Second Sunday after Easter – Thursday

He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. – Psalm 130:8.

Christ has redeemed us from all our sins.  Scripture says so.  This is our faith.  And this is most certainly true.  But how is this true?  We still have sin; we are sinners; we sin.  How, then, are we to understand that Christ has redeemed, freed us from all our sins?  We sin against the Law of God.  Hence we are guilty and liable to penalty.  Because of our sins we are under the curse of the Law.  From the guilt and penalty of sin, or from the curse of the Law, which is the same thing, Christ has redeemed and freed us.  “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us,” says the holy apostle, Galatians 3:13.  And from the dominion of sin Christ has redeemed us.

Sin, which indeed still dwells within us, can no longer own, dominate, enslave, rule, govern us, and shape our lives.  We can laugh and mock at sin, resist it, be disobedient to it, and act contrary to it.  Christ has freed us from our former vain way of life under the authority of sin, received by tradition from our fathers, from the beginning.  The Apostle Peter wrote: “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

And the time will come, in heaven, when we and all other believers in Christ shall be freed altogether from every sin that still clings to us, on account of the sacrifice which Christ made for us.  And all this has been brought to light and vouched for by the resurrection of Christ, when Christ, our Substitute before God, having finished the work of our salvation, was resurrected from the dead by God the Father, to show the Father’s acceptance of Christ’s work in our behalf for the total forgiveness of our sins and for our complete righteousness before the eyes of our Father in heaven.

PRAYER – Oh, risen Savior, we praise Thee for redeeming us and the whole world from our sins; Thou hast also atoned for the sins of the world.  My sins can neither damn nor rule me any longer.  For this I give thanks to Thee with all my redeemed heart.  Oh, grant that I may enjoy more and more the knowledge of this my blessed freedom, and, being rid entirely of an evil conscience, may serve Thee more and more faithfully with a cheerful heart, until I shall awake from the sleep of death with Thy likeness.  Amen.

Awake my soul, to joyful lays, and sing thy great Redeemer’s praise;

He justly claims a song from me, His loving kindness, oh, how free!

—

Though mighty hosts of cruel foes, where earth and hell my way oppose;

He safely leads my soul along, His loving-kindness, oh, how strong.

 (Hymn 340, st. 1 and 4; TLH)