Suffering For Sins

For what the law could not do in that it was weakthrough the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin.

Romans 8:3

When we as believers suffer persecution, criticism, or even death, we are sinners suffering because of the sins of others. Our pain may come from the sins of hatred, anger, envy, or murder.

Christ also suffered for sins, but as the sinless One. First Peter 2:22 says He “committed no sin.” He never thought, said, or did anything evil. Rather, everything He thought, said, and did was perfectly holy. The sins of others placed Him on the cross: of those who mocked Him and those who nailed Him to the cross. He died because of the sins of the whole world.

Today’s verse says that Jesus died “on account of sin.” He suffered as a sin offering because “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Just as in the Old Testament God required an animal sacrifice to symbolize the need for our atonement for sin, the New Testament presents Christ as the sacrifice who provided not a symbol, but the reality of our eternal atonement for sin.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 126). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.

Listen to this entry