Pulling Out the Poisoned Arrows of Sin




Andrea Mantegna 1506 A.D.




As a young man I lived in America, the Middle East, India and Israel. In all the lands I visited, I wanted to know how the different religions dealt with the problem of sin. I had been raised as a Catholic and was keenly aware of my sins. I knew that my sins would effect my destiny and that on the judgment Day I would have to give an account for them.

Catholics

The Catholics have an inefficient method of removing sins called the Sacrament of Confession. The sinner goes into a dark, private booth and confesses his sins to a priest who cannot see him. The priest then has the power to forgive, or not forgive the sins. If he forgives them, he gives the sinner a penance to do. Usually the sinner is told to say 10 repetitive prayers. The reason I say it is inefficient, or inadequate, is that often you have to wait many days before you can get to the priest to confess your sins. Plus my sins kept returning to me almost within hours of having them removed. So I would often go several days worried that if I died before I could go to confession, I would go straight to hell. And I often wondered why I couldn't just ask Yah directly to forgive me. Why did I need an intermediary?

Israel

When I lived in Israel I learned that Moses had designed a way for sins to be removed by sacrificing animals . But their scriptures said the animals had to be offered on the altar in Jerusalem to be accepted. The problem is that even when the animals were sacrificed it didn't remove their sins, but only covered them temporarily. Every year they had to repeat the rituals, but the sins never left them. To compound the problem there hasn't been an altar in Jerusalem for 2,000 years.

India

When I lived in India I saw a never ending festival of sacrificing to thousands of gods and idols in an attempt to remove sins. Usually the sacrifices were fruit and flowers and incense, or small animals. There seems to be no way to know if any sins were removed. Some sects like the Buddhists denied that sins existed. Others said sin was just an illusion of our ignorance. I knew my sins were not illusions.

Muslims

The saddest group of people I saw were the Muslims. They had no way to remove their sins, but lived in constant fear of the Judgment Day. Even if they made the pilgrimage to Mecca and sacrificed the hairiest camel, there was nothing in their holy book that offered any assurance of the removal of sins. Even by performing good deeds they have only a vague hope. When the Judgment Day comes their forgiveness all depends on the whim of Allah. Many believe that if they miss rising before dawn to say their morning prayers they will have to spend thousands of years in a purgatory, a hell-like place of torment, before they can enter paradise. Their only real hope of gaining paradise and having their sins forgiven is to die fighting in a holy war for the cause of Allah. No wonder they have so many suicide bombers willing to kill themselves in Jihad. Yah is all about love, mercy and forgiveness, so killing others is the farthest thing in my mind to have your sins removed.

The Search

I read every Holy Book I could find. I visited many sects and cults, old and new. But I kept circling back to Christianity. I didn't understand it, but I kept hearing phrases like Yahshuah died for my sins. Yahshuah paid the price. Yah loved me so much that he gave Yahshuah to take care of my sin problem.

The Protestants

I spent the middle years of my life among Protestants trying to understand how Yahshuah took away my sins. The good news they said was you do not need a priest as an intermediary, but the minute you sin, you can ask Yah to forgive your sins, and he will. This was good news, but only partially good news, for despite hearing many sermons and reading many books, and having many conversations, my sins were still with me. The general Protestant teaching was that Yahshuah took care of the punishment due my sins, but I would live out all the days of my life sinning. In other words Yahshuah saved me in my sins, but not from my sins. I was not satisfied. When I read the New Testament John the Baptist points to Yahshuah and says "Behold the lamb of Yah who will take away the sins of the world." That's what I wanted. I wanted my sins taken away. I wanted to lie down at the end of the day and not be able to recall any sins committed that day. I hated to see sins in my life and like poisoned arrows I wanted them pulled out and have them never return.

The Words of Yahshuah

I decided to stop going to churches. I had heard enough of men's opinions. I decided if I was to know the truth, I would ask Yah to reveal it to me through the words of the Messiah. Here's what I found:

Yahshuah Only Said Seven  Things About Sin
  1. Repent
  2. If you forgive others the Father will forgive your sins. If you do not forgive others their sins, the Father  cannot forgive you your sins (Mt 6:14)
  3. Much love forgives many sins (Lk.7:47)
  4. "Whoever commits sin is the slave of sin" (John 8:34)
  5. Twice Yahshuah told people "sin no more" (John 5:14 and John 8:11)
  6. Ask Father to forgive your sins.
  7. At the Last Supper he held up a cup and said  this cup is "my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.  (Mt.26:27 )

    Repent


    Yahshuah said before you come to the Father , first go and make it right with everyone you have offended. Once you've done that you can come and ask Father to forgive your sins.

    Forgiveness


    If you forgive everyone the Father will forgive you. This is a guarantee. If you do not forgive everyone, then no amount  good deeds , sacrifices or faith in the blood of Christ will do. The Father cannot forgive you, his hands are tied, if you do not forgive all who have offended you.

    Love


    Love is the heart of the spiritual life. Nothing is forgiven to a loveless person.

    Sin No More


    Is it really possible to stop sinning? Would Yahshuah ask you to do something impossible?

    Ask Father to Forgive You


    Yahshuah said "pray to the Father in my name." He is not a stern hard-hearted Judge, but a loving father longing for you to come home.

    If you have met the conditions above you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your sins are forgiven.

    What About the Blood Shed for the Remission of Sins?


    This last idea requires wisdom to understand it

    Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

        Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.



The Juice in the cup (the blood of the new covenant) is wisdom poured out.

Proverbs 9:1-4  Wisdom has built and furnished her home; it is supported by seven columns. She has set her table with food and mixed her wine. She has not sent her servant girls but gone herself to the village plaza to invite everyone within the sound of her voice. She says “Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on? Come with me, oh come, and eat my bread and drink my wine...”


Yahshuah brought us the wine of Yah's wisdom . Wisdom is the life blood of the new way to have sins removed. In the old covenant sins were removed by the shedding of animal blood, but in the new covenant sins are removed by the wisdom found in the steps Yahshuah revealed above: repentance, forgiveness, love, asking the father to forgive you in Yahshuah's name. Wisdom is the blood Yahshuah asked us to drink. "Whoever drinks my blood (wisdom) will have eternal zoe life and I will raise him (or her) up on the last day." (John 6:54)

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