Joe: Hi, welcome to this segment. Today, I am joined by Tony Espinoza,
and we'll be discussing Chapter 3 from Volume 1 of the "Basic Elements of the Christian Life."
The title of this chapter is "The Precious Blood of Christ."
Tony, when someone feels separation from God, how can they deal with that separation?
Tony: Well Joe, the Bible tells us that separation between man and God comes from man's sins.
The prophet Isaiah referred to this in his book in chapter 59 verse 2,
where he said that our iniquities, that is our sins, have caused there to be a separation between us and God.
There is, however, a cure for that separation and for those sins that caused that separation,
and that cure is not any amount of weeping, any particular ritual,
penance, waiting for a time when things will be better.
Rather, the unique cure to the sins that separate man from God
is the precious blood of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, John the apostle says,
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
When we confess our sins to the Lord, the blood of Christ cleanses us from every sin and from every stain of unrighteousness
and the separation between us and God is removed and we are restored to a right relationship with God.
Joe: Okay. So now that we've seen the precious blood of Christ, let's consider another matter which is the weight of guilt.
Where does guilt come from and how can people be freed from it?
Tony: Well, guilt is caused by the sins that we commit that become a stain on our conscience
and that weigh our conscience down with guilt. Of course, if our sins remain unconfessed,
then they begin to accumulate and that load of guilt can become unbearable.
But just as there was a solution to the separation between man and God in the blood of Jesus Christ,
so too there is a solution to the guilt that man feels in that same blood that cleanses man from his sins.
When we confess our sins to the Lord, not only are our sins cleansed and forgiven,
but the guilt that we have concerning that sin is alleviated from our conscience.
There is a verse in the book of Hebrews 9:14, that says,
"How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God,
purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
When we confess our sins, our conscience is purified and we are enlivened to serve the living God.
What should a person do if he or she feels guilty from sins that already have been confessed?
Well Joe, if there is any lingering accusation concerning any matter that we've already confessed,
then that accusation is not from God.
Rather it is from God's enemy, Satan, who in the Bible is called the Accuser of the brothers.
When we confess our sins, our sins are forgiven by God and we stand on the word of God which testifies that this is so.
But Satan likes to come and accuse and cause us much torment by continuing to accuse us.
When this happens, we need to realize that just as the blood of Christ was the cure to separation and to guilt,
so it is the cure to the accusations from Satan.
Another verse that I think is a very helpful in the New Testament is in the book of Revelation
and that it is in chapter 12 and it is verse 11.
And it says, "And they overcame him (that is Satan)
because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony."
This says, not only that we overcome because of the blood that Christ,
the Lamb of God shed for man's redemption, but also it's by the word of our testimony.
And that is the word that we speak directly to Satan concerning the accomplished work of Christ on the cross.
When we sense that accusation which drains us of vitality, we need to say "Satan, I have confessed my sin.
It has been forgiven by God and what I sense now is not of God, it is you and I reject it!"
In this way, Satan flees from us, we have a purified conscience,
we are relieved from the sense of guilt,
our separation is taken away, we are restored to fellowship with God and we can live a peaceful life
that is fully in God's presence from day to day by applying this precious blood of Christ.
Joe: Amen. Well it's been very good to get into Chapter 3 from the "Basic Elements of the Christian Life."
And it's so good to see how precious the blood of Christ is.
Tony, thank you for joining us again today and we hope to see you soon.
Tony: Thank you, Joe.