Oh, what a Savior. What a Savior. Tonight we're going to look at
the benefits of Christ's redemption. The benefits of Christ's redemption. And oh, what a great God we have.
And all His benefits to His people are plenteous. Plenteous. We're in no way going to cover
them all. They're plenteous. They're innumerable. And we know
that all spiritual blessings for the believer is found in
Christ and Him alone and nowhere else. Nowhere else. Turn, if
you would, to the book of Colossians. Colossians. Colossians chapter 1, we're going
to read verses 9 to 17. Colossians chapter 1, verses
9 to 17. For this cause we also, since
the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. and desire that
ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and
spiritual understanding. Remember, Paul's writing to board
again blood-washed believers at Colossus, that ye might walk
worthy of the Lord and all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work and increasing in the knowledge of God. And the only way we increase
in the knowledge of God is if the Holy Spirit illuminates the
Scriptures for us and teaches us the things of Christ. That's
the only way we're going to learn. The only way. Strengthened with
all might, according to His glorious power, and that's being God's
power, unto all patience and longsuffering, with joyfulness,
giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet, with
the word meet there in the Greek means qualified, qualified, which
has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. who hath delivered us, and Christ
did this, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible.
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by Him, that being Christ, and for Him. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. Now that's one sentence. The only pause in this is it
starts in 9 and it goes all the way to 17. That's one section
right there of the scripture. It's absolutely amazing. There's
so much packed in here. They will be looking at verse
14, though, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. In verse 13, we see that the
believer in Christ is delivered from what he's delivered from
the power. Of darkness. the power of darkness,
he or her delivered from the power of darkness and and has
been translated into the kingdom of his dear son. But notice in
verse 12, again, giving thanks on the father, which had made
us qualified in the Greek qualified meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints and lights. You see, in our natural state,
beloved, we are not qualified for heaven. Because we're dead
and trespasses and sins. and we have a righteousness of
our own, which is not acceptable to God. But in Christ, we are
qualified for heaven. We are made meet, the scripture
says, which again is qualified, qualified to be able to stand
in the presence of God. And that's only because of Christ.
Only because of Christ. Only in Christ are we qualified
for heaven. only in Christ being clothed
in his perfect spotless righteousness. That's the only way we're qualified
for having the only way we can stand before the father. The
only way. Look in verse 13. Now we see
also that the believer, though, is delivered from the power of
darkness, which was the power of our own sin and also which
was the power of Satan. And we were in bondage to our
own sin, weren't we? And we didn't even know it. We
were bound, it's like being tied up with ropes. It's like being
tied up with ropes. The scripture says the cords
of our iniquity have bound us. So it's like being tied up by
our own sins. Remember Lazarus when he came
out of the tomb? He was bound up, wasn't he? And
the Lord said, go and unbind them. That's like gospel preachers.
Go and preach the gospel. And it's the Lord, though, who
has these grave clothes just fall right off. And don't get
us wrong. We're all recovering Pharisees.
We all are. We're all recovering Pharisees.
So every once in a while, we hear a scripture, and man, a
piece of that grave cloth will fall off, won't it? And we're
like, oh, hallelujah, Lord. I'm more free than I ever knew
I was. I'm more free than I ever knew I was in Christ. It's wonderful.
And that's what happens, though, with the preaching of the gospel.
We learn more and more about Christ. We learn more and more
about our wondrous Savior. We learn more and more about
the benefits that we have in Christ. And it becomes more glorious
to us, more glorious to us. Let's read verses 13 and 14 here
together. Who had delivered us, that being
Christ, from the power of darkness. That's what we were. We were
in. enslaved to the power of darkness, our own sin and Satan,
and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, into
the kingdom of Christ. And remember how we're born,
right? Dead in trespasses and sins. Powerless to do anything. Powerless. We're in a state where
we can't even help ourselves. And then the Lord makes us qualified,
he makes us meet. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God and we're released from that bondage. If the Son
sets you free, you'll be free indeed. You'll be free indeed. And then look at verse 14. In
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Now notice the continuation from
verse 13 right into verse 14. Actually, again, this whole section
that I had us read here, is one continuous sentence in thought.
From verses nine to 17, it's one continuous sentence in thought.
But notice in the latter part of verse 13, translated us into
the kingdom of his dear son, thus by the power of the Holy
Spirit of God. We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and
we're translated into the kingdom of the son. Now note the first
two words in verse 14, in whom. Well that in whom there has reference
to Christ. It's only in Christ that we've
been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of his dear son. Only in Christ, that's what the
in whom there, in whom, in whom. Turn if you would to Ephesians
chapter one. Let's turn over there quick. Just a couple, couple
books over. Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one, look at
verse seven. and 11 and 13. Verse 7, in whom,
being Christ, right? Ephesians 1, 7, in whom, being
Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to what? The riches of his grace. The
riches of his grace. Then look at verse 11, in whom,
again, not being Christ, also we have obtained an inheritance.
So we have, this is wonderful, we have the forgiveness of all
our sins through his blood, and all according to the riches of
His grace, and in whom, being Christ, we also have obtained
an inheritance. It's been given to us, right?
Being predestinated according to the purpose of Him, being
God, who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
His own will. Then look at 13. In whom, again,
being Christ, ye also trust Him. He's the one we trust in. He's
our Savior. After that ye heard the word
of truth, right, the gospel, The gospel of our salvation,
right? Look at the gospel of your salvation, it's personal.
In whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Look at that, wonderful, wonderful. So look at though in verse seven,
in whom being Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins, right?
According to the riches of his grace. Verse 11, we have in whom
being Christ, we obtained an inheritance. according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will, that's the Father. And in verse 13, in whom ye also
trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. There's the Holy Spirit
of God. The three in one, all in working together in our salvation. Isn't that wonderful? Right there,
right there before us. But then in whom there, it's
important to know that in whom there is Christ, just like back
in Colossians 1, verse 14, in whom is Christ, is Christ. So we see the continuation from
verse 13 to verse 14. With that in mind, though, let's
go back to verse 13 and 14. We'll read both those in chapter
one of Colossians. Who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, again, that being Christ, in whom, being Christ, we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
Now Paul will show the Colossians the benefits, the benefits and
the richness of redemption that we have in Christ. And we have
riches beyond belief, beloved, in Christ. As you've heard me
say many times, we are the richest people in the world. Monetarily
wise, we might not be, but that doesn't matter, does it? No,
we're rich in Christ, beloved. We're rich in the eternal things.
In Christ, He's our reward. He's our reward. We're not like
some in religion who are trying to get a reward just for holding
the door open or get a reward for doing this or getting a reward.
Christ is our reward. He's our reward, beloved. We
get to spend eternity with Him forever. And He loves us with
an everlasting love. So let that sink in. He's our
reward and he loves us with an everlasting love and he will
one day present us faultless before his throne. And he'll
be happy to do it with exceeding joy. It's wonderful. Sinners
like you and I. Amazing. God's grace is amazing. It's truly amazing. So Paul will
show the richness of the redemption that the believers have in Christ.
And Paul brings forth in the latter verses we read after verse
14, who Christ is and that he will be exalted as the preeminent
one. And the whole action, remember when we studied this book, it's
all about the preeminence of Christ. It's all about the preeminence
of Christ. So Paul, in contrast to the false
teachers, who are basically saying that Christ is one of the steps
to God, he says, no, Christ is the preeminent. He is God. And only in Him in whom we have
redemption. Only in Christ do we have redemption.
Nowhere else. Nowhere else. It's not found
anywhere else, beloved. Nowhere else. And in Him doing
that, in Him bringing out the preeminence of Christ, it's a
striking blow to the false teachers, again, who were promoting Christ
and a more knowledgeable or a deeper walk with God. with which they
were the holders of the mysteries of that, you see. It always goes
back to a man, doesn't it? False religion always goes back
to what man has to do or a man controlling things. Who do we
serve in this church? We serve Christ. He's the head
of this church, isn't he? He's the head of the church.
The whole body. The whole body, beloved. He's
the head. So this will be a striking blow
against the false teachers. They were promoting a a more
superior gift or freedom in addition to Christ. But again, it must
come through them. Kind of sounds like them false
prosperity guys, doesn't it? You send me money, they say,
and oh, the Lord will bless you. But if you don't send the money,
supposedly the Lord don't bless you. Well, I don't want their
curse, neither do you, right? Because that's what they are.
Those men are nothing but charlatans, beloved. Nothing but false teachers. Nothing but false teachers. Promoting,
remember the scripture that Brother Dan read, about filthy little
care, that's what they're after, the money. That's all they're
about. That's all they're about. That's all they want. Popularity
and money. Popularity, no. Gospel preachers,
we'll preach the gospel no matter what. Doesn't matter. We'll just
get up and preach the gospel, because that's what we're called
to do. We're called to preach the gospel. Proclaim the word
of God. Proclaim the gospel. My, oh my. And these false teachers, they
promote themselves. And Paul will combat these errors
of the Gnostic teachers by putting forth Christ Jesus our Lord as
the preeminent one, and in whom we have all spiritual blessings.
In whom we have all spiritual blessings. There is nowhere else
but Christ. Now, when false teachers come in, they cause all kinds
of doubt within the church. They cause all kinds of doubt.
The way you can tell false teachers is they cause more of a commotion
than anything else. God's not the author of confusion. If it isn't in that book, don't
believe it. Don't believe it. We're to be
Bereans, aren't we? We're to study out the Word of
God. But see, false teachers will
come in and they'll cause confusion and commotion. and start all
kinds of doubt within the church. And they add a little thing that
you need to do along with the work of Christ. They add a little
thing that you need to do with the work of Christ. Thus they
add to the gospel, and what they promote is a lie. It's a refuge
of lies. You've heard me say it many times,
if you add just a pinprick of works. Remember the analogy of
the balloon? Remember when we were kids, we
all had the helium balloons, didn't we? We all had them, right?
Go walking around in the fair, was happy when mom and dad bought
you a balloon. It was awesome, right? Except
when you let go of it, and then up it went, and it was gone,
right? But think of that. Think of that
little balloon, right? If you take a little pin, and
you just put a little, just a little pinprick, hold it so it doesn't,
so hold it so the balloon doesn't burst, but just put a little
pinprick in there, right? What happens to that balloon? Gone, right? Right? We all seen it. Picture that
balloon like grace. You add just the pinprick of
works. It's no longer. It's no longer grace. It's gone.
It's gone. It's absolutely gone. So Paul's
writing to the Colossian believers. To encourage them to stand in
Christ. Because He alone is the preeminent
one. He alone, He alone is the one in whom we have redemption.
He alone, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy, He has saved us. His mercy, according to His works,
not anything in us. And Paul cannot stand for what
he's hearing about these false teachers adding to the finished
work of Christ. I was talking to someone this
week, and they brought up these false teachers on TV, and I said,
those guys are just a bunch of wolves. Oh, don't say that. How
do you know that? Because they don't preach the
gospel. It's not hard to figure it out. Right? Well, you can't
say that. Judge not, lest you be judged.
I said, you make judgments every day, don't you? Right? And then I brought up, what did
our Lord say to them false teachers? You vipers. He didn't hold anything
back, did he? He didn't hold anything back.
So Paul's like that. As Tim James said, he's got his war paint
on when he's writing this book. He's ready for battle. He's ready
for battle. Man, he's ready to go. He's ready
to go. And this is how we should be.
Somebody's promoting a false gospel. No, we have nothing to
do with that at all. Nothing to do with that at all.
And he would have the Colossian believers have nothing to do
with that false gospel either. So questions we can ponder looking
at this tonight is, have they forgotten what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for them? Just like the Galatians, right?
Remember, he said, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
you? Have they forgotten what the Lord Jesus Christ has done
for them? Is Christ not sufficient to both pardon and deliver them
from their sins? He's the only one, isn't he?
So Paul reminds them of the fullness that they have in Christ. In
this little portion here, he's reminding them of the fullness
that they have in Christ. And that the fact that they need
nothing but Christ. Nothing but Christ. Only Christ. That's all a sinner needs. All
that a sinner needs is Christ. So in verse 13 again we've been
translated into His kingdom. And what does the sinner have
in Christ? Well, let's look at the rest of the verse for the
answer. Look at verse 14. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. So what wonderful words
Paul brings forth here before the born-again, blood-washed
saints of God at Coloss. And take note of the verbiage
as Paul speaks to these believers. He writes them, and remember
too, remember that this is by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God. So this is words of the Holy
Spirit. He's the author to his people.
To his people. And oh, when we bring it home
like that, it's such a blessing. Such a blessing. The Holy Spirit's
the true author of these words. Look at this. In whom we have
redemption. And this is something we who are resting and trusting
in Christ alone have. We have redemption through Christ. We have redemption through Christ.
And notice the little hinge words there. In whom? We have. It's not a doubt. We have. The believer in Christ has redemption
through Christ. I love these little words, right?
You've heard me say, big doors swing on little hinges. That's
what these little words are like this. We have. Presently. We're not waiting for it. We
have it, beloved. We have what? Redemption. And
this is for they who are trusting in Christ alone. This is something
we have. Believers have this. Notice how Paul includes himself
in this, too. Notice that? He includes himself
with other believers. We have. He doesn't say, well,
well, you have that and I have a superior. No. He says we have
this. Because remember, the false teachers
are saying you got to come to them for special knowledge and
all this. Paul says we have this. All of us. All of us in Christ,
we have this. We have redemption. We have redemption. And the underlying Greek word.
The underlying Greek word, therefore, we have now listen to this, the
underlying Greek word. For we have is defined as this,
to have and hold, implying continued possession. It implies continued
possession. We have it, and we will have
it. We'll have it in glory too, don't
we? We have it here, and we have it in glory. It's continued possession
in the Greek. Continued possession. So believers have what is going
to be spoken of in Christ in this verse. Believers have it.
It's continued possession. In whom we have, it was purchased
at the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ by the shedding of His
blood. What do we have? We have redemption through His
blood. Look at that. We have this. It's our possession. All by the grace and mercy of
God. And we have what? Redemption through His blood.
The Greek word there for redemption means a releasing affected by
payment of ransom. A releasing affected by payment
of redemption. A redemption, deliverance, liberation
procured by the payment of a ransom. We have liberation, beloved,
from all our sins by the purchase of Christ's blood
purchased in our eternal souls. We have it, it says. We're not
waiting for it. We have it, presently. Presently. Oh, what a redemption
we have in Christ, beloved. What a deliverance. Men are sold
under sin, aren't we? We're condemned by the law of
God in our natural state. And from that state of inability,
we are delivered. From that state of being dead
in trespasses and sins, we are delivered, we're made alive in
Christ. From that state of being bound up by our sins, remember
I said earlier, like cords of sin all around us, we're set
free in Christ. By that purchase, we are redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ, purchased. by his blood. Remember, the scripture says
that the life of the flesh is in the blood. He gave his life
for us. He gave his life for us. Oh,
what a salvation. And this implies redemption,
implies a price paid. It's paid. That's why our Lord
cried, we say it that song, it is finished. It's finished. Beloved, the price for our souls
is paid. It's paid for. Everything that
God demanded for our sins. And what a Savior. Consider this. What a Savior. The sinless one,
the spotless one, goes to the cross and dies in the place of
sinners. And everything that God demanded
He paid it all. The wrath that was due us fell
on Him in our place. And as I said, redemption implies
a price paid, the ransom. And we know what the ransom is,
right? We know what it is. It's the precious blood of Christ. And He did that willingly. And
just as we love our brides, We men who are married, just as
we love our brides, Christ loved His bride so much, He gave His
life for her. My, it's amazing. God's grace is amazing. When
Christ died upon Calvary's cross, when Christ died upon Calvary's
cross, there was a vindication of God's law. And there was a vindication of
God's justice, how? By the sacrifice of Christ. The
sinless one offers himself up as the perfect, spotless, sinless
Lamb of God in our place. It's amazing. It's truly, truly
amazing grace. And Christ has all righteousness.
He has the power to rescue his people from their sins. And we
only have redemption in and through him. The scripture clearly brings
it forth. It says, being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We only
have it in Him. And we have redemption through
His blood, the scripture says here. Through His blood. The
believer has in Christ redemption and deliverance from the guilt
of our sin. Original, actual, original and
actual, all our sins. We have, in Christ, we have redemption
and deliverance from the power of sin, not the presence though,
eh? Oh my, not the presence. Well, we pray for that, don't
we? We can't wait till we get the glory, and then we'll be
free from the presence of sin, beloved. It'll never bother us
again. It'll never bother us again. Isn't it wonderful? And
we will be worshiping with the saints of God, the other blood-washed
saints, Perfectly. Oh my, it's amazing. Perfectly. Perfectly. No sin. No sin and glory. It'll
be wondrous. It'll be absolutely wondrous.
Oh my. And we'll worship perfectly.
We'll worship our King forever perfectly. It's hard for us to
fathom that, but it's true. We will never be plagued with
sin again. Never. Never. No, it's glorious. It's absolutely glorious. And
in Christ we have redemption and deliverance from the tyranny
of Satan. Look at that verse 13 there in
our text. Who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son. Over in 1 John, Over in 1 John the scripture says this,
he that committed sins of the devil, for the devil sinneth
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
And he has. He crushed them at Calvary. He's
crushed them. Don't ever listen to these folks
out there in religion. And they make you think, well
they don't make us think, but they make some folks think that
Satan has all this power. He can only do what God allows. He's on a leash, beloved. Now
we're no match. Not one of us in this room is
even a match for Him. Not one. But oh, our King. Our King crushed Him at the cross.
He did. He did. Remember them demons?
They know who He is. They said, art thou come to torment
us before the time? The Holy One of God. They knew
who He was. They knew the power that He had,
even though men all around Him had no clue. The devils, they
believe and they tremble, don't they? But it's not saving, they
know who he is, that's what that means. They know who he is. And
they tremble. They tremble. Remember when Satan
came before Job, he could only do what God allowed. It's the
same now. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. Our God is all powerful. And
that's the one who redeemed our souls. That's the one who came
to this earth. It came to this earth, became
a man, God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect. And he is the
one who died for us, in whom we have redemption, that being
Christ the God-man. Christ the God-man. And praise
God for this. In Christ we have redemption
and deliverance from the curse of the law. Oh, that law had
a claim on us, didn't it? Oh, it had a claim on us, rightfully
so too. Rightfully so. Scripture says
this, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that
hangeth on a tree. And then the scripture says this, but when
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Praise
his holy name. And in Christ's redemption, in
Christ we have redemption in deliverance from the wrath and
justice of God. That's something to be thankful
for. That's something to be real thankful for. I remember reading
something one time about the wrath and fury of God. And this old Puritan, boy, those
guys, they could paint a picture. And this guy painted a picture,
he said, standing before God and being consumed by the wrath
of God is like a candle before a furnace. Blow furnace, he called
it or something, and it just consumes that candle like it's
nothing. See, men shake their fists at God right now, they'd
be crying for mountains to fall on them at the end time, at the
end of the great white judgment throne, if the Lord doesn't save
them. Oh, our God, He's all-powerful. He's all-powerful. All-powerful. "...who ye shall see the travail
of his soul, being God the Father, and shall be satisfied by his
knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities." So how great is this redemption,
beloved? It only comes through the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Here's a good illustration. If a king should empty all his
coffers, a king, say a king who had a vast domain, all kinds
of money, if he should empty all his coffers, all his money,
and alienate all his crown land to rescue his subjects, he should
show himself but a natural prince. But this is what it is. But what
is it to that ransom which our king hath tendered? Beloved God,
what is compared to our great king, our great God, becoming
a man and living a perfect life as our substitute and dying a
sacrificial death as our substitute? That king, given all his money
and all his land, doesn't even come close to what Christ has
done for us. And remember, we're not purchased
with silver and gold, are we? We can't purchase our redemption.
No, it's freely, freely given to us in Christ. Freely given
to us in Christ. Apart from Christ, this redemption
spoken of here in Colossians does not exist. In whom? In Christ, we have redemption. Outside of Christ, there's no
redemption. None. None at all. The Father laid upon Him our
sins. They were imputed to Him and He bore them all. He bore
them all, beloved. He paid the ransom price for
them. For our sins. And by His precious blood we
are redeemed. We're purchased. We're purchased. He paid for our redemption by
the shedding of His precious blood and we are redeemed by
the blood of the Lamb. How do we have redemption? How
do we have deliverance from our sins? Only through Christ and
His shed blood. Look at verses 19 to 21 in this
chapter. For it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. Again, in Him. That's Christ. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross. Now He didn't make peace for
Himself, right? Because He's sinless. Scripture says we have peace
with God through Christ, right? So he's making peace for us.
The sinless, spotless Lamb of God dying for sinners on Calvary's
cross and having made peace, it's done. Isn't that wonderful? If we have peace with God through
Christ, then it's not dependent upon us, is it? Right? Well, religion tells you it's
all dependent upon you, but grace tells you it's all dependent
upon Christ. The scriptures tell us. We believe
the scriptures, right? Scriptures tell us. This is what
it says here. Look at this. Having made peace,
it's done. Through how? Through the blood
of His cross. By Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him,
I say whether they be things on earth or things in heaven.
And you, now look at this. I love how Paul does this in
his writings, right? He always brings forth for us
to remember the pit that we were dug out of. He always does that. He does that in one way or another.
And we all know the pit he was dug out of. He was religious.
He was a Pharisee of Pharisees, wasn't he? He was persecuting
Christians, having them thrown in jail and killed. Look what
he says here. This is a marvelous scripture.
And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he what? Reconciled. That was our state. Look, he brings the state that
we were in. Remember, we're translated from
darkness into the light and the kingdom of his dear son, right?
So here's our state before. And you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he what? Reconciled. It's done. It doesn't say, and now hath
he reconciled, if you continue. Well, we know he's gonna keep
us, right? From studying scriptures. It doesn't say, and now, yet
now hath he reconciled, if you keep working. It doesn't say
that. Praise be to God, it doesn't
say that. It says, yet now hath he reconciled. Peace with God
through Christ Jesus our Lord. And notice how Paul is pointing
the Colossian believers away from what the false teachers
are saying and focusing them on Christ and Christ alone. He's doing that which he says
he does. He sets forth Christ. He sets
forth Christ. He preaches Christ and Him crucified. And in this book especially,
he's bringing forth the preeminence of Christ. And he is just setting
Him right before him. Right off the bat, isn't it?
Right off the bat. He just sets them right before
them. Oh, what a Savior. What a Savior
we have. And He's setting Christ first
and foremost in order that they may be able to combat the false
teachers who are saying it's Christ plus something else. They
can say, no, it's in Christ we have redemption. We only have redemption in Christ. And this is what the Scriptures
say. Now remember, this is a letter written by Paul. Well, it's Holy
Scripture, isn't it? It's inspired by God. Is the Bible not an amazing book?
It crosses over times and cultures and presents a God and a Savior
who is timeless. The truth that was written to
the Colossian believers and warmed their souls is the same truth
that warms our souls. It's timeless, beloved. It shows
us that God does not change. There's only ever been one way
to heaven, and there only ever will be one way to heaven. And
that's in and through Christ and Him alone. No other way.
No matter what anybody says. There's only one way. And the
Master Himself, God incarnate in the flesh said, the truth
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. That's the words of the master.
That's the words of the master. And so our God, he don't change.
He doesn't change. And what a savior we have in
Christ Jesus, our Lord. So we looked at in whom being
Christ. We looked at in whom we have redemption, which is
the price for our sins, the ransom price is being paid by Christ. And the ransom price, of course,
was the precious blood of Christ. We see that in whom we have redemption
through his blood. And now let us turn our attention
to the result of this wonderful deliverance, the benefits, the
benefits that we have in Christ and his death as believers. Look at the benefit of the great
redemption of God's people, the forgiveness of sins. Now we can't
count our sins. There's sins we do that we don't
even know we do. We sin in our sleep, we sin when
we're awake. There's sins of omission and
sins of commission. We don't even know sometimes
when we sin. But we sin all the time. And knowing that as believers,
how wondrous is this? How wondrous is this benefit
of the death of Christ for we who believe. Jesus Christ, the
sinless, perfect, spotless Lamb of God gave himself for the sins
of all his people. We don't know who they are. Gospels
preach and proclaim and Christ does the saving. I like, Vicki
and I listened to Drew this morning and he said, he said a wonderful
point. He said, the preacher wants to
be invisible. We want you to hear Christ. We want you to hear
the word of God. And when we find out the Lord's
working on somebody, you know what we do? We just stand back.
And we watch what the Lord does. Just let him be. Let the Holy
Spirit work on them. He's the only one who can do
the saving, right? Now if they have questions, they can come
and ask, of course. But only the Holy Spirit is the one who
can regenerate them. See, religion, they won't get
in the way. Well, God does the saving. He does the saving. And Brother John said it many
times, when we find out the Lord saves someone, we're quick to
give them the glory. We're quick to give them the
glory. Oh my. Because it's all, he's the only
one who's deserving of it all. He's the only one who's deserving
of it all. So the forgiveness of sins. Let's quickly look at
some of the biblical texts which speak of what we have, this marvelous
forgiveness Turn, if you would, to Acts 2.38. Acts 2.38. We have the remission of all
our sins. Acts 2.38. And I'll read Isaiah 61 while
you're turning there. We also have the liberty or releasing
from the power of sin. Now, remember I said sin had
us up in cords? We were tied up. Proverbs talks
about the cords of sin. We're bound up. Well, listen
to what it says in Isaiah. Oh, my. It says, The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. And
we were captives to our sin, weren't we? And the opening of
the prison to them that are bound. We were in the prison house of
sin, beloved. But now we have liberty, or the releasing from
the power of sin. We don't have release from the
presence of sin. but we have released from the power of sin.
It doesn't have the dominion that it once held over us, no
longer. Now we grieve our sin, we grieve
our sin. Look at this in Acts 2.38, it
says, then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So one of
the benefits is the remission of our sins. Another again is
the liberty of releasing from the power of sin. And then another
benefit is God being merciful to sinners. Only through Christ,
he says this, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. See, when
God says we have the forgiveness of sins, he means it. You ever
made somebody mad and you talk to them and you think the situation's
finished and you find out it's not finished? God's not like
that. God's not like that. He says,
your sins and iniquities will I remember no more. They're gone. They're gone. They're gone. That's how we should be with
one another, isn't it? Yeah, it's true. Just let it go. Just
let it go. Oh my, it's wonderful. And a
publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God,
be merciful to me. What? A sinner. Oh, my. God's merciful to sinners in
Christ, isn't he? That's a benefit of the redemption in Christ that
we have. He's merciful to us. We don't
get what we deserve. We get mercy. And then another
benefit is Christ being the propitiation for our sins. Scripture says
this, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. That's
another benefit we have, Romans 3.25. Turn, if you would, to
Psalm 51.7. Do you know another benefit we
have? Is the purging from our sins. They're gone. They're gone. In God's eyes,
they will never be bought up again. You know, when I was in
religion, I used to think that, oh, it was just bad, that believers
would stand in front of God and the TV screen would replay all
the sins that the believer had committed and they would be rewarded
based upon their good and their bad. You all know what I'm talking
about, right? Vicki asked the question, she
got more grace on this before I did. And when we were religion,
the Lord was showing us grace. And she said, well, how could
that be? If God says he forgives us for all our sins. Oh, I had
no answer. But the scripture does. There
is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. That
means judgment. Isn't that wonderful? There won't
be no big television screen showing us everything, because God don't
remember our sins. They're gone in his eyes. Isn't
that wonderful? That's enough to make you shudder. Oh my. Look at this little one. Psalm 51.7, purge me with hyssop
and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. We're washed whiter than snow in the precious blood
of Christ, beloved. It's good news. It's finished. It's all done. And then turn,
if you would, to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31, 34. You remember how I said
the big TV screen there and, you know, oh, you did this, no,
you know, that, that. Anyways. You find out that some
of the things you believe was just the teachings of man and
not of what the Word of God says. That's what I found out. That's
what I found out. I found out that the God I believe
wasn't the God of the Bible. But praise God, the God of the
Bible is merciful. Oh, He's so merciful. Look at this in Jeremiah
31, 34. And they shall teach No man, every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother. Jeremiah 31, 34, saying, know
the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive
them their iniquity, and I will remember their sin, what? See
what it says? No more. Well, if according to
that theology, everything can be played before you, that's
God's remembering your sin again, isn't it? You see, it's not from
the Bible. Bible says those God forgives
here, remember their sin no more. Oh, how we may remember them,
right? And then when we remember them,
we confess them even 20, 30 years later, don't we? When they come
to mind, it's all covered under the blood, beloved. It's all
covered under the blood. Hear and not remember our sins
no more. That's such good news for sinners. That's wonderful
news. That's wonderful news. Turn if
you would to Psalm 32. Psalm 32, look at this. Another
benefit we have being in Christ and through his redemption by
his precious blood is the covering for all our sins. Now if our
sins weren't covered, they'd be out in the open, wouldn't
they? Oh my, look at this though, beloved. This make your heart
sing. My oh my. Psalm 32, look at this. Verses
1 and 2. Blessed is he whose transgression
is what? Forgiven. Forgiven. Whose sin is covered. How is
our sin covered? By the precious blood of the Lamb, beloved. Covered. You see, you remember what the
Lord said? When I see the blood, I'll what? That Passover night? When I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. Right? Well, that blood has covered
our sins, beloved. God won't remember them no more.
Look at that beautiful verse there. Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
And then over in Psalm 85, 2, the scripture says this, Thou
has forgiven the iniquity of thy people. Thou has covered
all their sin. Selah. Just be still. After you read that verse, just
be still. I'll read it again. Psalm 85, 2, Thou has forgiven
the iniquity of thy people. Their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more. Right? Thou has covered all their
sin. Oh, beloved, what a redemption.
All our sin covered by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wash clean, whiter than snow. It's wondrous. Absolutely wondrous. Wondrous. And stay there in Psalms. Go to Psalm 103. You know, we've seen here time
and time again about how our sin's gone, isn't it? And then,
listen to what the psalmist says, I'll read Psalm 51-90, he says,
Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Our
sins are blotted out, beloved, covered by the blood of the Lamb.
Look at this in Psalm 103. One of the benefits we have of
redemption in Christ is the taking away and removing of all our
sin. Look at this. Psalm 103, verses
10 to 12. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins. That's saying He doesn't deal with us after our sins.
If we got what we deserved, we'd be in hell. But God's people
don't get that. Because all the wrath of God
that was due us fell upon Him, upon Christ. And look at this
wonderful verse here. This is just, this is wonderful.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. We don't get what we deserve.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, think of the span,
we don't know where heaven, we know heaven's up, or we don't
know, it's way up, you can't measure it, right? For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great, even if you want to
consider the stars, it's so far away. Right? For as the heaven
is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that
fear him. God's mercy towards his people is great. It's great. Look at this. As far as the east
is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgression
from us. I've told you this before. If
you put a stick in the ground and you go east or west, you
will continue to go east no matter where you're going. Around, around,
around. There's no poles. And then if you go west, you'll
continuously be doing west. If you go north and south, there's
poles. There's not when you go around the globe. They never
meet. So the Lord's saying, look at
that. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed
our transgressions from us. What a Savior. What a Savior. What great forgiveness we have
in Christ. And East will never meet West
if you're traveling, if you're always traveling East, and vice
versa. So what a, what wonder is the
forgiveness of our sins we have in Christ. And in the casting
of our sins behind God's back, the scripture says this. Behold,
for peace I had great bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption. For thou hast cast
all my sins behind thy back. Isaiah 38, 17. They're no longer in his sight.
If they're cast behind him, they're no longer in his sight. Isn't that wonderful? They're
no longer in his sight. Praise his mighty name. And then
we have the blotting out of our sins. Turn, if you would, to
Isaiah 43, and also put your finger in Micah. Isaiah 43. in
Micah chapter 7. Isaiah 43 in Micah chapter 7. Oh, I'll read our text again. Who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Oh, look at this. Isaiah 43,
verse 25. This is the Lord speaking. I, even I am he that blotted
out thy transgressions. Covered. Blotted out. For mine own sake and will not
remember thy sins. Isn't that wonderful? That's
what the believer has in Christ. And in one chapter over in verse
22, Isaiah 44, 22, it says this, look at this, this is marvelous
too, wondrous scriptures. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions. We could never, think of that,
think of that. Who's the one who's done it?
God's done it, right? Christ by the shedding of his
own precious blood. We couldn't pay for one sin. Look what he
says, Isaiah 44, 22. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgression and as a, cloud thy sins, return unto
me, for I have what? Redeemed thee. And what does
it say over there in Colossians? It says, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. That's Christ speaking
in Isaiah. He redeemed us, beloved. Oh my. And then go to Micah, chapter
7. We're almost finished. Micah, chapter 7. This is wonderful.
It just gets better and better. Oh, another benefit is he's cast
us into the depth of the sea. Brother John, you were out in
that sea, in that ship. And you're just a tiny little
ship in that big old ocean, eh? If you drop something in there,
you're never going to find it again, are you? It's gone. It's gone. You drop something in one of
our oceans, and it's gone. It's gone. Look at this, Micah
7, verses 18 and 19. Who is a god like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity? Well, only God can pardon iniquity.
All the other gods men make are gods of their imagination. They
can't pardon anybody. Look at this though. Who is a
god like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passes by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage? The remnant, his people, his
elect. He retaineth not his anger forever.
Why? Because it's being appeased in
Christ. And look at this. It says, because he delighteth
in mercy, he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have
compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities.
And he has his knee paid for them all. Christ pay. They're
gone. And doubt will cast all their sins into the depths of
the seas. Will there never be found again?
Remember the scapegoat? Off they go. Taken by a fit man. Picture in Christ. On that day
of atonement, he's both the sacrifice who died, and he's the scapegoat
as well, and he's the fit man as well. And he's the priest.
It just goes on and on again. He's the altar. He's everything
in there. But that scapegoat was gone. Gone. Look at that. Now it will cast
all their sins into the depths of the sea. Our sins are never
to be seen anymore. Now, we still sin, don't we? We know that one day, though,
will be delivered from the presence of sin, it'll be glorious, as
I said earlier, it'll be glorious. But God has forgiven the believer
in Christ. Of all their sins, we saw that
very clearly tonight. Very clearly. All the sins of
God's people have been removed from them and imputed to Christ,
and they're carried away into the land of oblivion. They're
gone. The scapegoats carried them away, beloved. So they are no more to be seen,
and we, through His blood and His righteousness, will one day
be presented to God without fault and without spot, And without
wrinkle, totally blameless. Good news for sinners, isn't
it? Wonderful news for sinners. Wonderful. The question is, are
you a sinner? Are you a sinner? And think of
this analogy, too. They're cast into the depths
of the sea. It's marvelous. And the depths of the sea, it's
irrecoverable. Say you throw a silver dollar
into the ocean. You're not going to find that
thing ever again. It's gone. It's gone. And our sins don't
float to the top of the sea, but they're cast into the depths
of the sea, it says there. Into the depths. Into the depths
of the sea. And God's people's sins are forgiven
for Christ's sake. And all our sins are bore by
Christ, covered, blotted out by the precious blood of Christ,
we are pardoned and not one of our sins remains unforgiven. Not one. And our text says that we have
this in Christ. Let's read that again. Look at
this. Who had delivered us from the
power of darkness and had translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son in whom we have redemption. We have this right now. We're
not waiting till we get to heaven. We have this right now. We're
in possession of redemption and we know it's a gift of God. Just
like faith and repentance, right? We have redemption through Christ.
Look at this. Through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
And we looked at some of the benefits of that. They're gone,
beloved. They're gone. They're gone. My, we have this in Christ. And
we are forgiven forever, beloved. We are forgiven forever and freely
by the grace of God. Forever. Freely by the grace
of God. What a manifestation of the love
of God for His people, that He would send His Son to die on
the cross, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, to die on the cross
for sinners. Why? He alone justifies us, Christ
alone justifies us, Christ alone redeems us, and in Christ alone
do we have the forgiveness of sins. only in Christ, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of
sins. And this wonderful redemption
is in Christ and Him alone. He is the author of it. In whom? In whom? He is the author of
it. He's the means, how? Through his blood, in that verse.
So we see he's the author in whom? Through his blood. He's
the means in whom we have redemption. And the benefits flow from what
he's done. And what are they? The forgiveness
of sins. All in one verse. All in one verse there. We have
Christ as the author. We have Christ as the means of
our salvation. And we have the benefits of that
salvation we have in Christ, right there. whom, the author,
we have redemption through his blood, that's the means, even
the forgiveness of sins, there's the benefits. Wonderful! Though your sins are red as crimson,
as countless as sands on the shore, in the blood of the blessed
Redeemer they are cleansed and remembered no more. Your sins
are remembered no more. Your sins are remembered no more. To the depth of the sea he has
cast them to be remembered against you no more. Praise his mighty name.