SUNDAY November 18, 2018

An Offering for Sin

So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”
1 Samuel 6:3

The Philistine priests and diviners told their people what to do. Inside the Ark of God they were to place trespass offerings. They believed the LORD would honor their sacrifice. Did you know the Philistines knew about giving trespass offerings to the LORD, just like the Israelites? Even as heathens, they knew to send the Ark of God back with an offering, in hopes of removing God’s hand of chastisement and wrath against them!

Even today, people try to make offerings to God, in hopes that He would remove their sins and they could escape from His judgment. They will offer the LORD money and do good works or acts of obeisance. Yet, what does the Bible teach us about having our sins forgiven?

Understand, we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). God is a holy God (Isaiah 6:3), and our sins have separated us from Him (Isaiah 59:2). We cannot, by our own merit, reach God. It is God who reaches down to us: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,  who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

Christ is the way of salvation. Through Christ’s death on the Cross, we are forgiven: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins… (Ephesians 1:7). …Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28). The Apostle Paul testified: …Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures… (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Gospel is very simple. Do you believe this to be the way of salvation? Your eternal destiny––heaven or hell––depends on your answer.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
~John 3:16~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit Somebodylovesyouradio.org!