The same blood that made our redemption possible when we obeyed the gospel, continues to work for us throughout our lives.  This is one of the great blessings of being in Christ.  In Romans 8:1, Paul tells us that there is no condemnation in Christ.  This is because as Christians we appear before God as if we have not sinned.  Paul said that Christ “condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:3-4).

The question is, what did the law require?  The law required sinlessness because it could not make perfect provision for sin.  The animal sacrifices could never take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4).  Now, in Christ, Paul said that the requirement of the law has been fulfilled in us, meaning that we, as a result of being justified by our faith and obedience to God and having been cleansed by the blood of Christ, stand before God as if we are sinless.  This is why we can have fellowship with God.  Remember, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).  However, if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with God because our sins are cleansed by the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7).

The word “cleanses” in 1 John 1:7 is a present tense verb, indicating something that continues. In this case, it is the cleansing blood of Christ.  That does not mean that our sins are automatically cleansed when we sin.  God always requires repentance.  When Simon sinned in Acts 8, Peter told him to repent and pray to God (Acts 8:22).  In 1 John 1, John says that we must confess our sins to God to be cleansed from all unrighteousness, but if we are willing to do that, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins (ver. 9).

Being able to activate the cleansing blood of Christ through the power of prayer means we do not have to live sinlessly to make it to heaven.  The New Testament message is that “the righteous shall by faith” (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).  What a wonderful blessing this is, especially when we consider the truth that we all sin and fall short of God’s glory from time to time (Romans 3:23).  Going back to 1 John 1, John says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves (ver. 8).  In Christ, we are blessed, not because we never sin, but because we do, and yet that sin is covered by the blood of Christ when we repent and ask God for forgiveness.

Romans 4:7–8 (ESV)
⁷“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; ⁸blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Who is the one who is blessed?  It is not the one who is righteous based on his own perfect, meritorious works, but the one whose sins are removed from his account.  That is what we have access to in Christ.  The ability to appear before God without sin, not because we are not sinners, but because in Christ, when we sin, all we have to do is repent and ask God for forgiveness; and, with Jesus making intercession for us (1 John 2:1), our sin is completely removed.  The Hebrews writer tells us the blessed result of this.

Hebrews 8:12 (ESV)
¹²  For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.