Bible Studies

God Sees A Believers Faith Not Their Sins

by Michael Edwards 
05/09/18
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In the New Covenant of grace and truth Jesus brought, God promises over and over again He is not remembering, counting or imputing our sins.

"for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Jer 31:34 NAS

"FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." Heb 8:12 NAS

"AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." Heb 10:17 NAS

The New Covenant has fully replaced the Old Covenant of law that Moses gave.

When a person comes to a saving knowledge of Christ, they are forgiven of all their sins and placed under grace where Sin (noun – inherited Sin nature) is no longer their master with dominion over them and their acts of sin are not being counted.

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Rom 6:14 NAS

This means that their inherited Sin nature (the master in Rom 6:14) can no longer lead them unto death. It does not mean that they will no longer sin.

When we are born again, we are given a new Spirit that is holy, sanctified righteous and perfected. Our Spirit is sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit. This seal protects our Spirit from any contamination from the world.

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave [us] the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. 2 Cor 1:21-22 NAS

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,  who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. Eph 1:13-14 NAS

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Eph 4:30 NAS

Our eternal God-given born-again Spirit never has a desire to sin and struggles with our flesh our entire life here as we see with Paul in Romans 7.

Think of a letter to the King and on that letter is a seal that keeps the contents secure and assures it has not been opened before He receives it. No one but the King has authority to open this letter. We are that letter to the King with the words written in Christ's blood. The letter is sealed by the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our redemption to our King and to us.

…you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Cor 3:3 NAS

But our flesh remains unredeemed. Our flesh is still of this world and houses the inherited Sin nature with which we were born. In the end, our flesh pays the ultimate price for our acts of sin and dies. The wages of sin is death.

This division of Spirit and flesh is crucial to understand. God sees our flesh as crucified and dead with Christ. He calls us to do the same by faith and we know for certain it will happen. God calls us to walk in the Spirit and not in the dead flesh right now. We are supposed to regard all believers, including ourselves as being in the Spirit, not the flesh.  God only sees us as a living Spirit, not as our dead flesh. We are the only ones who have a difficult time seeing our flesh as dead and ourselves as only in the Spirit. Understanding this division between our living Spirit and our dead flesh is the key to great freedom in Christ. 

God only sees our faith and not the sin of our dead flesh. Not only does God tell us numerous times He is not counting or imputing our sins, but He also shows us examples of this in Hebrews 11, the hall of faith. If you read Hebrews 11 you see the great faith of Abraham, Sarah and Rahab to name a few. They look like stellar examples of perfect faith. But what you do not see recorded, is all of their sin, failure, and doubt of God’s words, written about in the Old Testament. This is because God did not count their sins just like He is not counting ours.

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. Isa 43:25 NAS

This is why you never see a believer called a sinner or any sinner subtitle like a liar, thief, etc. in the Bible. All who believe are called righteous, and there is a clear distinction. This is not because they did not sin, because they did, but God is looking for our faith and not our sin. This is also why you never see a believer called a hypocrite except for one time when Peter acts like a legalistic Jew, judging his Gentile friends to impress the self-righteous Jews.

God is not looking at our dead flesh; he sees it as dead like we are called too. He does not see the sins it commits or count them. He is not holding them against us because we are not our dead flesh. Our flesh is simply a temporary tent we still live in until we die and our redemption can be completed. This is when we receive a new glorified body that is free from an inherited Sin nature. A body that will be in perfect sync with our already perfected Spirit. There will be no further struggle with sin or desire to sin.

The value of our old flesh is that it allows our Spirit to remain here and be an ambassador for Christ in this fallen world. This is why God puts up with it. He desires all come to a saving knowledge of Christ and we are here on the front lines to do His work in a form other humans recognize and can relate too. Our flesh is expendable because it is already dead. When we die here it is the best thing that can happen to a believer, so we lose nothing and gain everything. 

When Jesus returns He will be looking for our faith as believers, not our sin.

…However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8 NAS

How will you choose to see yourself, in your dead flesh or as a living Spirit in Christ? Will you choose to see your flesh as dead as God does and calls you too? Will you commit to learning how to walk by the Spirit and not the letter? To walk in the Spirit, in Christ? Or will you remain captive to your old nature. It is up to you. If you believe the gospel you are saved right now, but you can walk in the promised land here and now if you will heed God’s instructions and simply believe.

Study the New Covenant of grace and truth that Jesus brought us exclusively for one year, and your life will be transformed. The book of Hebrews is all about the New Covenant, and I have many studies that can help you to enjoy all the freedom Jesus died to give you.

More New Covenant Bible Studies that support this study and apply:

The New Covenant of Grace Replaced the Old Covenant of Law

If You Believe You Have Been Saved

Leave the Burden on God

Jesus Did Not Die to See If We Can Qualify

Only Way to be Righteous – Right with God.

Did Jesus Sacrifice Provide Forgiveness for Our Future Sins Too? Yes

Christians are Blessed Because God is Not Imputing our Sins

I Am Holy, I Am Sanctified, I Am Perfected

God Said a Believer Can Never be Considered Unholy

Believers are Never Called Sinners in the New Testament

Jesus Never Called a Believer a Hypocrite – Neither did the Apostles.

How is the Flesh Crucified?

Your Flesh is Dead Christian, Not in School

If Sin Has Dominion in Your Life, You are Living Under the Law, Not Grace

How to Examine Yourself and See if You Are in the Faith

Walking by the Spirit is Gods Will for Your Life, Guaranteed

Examining the Practical Righteousness of Abraham – Hebrews 11 hall of faith information.

Is There Such Thing as a Violent Christian Drunkard? – There were many sins in the early church.

How Christians Dilute the Power of the Gospel in Their Lives

Many more New Covenant Bible Studies HERE. Jesus poured out His blood for the New Covenant of grace and truth, replacing the Old Covenant law of Moses. Believers are exclusively under the New Covenant, the last will and testament of Jesus that began after the cross. 

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. Luke 22:20