FORGIVENESS, BASIS OF

Bondage to sin came by birth; deliverance from sin comes by death. But if we die, then what good is it to be delivered? There is another way to die and yet live. For example, consider a small piece of paper that is placed into a book. The paper has an identity all its own, separate from the book, but now it is in the book and shares something with the book. Let’s say that the book is then mailed to another person. The paper was not mailed, but it had been put into the book. So where is the paper? Obviously, whatever the book goes through the paper will go through as well, for it is still there in the book. When Christ was crucified, we who are “in him,” died and received all that he went through, including deliverance from the bondage of sin.514