“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28).

For every believer, Jesus’ death and resurrection provided complete freedom from the curse of sin and death. But until we learn what that means and how to apply it, we don’t know how to lay hold of all that is ours.

To walk in complete freedom from sin, guilt, condemnation and defeat is like an unattainable dream to some people. They have no idea of the freedom and joy that is already theirs, if they only knew how to tap into it.

When Jesus died, His shed blood ratified the covenant you and I have with God. His blood was the ultimate and final sacrifice for our sins. You don’t have to “do” things to make up for your sins.

You don’t have to punish yourself, or offer up a sacrifice like they did in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew sacrifices of the blood of animals was atonement. It covered for sin, it did not destroy it. Atonement means “to cover over or cover up.” Animal blood only temporarily hid sin away for one year.

Under the New Covenant, the blood of Jesus did not just cover our sin, it remitted or did away with it. In the Greek language in the New Testament, the word is never atonement, it’s God reconciling by totally wiping out. The Greek word for atonement doesn’t occur in the New Testament when referring to the sacrifice of Jesus.

To use the word atonement in referring to the blood of Jesus is totally inaccurate. In ignorance we’ve used it. People in religious circles have talked about the great atonement. I did for years until I learned the truth.

It was an atonement in the basic understanding of it, but not in the real description of it. The blood of Jesus did far more than just cover up sin.

Colossians 2:14 explains remittance: It rendered invisible the ink of the note that was written against us in sin. The King James Version says, it “blotted it out.” Atonement would have stamped “paid in full” on the note. Atonement would have covered the note. But remittance wiped out the ink of the note. Remittance means there’s no evidence now that there ever was a note. The note is not only paid, it doesn’t exist anymore. The blood of Jesus destroyed it.

Are you getting this? It means when you confess your sins and they are put under the blood of Jesus, and you mention it to God the next day, He doesn’t know what you are talking about. It’s been destroyed! It’s no longer in existence. You are worrying and fretting over something that doesn’t exist. You are living under condemnation of something that isn’t there. You’re letting something hold you back that isn’t real. You’ve been redeemed! You’ve been set free!

Speak the Word: Jesus shed His blood for the remission of my sins and now they no longer exist! (Matt. 26:28)

For Further Study: Colossians 1:9-23; 1 Peter 1:18-25

Daily Scripture Reading: Exodus 3-4; Mark 1