Blake Long

Sin is a ravaging menace, a bloodthirsty criminal, an ever-present threat to our joy in Christ. And yet, as one in Christ, we are recipients of God’s grace and mercy in that He has removed sin from us in various ways, some immediate, others progressive.

Charles Spurgeon, the famous London “Prince of Preachers,” noted that God removes sin in three distinct-yet-connected ways: “Remember that the Lord Jesus came to take away sin in three ways; He came to remove the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and, at last, the presence of sin.”

Let’s explore.

Removing the Penalty

By His death on the cross, Jesus once and for all removed—completely—the penalty our sin had incurred. What was that penalty? you may ask. Hell for all eternity under the righteous and just wrath of God. People shudder, individuals clamor. The wrath of God itself is an unnerving concept, but a biblical one we must admit. More so, it is a concept we must speak of. Hell is not terrifying because it’s Hell, but because of God’s wrath.

However, this isn’t strictly about God’ s wrath, but the removal of it—thanks be to God. Through dying on the cross, Jesus reconciled us to God by taking on our sin, thereby removing its penalty (Romans 5:10). Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for our sin (1 John 2:1-2); His perfect and sufficient atonement completely removed sin, as He took it all upon Himself and suffered God the Father’s wrath.

Jesus died, and suffered (1 Peter 3:18), to ultimately bring us to God. By removing the penalty of sin, we now have access to the Father through the person of Jesus Christ! Jesus bore our sins on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and now the penalty of God’s wrath is appeased and we no longer have to fear it.

And here’s the best part—its removal was immediate. We need not wonder if the wrath of God is still hanging over our heads or if we need to do something on our end. Jesus removed it completely by His death. I know I may sound like a broken record, but sometimes our thick skulls need that.

Removing the Power

As a Christian, I will continue to fight against sin until glory comes, until the day I die. But when God saved me—and you—He removed the ginormous power of sin in our lives, to the point where we can, by the power of His Spirit, fight back against it—and win.

The Apostle Paul goes as far to say that we must reckon ourselves “dead to sin” (Romans 6:11). Though sin will wage war against us daily, it doesn’t have power over us anymore. We can attack, we can fight back against sin by the Spirit’s power.

John Owen wrote:

The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin.

Just because God has removed the power of sin in our lives doesn’t mean we should not take sin seriously, nor should we be passive in relation to sin. Though it doesn’t have power over us anymore, it still seeks to attack us daily. This is why, by the power of the Holy Spirt, we must “mortify [kill] the indwelling power of sin.”

But thanks be to God that the power of sin in our lives is significant less than it was before salvation. Because of Christ’s atonement and the Spirit who lives in us, we can resist sin. Sin doesn’t have dominion over us. We are not enslaved to sin anymore (Romans 6:1-7), but slaves to Christ.

Removing the Presence

This is what we look forward to. This is the culmination of all things, the blessing of being with Jesus in Heaven—no more sin. Any presence of sin will be eradicated in glory.

No more fighting, no more resisting, no more caving. Sin will cease to exist in Heaven. Is that not the best news? What I look forward to the most about glory is being with my Lord, but knowing I won’t have to deal with sin is a wonderful thought.

There will be no more tears, no more pain, no more anguish. Crime will be erased, immorality will vanish, vulgarity will cease to be. We won’t have to worry about how to combat society with the gospel or how we possibly can be lured away by sin and our own temptations. In glory, we will be made perfect—glorified!

Let us marvel at our God who provided His own Son as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of His people. Through the death of Jesus, the penalty of our sin—God’s wrath—has been removed, the power of sin in our lives has been squashed, and the presence of sin will soon be a distant memory when we enter in the presence of our triune God.