“He Gave Himself For Our Sins”

From this post, I would like us to turn to the letter Paul wrote to the Galatians as we consider more of the depth and breadth of God’s dealings with us in His grace. Why Galatians? The epistle was written as an eloquent defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s grace to a group of people who were being pressured to look away from God’s chosen path. I believe its message very relevant to us in these times we currently live in.

We’ll begin from the very beginning of the letter. Chapter 1 opens with simple greetings but at the same time we find tucked in there a mine of wisdom and wonder. Let’s look at verse 4 (speaking of Jesus)

“…who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.”

This verse alone is so rich & so full! I will restrict myself to the first phrase of the verse in this post “…who gave himself for our sins…” One of the main pillars of the gospel of Christ is the message that God gave us His Son to save us from our sins.

As we read our Bibles we’re faced with this recurring theme of salvation from our sins through Jesus Christ. He was “…delivered to death for trespasses…” (Rom.4:25), He is the one “who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity…” (Titus 2:14). “Who in his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…”; “…who has freed us from our sins by his blood…” (Rev.1:5). In fact, when the angel of the Lord conveyed the news of Jesus’ birth to Joseph, he explained the reason for the name Jesus-“…because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew1:21 NIV).

This isn’t the only thing Jesus accomplished for us by coming to the earth but make no mistake about this: He took our place and died for us. God did not attempt to save us with gold or silver (see 1 Peter 1:18). He did not even send an angel to take our place. Our Lord Himself freely gave His own life to save us from our sins!

We are tempted sometimes to reject this awesome grace of God in Christ. We try to pay for our sins by ourselves. We attempt through some human effort on our own to earn the freedom that Jesus has made freely available. But I have some news that should delight the soul of every believer in Christ: we don’t owe any debt of sin or sins anymore my friends. The price has been paid in full already. Jesus paid the price. He gave Himself for our sins.

Now and again as I interact with people and share this message, some folks say to me: “Is it really true? Is this not too much? Can God really do such a thing? You mean Jesus took my place and died for my sins? But I don’t deserve it!” My response is usually very simple: it is all very true. God chose to do it and we do not deserve it but that is why it is grace.

This is not an issue to entertain doubts about. It is not a matter to debate or quarrel over. It is a facet of grace that drives us to faith in God and increasing thankfulness to Him. This is the only appropriate response to such a wondrous act of Christ Jesus in which He willingly laid down His life for you and I.

May our hearts be established in grace this week and always. May our lives be transformed by this powerful truth of how God by grace gave Himself for our sins. May His Spirit impress this reality upon our hearts and drive doubt and despair from our souls. May we with conviction and untainted persuasion bask in the glory of His amazing grace. Amen.


Note: Unless otherwise stated, Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV)