the Word of regeneration, believe in it with their hearts, and be born again. Even at this very moment, those who yearn to become the Lord’s true disciples must realize and believe in the Word of God, that Jesus sacrificed Himself as the propitiation for our sins by being baptized by John and crucified.
How could any human being become a true disciple of the Lord without being born again? Because the Lord is the holy God Himself, a believer in Jesus can also attain holiness only if he believes in the Word of the baptism that the Lord received and His blood on the Cross. Put differently, it is absolutely indispensable for all of us to be born again from our sins by believing in the Word of the baptism and blood of Jesus. After all, isn’t it self-evident that we can believe in and follow our Lord only if we ourselves first accept the Word of the washing of sins?
To be born again from their sins, all human beings must first know their sins and realize God’s just condemnation of sins from His Word. They must then have faith in the Word of the Lord, who took away their sins by being baptized by John and sacrificed Himself as their propitiation by being crucified. We have reached our salvation by believing that the work of the baptism that Jesus received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross are the very Word of the Lord who has saved us from our sins and condemnation now. Realizing from the Word of God that Jesus shouldered our sins through His baptism and made Himself our sacrificial offering to be condemned for our sins, we must believe in this with our hearts now and thereby receive the remission of sins into them.
Many people all over the world are now being remitted from their sins by believing that the Lord was sacrificed for our sins with His crucifixion because He had been baptized by John. Many people are testifying that they have received the everlasting remission of sins from reading just one of our books on the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we are preaching now. They are receiving salvation into their hearts by believing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shouldered the sins of this world through the baptism He received from John and sacrificed Himself by being crucified. They are grateful beyond words for the grace of salvation that they have received into their hearts. Our brothers and sisters abroad are devoting themselves to the work of spreading the joy of their salvation everywhere and preaching the gospel to the Lord’s pleasure.
Their hearts are so rejoiced that they are shouting out hallelujahs and expressing their gratitude both physically and spiritually in their testimonies, thanking God for the Word that Jesus Christ, His Son, took away their sins and sacrificed Himself as their propitiation. Some of them are really good dancers. Our brothers and sisters really get into the grooves of the rhythm when they dance, and I think theirs is the dance of faith that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. They are such good dancers!
Watching a video clip sent from Africa, I thought to myself, “Wow, our brothers and sisters have such amazing dance skills! Our Lord must be so rejoiced to see them!” I love how they dance in joy because of their faith in the righteousness of the Lord. Some people may say that they are just moving their bodies a little bit and not really dancing, but the real dance is all about getting into the grooves of a genuine joy that springs forth from one’s heart. Even at the slightest bodily movement, I can feel their joy and faith oozing of every inch of their bodies and hearts.
My fellow believers, we believe in the Word of the Lord that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took away the sins of this world through the baptism He received from John and sacrificed Himself as the propitiation for our sins, and we are preaching this gospel of salvation by faith. Are you living by faith, trusting in Jesus who bore our sins and their condemnation through His baptism and blood? Through our faith in the baptism that the Lord received from John and His sacrificial blood on the Cross, we are now able to be washed from all our sins and reach our everlasting salvation once and for all.
Jesus was sacrificed for our sins because He was baptized by John. He shouldered the sins of mankind once and for all when He was baptized by John, saying, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Here the Lord spoke of “all righteousness.” With this, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was saying that He would take upon all the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John and sacrifice Himself to make atonement for our sins in our place.
We are now able to be washed from our sins by believing in the work of the baptism that Jesus received from John to shoulder the sins of this world once and for all, and the Word of His crucifixion. It is now possible for us to be saved from all our sins by believing in this true Word of salvation. We are so happy to be able to live as our Lord’s disciples, all thanks to His grace of salvation. We can now thank God the Savior by placing our faith in the work of salvation that His Son carried out, delivering us from all sins through the baptism He received from John and the condemnation He bore for our sins with His crucifixion.
When Can We Be Liberated from Our Everyday Sins?
Those who believe in the Word that Jesus took away their sins once and for all by being baptized by John and shed His sacrificial blood which constitutes their salvation can be delivered from all their transgressions. This is because we can know and believe from the written Word of God that Jesus shouldered the sins of mankind by being baptized by John and sacrificed Himself as our propitiation by being crucified. When we know and believe correctly from the written Word of God when all our sins were passed onto His Son Jesus Christ, we can truly pass our sins to Jesus. It is only if we do this and then believe in the Word of His sacrificial blood with our hearts that we can be delivered from the condemnation of all our sins. When we believe that the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John and the shedding of His blood constitutes our salvation, we obtain the certainty of our salvation.
If we are willing to believe according to the written Word of God that Jesus the everlasting Priest is our eternal Savior, then we can be saved from our sins right at this very moment through Jesus. For this to come about, we must believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood of sacrifice, and we must not only believe in the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross but also pass our sins to the body of Jesus wholly.
If you still believe in Jesus as your Savior based on the Word of His crucifixion only, then every time you commit a sin in this world, this sin will seize your heart and thoughts. Your life of faith will then end painfully, and you will ultimately turn into a hypocritical religious practitioner living a life of suffering. As a result, you will just go through the motion with your life of faith, and you will never get to know what it means to live a true, born-again life of faith.
The dogmatic faith of Christianity today has no faith in the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John, and at its core, it is instead ruled by sectarian doctrines and worldly religious beliefs. If you really want to pass your sins to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, you must hold steadfast to and believe in the Word of God that is the basis of the fact that Jesus Christ took away the sins of this world by being baptized by John in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17).
You must now hang onto the Word that when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was baptized by John, all your sins were passed onto the body of Jesus. We must be saved from all our sins by realizing and believing in this true Word of salvation. Through the baptism He received from John, Jesus shouldered all your sins and mine in this world. This is the true Word that washes away the sins of mankind.
Now in these end times, we must live by the unwavering faith that we have become God’s children by believing in the Truth of salvation that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shouldered the sins of this world and saved us once and for all by being baptized by John. Otherwise we will eventually lose our faith, stumble, and end up denying Jesus. For you to avoid turning into such a person, you must make sure to believe that the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood of sacrifice constitute your salvation. You will then realize that God has saved you from your sins.
Through the written Word of God, we must be saved by believing that Jesus Christ is our everlasting Savior and Priest, and we must preach this gospel Word to people throughout the whole world. This is because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has saved mankind from the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John and His blood of sacrifice. Why are today’s Christians ignorant of this fact? Why do they believe only in the sacrificial blood of the crucified Jesus to turn themselves into worldly religious practitioners? They must return to the Word of the Lord our Savior now, and based on the Word of God, they must believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His sacrificial blood.
So many sinners remain unable to wash away their sins because they do not believe in the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took away the sins of this world by being baptized by John and sacrificed Himself as their propitiation. This is so tragic. These people are truly foolish. Even though the Word of Truth that enables them to be born again is written in the Bible, sadly, they have no spiritual eye to see this Truth.
If you want to be born again from your sins now, you need to meet those who have already been born again by finding the Word of the baptism of the Lord and His blood of sacrifice, or read the books written by them. You, too, will then be able to find the Word of regeneration. So, rather than believing according to your own foolish emotions, I urge you to receive the remission of sins into your heart by believing in the Word of regeneration written in the Bible—that is, in the Word of the baptism of Jesus and His sacrificial blood on the Cross.
Today’s Christians who say that Jesus has saved them by being crucified are unable to be freed from their sins. This is all because they still have not found the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John. It is also because they have not found the Word of the blood that Jesus shed to be their propitiation. Because Jesus shouldered our sins through the baptism He received from John, He had to be crucified and shed His blood on the Cross for their punishment. The crucifixion of Jesus was made possible because He had taken upon the sins of this world on His own body by being baptized by John.
If, when you sin, you just look toward the crucified Jesus without any understanding of the Word of the baptism He received from John, and say, “Lord, please forgive me from this sin that I’ve committed,” then you need to realize here that you still do not understand the Word that Jesus also took away this sin of yours when He was baptized by John. Jesus Christ the Son of God will say to you, “Why do you not believe in My Word of salvation and still cry over your sins, when this Word says that I shouldered your sins and washed them away once and for all with the baptism I received from John?”
If you were to say to the Lord every time you sin, “Please wash away my sins with Your precious blood,” your conscience will still feel guilty and you will increasingly turn into a hypocritical religious practitioner. It is absolutely indispensable for you to realize that the crucified Jesus shed His blood only once; He does not get crucified nor does He shed His blood every day for you. If this is how you believe, you must at once return to the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John, grasp that He took away your present sins once and for all through this baptism, and believe in the Word of His sacrificial blood. And you must place your faith in the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ who has saved someone like you from the sins of this world, trust in Him, and thank Him.
From now on, whenever we commit any sin, we ought to believe according to the Word of the baptism that our sins were passed onto the body of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and we ought to thank the Lord for this. We must look toward the written Word of the Lord and believe in His baptism. The Word of the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John has the power to wash away all our sins once and for all now, and therefore it is all the more indispensable for us to hold on to this baptism by faith together with His sacrifice.
The blood that Jesus Christ shed on the Cross means that He was condemned for our sins in our place, and the baptism He received from John means that He took away the sins of the world once and for all. Therefore, we must grasp and believe that the work of the baptism of Jesus and His sacrificial blood is the powerful work of salvation that cleanses away all our sins, and it is the true Word. For those who now believe in the Word of the baptism that Jesus Christ the Son of God received from John and His blood, the everlasting washing of sins has been fulfilled in their hearts, for they believe in the written Word. If you listen to the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John together with the Word of His sacrificial blood, you, too, will see for yourself all your heart’s sins being washed away once and for all.
In contrast, if you believe only in the Word of the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross, then you will see your sins and their condemnation remaining intact in your heart. We must obtain the washing of sins by believing in the Word of the baptism that Jesus Christ the Son of God received, and we must receive salvation by believing in the Word of the sacrificial blood He shed on the Cross as the punishment of all our sins.
Jesus was baptized to shoulder our sins, and He shed His sacrificial blood on the Cross to be condemned for our sins in our place. We must believe in this Savior. We must believe in the Word that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, accepted all our sins on His own body once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and we must believe so deep in our hearts. If your heart does not believe in the Word of the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John, then there would be no Word of the Cross that you now believe. Therefore, for the Word of the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the Cross to sacrifice Himself for our sins to be firmly established in us, the Word of the baptism that He received from John must be firmly planted in our hearts by faith.
That is why Jesus said in John 3:1-7, “One must be born again of water, blood, and the Spirit.” This Word testifies to us that Jesus took away all our sins of the world by being baptized by John and was condemned for our sins in our place. And we need to realize that the Apostle John, a disciple of Jesus, is testifying in 1 John chapter 5 that we can be washed from our sins by believing in the Word that Jesus shouldered them by being baptized.
We must believe now that Jesus has saved us from the sins of the world through the Word of the baptism He received from John and the Word of His sacrificial blood on the Cross. You must ruminate and examine yourself to see if you have really reached salvation by believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross for you. Let us all be washed from our sins by believing in the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John, let us all receive everlasting life by believing in the Word of His sacrificial blood, and let us all enter and live in the Lord’s Kingdom. Hallelujah!
Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission