1 Peter 3:18
“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”
Now, this passage can be taken and spouted among the progressive branch of Christianity as a heresy, stating that Christ died “once for all,” therefore, there is no need to refrain from sin. If He died for all sins, for the sins of every man, once for all, then there is neither any need to convert unto Christianity or forsake one’s sins. I have seen this heresy circulating among the ministers of this world who are more concerned with remaining in their own sins than condemning and thereby rectifying for their wickedness; again, this is mostly in the progressive church that desires to undermine the very fabric of Christianity in order that they might spread their licentious and wicked message of selfishness to all those around us. They claim that sin does not need to be mortified, they claim that holiness does not need to be sought after, that God is merely a figurehead and that we all deserve forgiveness simply because we exist.
Naturally, beloved, I assume you are able to see through the wickedness of this message, as it would not lead men unto a greater knowledge of the Lord God Almighty, but would rather lead men unto the grips of hell. All this false doctrine is based upon the misinterpretation, intentionally so, of this single passage; they rip it from its context, in the same manner that Satan did in his temptations of Christ. They would rather ally themselves with the prince of darkness, serving themselves, and, by extension, the evil one, rather than turning from their wickedness and placing their faith squarely upon the shoulders of the Lord. This heresy can neither be spouted by Christians nor those who claim to be Christians, for it comes directly from the deepest pits of hell; those who espouse this foolishness, nay, foolishness is not a strong enough word, those who espouse this evil doctrine surely have no place in the Kingdom of God, as they have rejected every precept found therein. They would rather excuse their sin than repent of it; they would rather serve the devil and their wicked desires than the holy commands of the Most High. This will never make sense to me, beloved; for why should men desire to serve the one who is the author of all pain and suffering?
Why should anyone desire to take the Word of the Lord and twist it unto their one means? Surely, if one reads the truth found herein, one cannot thereby remain in wickedness; and yet there are many who know the Word and yet utterly reject it. However, I have spoken against these fools before and I shall do it again; therefore, I believe an expounding of the verse above mentioned would be in order.
You see, when Christ died “once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,” this in no way intends that those who have failed in their repentance, or rejected the practice outright, have any hope of salvation, at least in their current state. Yes, anyone can come unto repentance, and I exhort you, beloved, do not take this wonderful gift of salvation for granted; rather, use the power of the Almighty Creator of the Universe and forsake your sins. The very sins for which Christ allowed Himself to be tortured and murdered, the actions of wickedness that have been the cause of so much pain and suffering in this world: forsake them! Have no more to do with the actions found herein, for there is no good that can possibly be found there; rather only destitution and vile behavior. Yes, He died “once for all” the perfect sacrifice, the final sacrificial lamb, and the only One who truly took away the sins of the world. There is some thought, that I believe is well grounded, that the blood of lambs and goats could never take away the sins of those who sacrificed them; rather, this blood merely covered up the evil deeds. Painted rust, one might say.
Yes, the paint makes the rust look better, but does it stop the process of corrosion? Certainly not! However, this thought of the non salvific nature of lamb's blood would thereby intend that none of these sacrifices were effective, and therefore, each and every man who trusted in this would thereby be condemned unto hell. However, this is not what this thought intends; rather, when Christ died “once for all,” His blood also retroactively covered the sins of those who trusted in the blood of lambs, thereby forgiving their sins as well. For if the blood of lambs truly took away sins, then there is little need for the sacrifice of Christ due to the fact that His blood would serve the same purpose.
Therefore, as mentioned before, these sacrifices were merely painted rust until the full and complete salvation was wrought through the Son of God. This idea, in my opinion, is highly valid and deserving of all consideration. In the subsequent verse I shall examine this theory a bit closer than my expounding found herein.
Now, when Christ was “put to death in the flesh” He was also “made alive in the spirit,” not abandoning His graces even for a moment, He went from the purity as a man and thereby converted that purity into the spiritual perfection that He has held throughout all eternity. He was the only holy and perfect man, the only One who could achieve true perfection, completely refraining from sin, and thereby the only One fit and able to take the sins of the world upon His shoulders. For, returning to the sacrificial lamb concept, only a pure lamb was fit for sacrifice in the Temple, “without spot or blemish.” Now, there would be quite a few of these gadding about, for they are incapable of sin, and therefore, the only purity required would be purity of form. A clean, white lamb would suffice for this ritualistic cleansing of sin. However, when John the Baptist called Christ “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” he also intended that Christ was perfect in every manner. Perhaps not physically, for it states in Isaiah that “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him,” but John rather meant He was sinless.
In this way was Christ the spotless Lamb of God, and thereby the only One in the history of the world to be qualified to bear the iniquity of us all. His outward appearance would be nothing spectacular, save during the transfiguration, but rather men would be attracted to Him because of His salvific power. Due to the fact that He is the spotless Lamb of God, the burden of sin could be laid upon His shoulders, and this is the only way that sins could truly be washed away: through the blood of the Almighty Creator of the Universe. Therefore, in the same way that He died for sins, we must thereby die unto sin, being raised anew, born again, desiring not wickedness, but rather holiness and perfection; we must desire holiness because He was, and remains, holy.