The Remission of All Our Lifelong Trespasses
Was Fulfilled with the Baptism and the Blood of Jesus
| What is 'the snare' of the devil against the righteous? |
| The devil tries to deceive the righteous in order to make them sinners again. |
Jesus knew well that, after He was crucified, resurrected and went up to Heaven, the devil and the propagators of the untrue faith would come and try to deceive the disciples. We can see by the testimony of Peter, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," that he believed in Jesus. But still, Jesus wanted to remind Peter once more to keep the gospel of the remission of sins in mind. That gospel was the baptism of Jesus, through which He took away all the sins of the world. He wanted to teach it once more to Peter, the disciples and even to us who would come later. "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this."
Whenever the disciples of Jesus sinned, the devil would tempt and condemn them, saying, "Look! If you still commit sins, how can you say that you are without sin? You have not been saved. You are merely a sinner." To prevent that kind of infection, Jesus told them that their faiths in the baptism of Jesus had already washed away all their lifelong sins-past, present, and future.
"You all know that I was baptized! The reason I was baptized at the Jordan was to wash away all your lifelong sins, as well as the original sin of humankind. Are you able to understand now why I was baptized, and why I have to be crucified and die on the Cross?" Jesus washed His disciples' feet to show them that He had taken away all their daily sins through His baptism, and that He would take the judgment for them on the Cross.
Now, you and I have been redeemed of all our sins by our faiths in the gospel of Jesus' baptism and blood, which enables us to receive the remission of all our sins. Jesus was baptized and crucified for us. He has washed away all our sins with His baptism and blood. Anyone who knows and believes in the gospel of the atonement of sins and who believes in the truth is redeemed of all his/her sins.
Then, what should the born-again do after being saved? They have to admit their sins everyday and believe in the salvation of the baptism and blood of Jesus, the gospel of the atonement for all their sins. The gospel of the remission of sins is what we, the born-again, should deeply impress on our minds.
Just because you sin again, does that mean that you are a sinner again? No. Knowing that Jesus took away all our sins, how could we become sinners again? The baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross was the gospel of the atonement for all our sins. Anyone who believes in this original gospel of the remission of sins can be born again, without exception, as 'a righteous person.'