Will God Remove Sin From His Creation?

Let us look now at the Scriptures and see if God intends to actually remove sin from His creation.

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. (Daniel 9:24)

"To make an end of sins." Think of it. The Scriptures declare plainly that God shall make an end of sins.

We have a dramatic occurrence along this same line in Revelation.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9)

This marks the beginning of the end for Satan.

So we see that it is in God's plan to make an end of sin and Satan.

As to God's purpose concerning the Bride of the Lamb:

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)

A perfect Church-not perfect by imputed righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God but by inwrought righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God.

The next question is, how and when is God going to put an end to sin in His creation? How, is by the power of God's Spirit working on the authority of the blood of the cross. When, is in the last days, that is, God's eternal judgment on sin will begin with His Church and it will be in the last days.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)

First, Christ the sinless One came to earth. Christ lived on this earth for thirty-three years without sin. Think of it!

Next, there is coming out of the ranks of the believers a warlike remnant of saints. The Lord is judging them now. They now are being revealed before the Judgment Seat of Christ. As they cooperate with the Lord He is enabling them to recognize and confess and renounce their sins. When they do the urge to sin is diminished enough for them to keep from sinning. In the Lord's time He will remove even the presence of the sins from them. It is an eternal judgment and the beginning of the release of the creation from sin.

Next in line is the remainder of the Church, the family of God.

Finally the nations of saved people on the earth will be delivered from sin. The nations will then be kept from further sin by those who govern them, that is, the sons of God.

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

This is how God will put an end to sin in the environment of His people. All sinners, including Satan, his angels, and those who worship them, will be confined for eternity much as those with a dreadful, contagious disease are isolated. Perhaps God's rulers, when they see someone making up his mind whether or not he should disobey God, will take the offender on a "field trip" to look at those who are incarcerated in the flames.

Those who believe God is too harsh concerning His judgment on sin are already on the side of Antichrist, of Satan. They have joined the ranks of the people who are ready to shake their fist at God.

Whose side are you on-on the side of man or on the side of God?

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

The Old Testament tells of the One who is coming to purify the members of the royal priesthood.

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:3)

Does the New Testament point toward a deliverance from sin that will come in the last days?

As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:40-43)

Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick living and the dead. (I Peter 4:5)

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17)

We see from the above that the Judgment Seat of Christ began in the first century, that it involved people who were living as well as those who were dead, and that it commenced with the house of God. The judgment is being intensified in our day.

The new covenant from its beginning contains the provision for not only forgiving but also removing sin from all who will accept God's plan of salvation.

Why, then, haven't those who have gone before us found the new-covenant method of overcoming and removing the sin found in the believers? Perhaps some did. But as we examine Church history we see that God works in periods of emphasis.

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)

We notice from the above passage that the coming of the Lord is a multistaged event. There will be seasons and times of refreshing and restoration. This was true of speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues has always been a scriptural experience. But it appears to have been largely hidden from God's people until this century. The same is true of the gifts of the Spirit and the emphasis on the Body of Christ.

The new covenant has always advised us to put to death the deeds of our flesh. But the eternal significance of this action was not impressed on us to the extent that is true today.

The New Testament informs us that salvation will come at the end of the Christian Era. By salvation we mean deliverance from the guilt and especially the power and presence of sin. Such salvation is of the very essence of the new covenant.

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)

As to the appearing of salvation in the last days:

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:27,28)

We do not believe the above passage refers to the coming of the Lord in the clouds of glory but to the appearing of the Lord prior to His worldwide coming. The Lord will appear first in the Spirit to those who are looking for Him in order to prepare His Bride for the first resurrection from the dead. When the Lord at a later time comes to the world it will be as a thief who surprises the wicked by the ferocity of His anger and the strength of His power.

Notice carefully above: "Unto them that look for him." When the Lord finally comes to the world as a thief accompanied by His saints and holy angels, every eye will see Him, not just those who are looking for Him.

As to an appearing of the Lord to His saints and not to the world, observe carefully:

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)

We do not believe there will be a pre-advent bodily "rapture" of the believers for such is not found in the Scriptures. But there certainly shall be a pre-advent manifestation of the Lord to His disciples that will not be known to the world.

Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:22,23)

The above passage is setting forth the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles, which must be preceded by the Day of Atonement, that is, by a judging and cleansing of those in whom the Father and the Son will come to dwell.

To review what we have stated thus far: the new covenant provides for deliverance from the guilt and power of sin. Also the presence of sin is to be removed from the camp just as the scapegoat was removed from the camp of the Israelites during the Day of Atonement.

But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:10)

The procedure is simple. After we have put our faith in the blood atonement, have been baptized in water, have been forgiven our sins, have passed from death unto life, and are living as a disciple of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit will begin the program of removing the graveclothes of sin and death from us.

The worldliness in our personality is destroyed as we turn away from involvement in the world system and behave as a soldier of Christ.

The sins of the flesh are put to death as the Holy Spirit points them out to us and we confess them clearly and renounce them firmly, resisting them through the grace Christ gives. We do this in anticipation of the Day when the Lord appears and finally removes the very presence of sin from us.

Our self-will is destroyed as we patiently bear our cross behind Christ. We remain in the prison of the Lord. We accept situations that are painful to us. We wait for the fulfillment of our intense desires, we do not break out of prison and grasp what we think we want.

We always give thanks to God and ask for what we want. But we do not budge until the Lord tells us what to do about our wishes. We put our treasures, our hopes, our intense desires, in Heaven. We love not our life to the death.

Our will and character must be transformed if we expect the Lord at His coming to remove the sin that is dwelling in us. Our sinful nature comprises both the sin that dwells in us, that is alien to us, and also our own disobedience, worldliness, and self-love. These are transformed into stern obedience and love for God as we fight against the sin resident in us.

The above three deliverances, from the world, from sin, and from self-will constitute an eternal judgment on our personality. The evil is forgiven and removed and will not be brought up later. This is the Judgment Seat of Christ and it prepares us for our part in the first resurrection from the dead, the resurrection of the royal priesthood.

Once having been saved, filled with God's Spirit of Life, and having experienced the program of removing sin from our personality, we never are to turn back to our old life. If we do we are in danger of not finding an opportunity to repent. We may not be able to turn to the Lord and begin the program of salvation again.

The days of babyhood are over for some of us. The real thing, the taking of the Kingdom of God, has begun. It is for you if this is what you desire. But once you put your hand to the plow you never are to look back, not in this world or the next.