“OUR SINLESS SIN-BEARER”

“You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

1 John 3:5

Why did Jesus come to earth? What’s the purpose of His dying on the Cross? Why did He take the place of sinners? These are some of the essential questions we should be asking at some point. They are more important than any other question we can ever think of because they refer to the most important Person in history. A short answer to these queries is this: Jesus is the God-man who determines people’s eternal destinations.

John continues to remind his readers of the truth about Christ’s Incarnation (God putting on human flesh) and sinlessness. He jogs their memory that they know that Jesus appeared (Greek “phaneroo,” which means “to make visible what was hidden or unknown, to show one’s self”). This is a reference to the Incarnation, the period when God became man to take away (Greek “airo,” meaning, “to bear”) sins.

John’s audience only needed a reminder because these truths are two of the fundamental Christian doctrines that they have already received. However, due to the false teachers’ influence, they had to be reminded of who Jesus was and why He had to die on the Cross. Jesus’ life and death should encourage them to live righteously and avoid sin.

A Christian can no longer live in sin because Jesus already bore his sin along with its punishment, penalty, power, and eventually, its presence. Habitual sinning is incompatible with those who benefit from Christ’s work. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Son of God who took on human flesh (John 1:14). His purpose was to be the world's Savior (John 1:29; Luke 19:10). He accomplished this mission by being born under the law (Galatians 4:4), living a perfect life (Hebrews 4:15), and dying in place of sinners (1 Peter 2:24).

Habitual sinning is also inconsistent with Christ’s example. Jesus demonstrated a completely separated life and never committed a single sin throughout His earthly life (1 Peter 2:21-22 ). It was necessary that he lived perfectly to credit His righteousness to our account.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

My friend, you have to believe these two essential teachings about Christ because He will say whether you will go to heaven or not. He is God in the flesh, undefiled by sin, who died on the Cross to save you. Any teaching that contradicts these truths is false and should be rejected.

Are you convinced of these truths about Jesus Christ?

Pursue the Savior today!