ESOCS Devotional 12 May 2025 – Forgiveness in the Name of Jesus Christ
MEMORY VERSE: “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:46-47
TEXT: LUKE 24:46-53
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
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Repentance and forgiveness of sin bring salvation. It is not enough to repent and be forgiven. This is because no one by righteous practice alone can please God. God has a standard of righteousness and He alone determines who can please Him in righteousness. In Isaiah 64:6, we see this submission from Amplified Bible: “For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper], And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags; We all wither and decay like a leaf, And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction].”
After the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, covenants and laws involving promises, statutes, ordinances and blood sacrifices were instituted to help man relate with fellow men and God in an acceptable way, awaiting the perfect redemption of man from the consequences of the fall through Christ Jesus. Then, before Christ came, all through the years we see man as reported on the pages of the scriptures falling deeper into sin as exemplified by the Israelites. And then, Prophets and Prophetesses arising to warn them of impending destructions from the judgement of their sins. They would call them to repentance (which is a reversal and change from evil to good deeds). However, we see how temporary and floppy this repentance was then.
For repentance and forgiveness to be effective, the sin committed must be atoned for and power imparted for righteous living. But the blood of animals are not pure and powerful enough to provide permanent atonement and provide power to live above sin. This is what God provided for man in Christ Jesus. He suffered and died for our sins and rose again from the dead to give as many that would believe in Him eternal life. Therefore, for repentance and forgiveness (remission) of sin to be preached in Jesus Name means that the repenting soul must rely on the strength of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary and forgiveness is procured on the basis of that death, which paid for our sins and makes one to stand before God, as if he had never sinned (justified). The death delivers believers from power of sin, and grace is given to live above sin.
CHALLENGES
- Did you repent in the light of the above or in the strength of your will power?
PRAYER POINT
- Father, thank you for the perfect arrangement you made for our repentance in Christ.
FURTHER READING: 1 Samuel 2:26-36; 2 Kings 2:1-15; Mark 16:14-20
ESOCS Devotional 12 May 2025
