REMISSION/REMIT
BILL HOFKINS ©
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28 KJV
for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Matthew 26:28 NLT
The Greek word for remission is aphesis, and it means: A dismissal, a release. We translate the same Greek word as forgiveness, depending on context.
Believers often use the words ‘remission’ and ‘forgiveness’ as synonymous terms. But there is a difference between the two. In our key text, the KJV words it, “for the remission of sins.” The NLT has it saying, “to forgive the sins of many.”
The difference is, forgiveness will take away the ill-will for an offence, while remission will wipe away or cancel the offence, as if we never committed it.
Let’s say my next-door neighbor accidentally smashed into my fence with his car. He feels remorseful and asks me to forgive him–and I do. Although I forgive him and have no resentment, the fence is still broken. My neighbor must pay for the damage.
But he comes to me and confesses, “I am broke! I just filed for bankruptcy, and I cannot pay you.” I straightway let him off the hook. I not only forgive him and have no ill will, I also canceled his debt.
To paraphrase Jesus as he offers the cup of wine to his disciples: “By drinking my blood, you enter covenant. I cancel your debt by dying in your place, and God restores relationship, as if you never had a sin nature to begin with.”
The shed blood does not cover sin, it annihilates it!
Here is another poignant example:
Forgiveness: Let’s say you killed my son. But with sincerity of heart, you ask me to forgive you. I forgive and hold no hatred… but I press charges. Thus, I have forgiven you, but you must still pay the penalty for your wrongdoing.
Remission: Let’s say you killed my son. You ask me to forgive you, and I do, but I go further, I don’t press charges and I never again consider the offence. Also, I invite you into my family to replace the son that you killed. That is true New Covenant remission. “There is now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8.1
I know this sounds preposterous!
But isn’t that how God treats us? We the humans, through Adam and Eve, rebelled and committed high treason in the Garden. Then, the same defiant nature murdered His beloved Son!
Yet he receives us into his family as sons and daughters.
How preposterous is that!?
He welcomes you to heaven, even though you did nothing to deserve it.
Remission goes beyond forgiveness, therefore, and saves us because of Grace, which is un-merited favor. This quality of love from God is yours. But He will not force it on you. You must accept it as a gift. Then he forgives…no…remits your sins and transforms your fallen nature to righteousness.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites had what we know as atonement through animal sacrifice. We define atonement as the covering over of sin. But, while I’m forgiven and my guilt temporarily covered, I still have my sin nature.
It is because the blood of animals did not annihilate sin and could never change the heart of man. It was only through the blood and name of Jesus that he forgives us, once and for all. “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Acts 10:43.
Welcome to the Jubilee
In Israel, at the end of fifty years, the trumpet appropriately sounded, and the “Year of Jubilee” was proclaimed. If you lost your farm or land or liberty by becoming a slave, or any other freedoms, for any reason, they restored it to you.
It was the great fifty-year reset. You regained your rightful inheritance from the Lord.
The Bible also associates the Greek word remission with the word liberty. For example, Jesus said in Luke chapter four that God sent him “to set at liberty (remission) those that are bruised.”
So, we couple the word liberty with Jubilee and require that all debts be cancelled.
The blood covenant provides our redemption and guarantees the resetting of relationship and complete transforming of our spirits from death to life, from darkness into light. Only through remission can we be born again.
Therefore, the remission of sin of the new covenant is comprehensive. It forgives AND forgets. It resets and re-establishes our relationship with God our Father.
When you are born again, there is no longer guilt and condemnation. You are acceptable to God the Father as a pure, unblamable and righteous son because you ARE an acceptable and holy son, with full privilege and right to inheritance. That’s remission.
Four Elements
There are four ingredients within our key text. These four elements preach loud and clear the Gospel message and give understanding of the heart and agenda of God.
I have covered Remission above, so I will summarize the three remaining points and hope you see why I consider this one of the most significant verses in the entire Bible.
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Mathew 26:28
This is My Blood…
It was HIS blood, not the blood of animals that saved us. His paternal blood line, his DNA and lineage came from His Father— Almighty God. His mother was a young Jewish girl from the house of, or lineage of, King David.
She was a Virgin when the Holy Ghost impregnated her. This created a pure and perfect bloodline that qualified Jesus to be the sacrificial lamb.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:34-35
Mary was a virgin who knew not a man. And yet,
The Holy Ghost overshadowed her, impregnating her with a child who would be ‘holy’, meaning he would be an extraordinary, special hybrid, a genuine human being, but without our sin nature. He was 100% man and 100% God.
Redemption was a mission impossible. The one chosen for the job must be faithful, loyal, and have power and great authority. Where could God find such a man? To qualify it would take a sinless man, and from the human family there was no man, or woman without sin.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Romans 3:10-12
The Passover lamb had to be perfect and without blemish. Therefore the law required the High Priest to examine the sacrificial lamb on Passover to verify it was ritualistically clean.
Only a perfect lamb without blemish could be used to bring about the remission of sins. Jesus was that man, and he alone could cancel the sins of the world.
Of the New Testament…
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28 KJV
for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Matthew 26:28 NLT
Just as there is a difference between the words forgiveness and remission, there is also a difference between the words testament and covenant.
In our key text, The King James version of the Bible uses the word testament. The NLT, and other translations, use the word covenant. What’s the difference?
The Greek uses the word diathēkē, for both words; Testament and Covenant.
The church has evolved in using the word Testament to mean the Bible in a general sense.
In modern times, we use the term Testament to describe someone’s last will and testament. It is that person’s desire to distribute his earthly possessions to his inheritors.
The following verse is an example of inheritance:
For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.
For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Hebrews 9:16-17
However, it is not the same thing that Jesus is describing in our key verse. He is using the same word diathēkē, but using it in terms of blood covenant. We use the same word but have different meanings when read in context because the two words are the same Greek word.
The next verse is using the word covenant and is speaking of cutting a covenant,
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Hebrews 8:13
If Jesus were only addressing the distribution of his father’s inheritance, there would be no need to shed blood.
He was speaking of cutting a blood covenant in the same way that Abraham cut the blood covenant.
Covenant is the Hebrew word ‘Berith’, meaning to cut, and connotes blood flowing where there is an intentional cut or wounding.
Why would you need to cut and have blood flow if you’re simply referring to your father’s last will and testament?
No, Jesus was speaking of a blood covenant. The following is an excerpt from my article, The Blood Covenant. It describes the ceremonial portion of the cutting of Covenant that Abraham and God entered into. I also include the curse of those who break Covenant.
Excerpt: The Blood Covenant
They cut the animals’ lengthwise down the spine, then laid each half side by side. There was a space between the pieces which provided a pathway between them. One partner would walk from one end of the row to the other and state provisions of the covenant, the blessing, and the cursing, their vows, and pledge of loyalty.
The other would do the same. A portion of the ceremony would include curses. This is the reason they used lifeless animals. The implication is important. It is, If you break your pledge of loyalty to this covenant, then may you experience the same fate as these dead animals!
“But’… you may think, ‘how is this similar to Jesus making a covenant? He wasn’t cut in two” To which I would point to the Last Supper. Remember when Jesus took a loaf of bread and broke it in two pieces?
This represented the two halves of his body. Then he took the cup and said “this is my blood.” So, present at the last supper, there was both a broken (in-half) body and shed blood, similar to Abraham’s ceremony.
If that’s true, what would the penalty be for breaking the covenant, for turning your back on Jesus and refusing to conform to the Kingdom of God?
One example is found in Luke 12. Observe the fate of the rebellious and disloyal servant:
But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayed his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
The lord of that servant will come in a day when he locketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Luke 12:45-46
The King James says, cut him in sunder, but other translations say he will, cut him in two, or, cut him in pieces.
This meant they would cut the unfaithful servant in two, down the spine! Like those making covenant, walking between the halves of the heifer, and pronouncing, “If you break this covenant may you become as these dead animals.”
Do you see it? Disloyalty to the covenant will never bring reward, only heartache. end excerpt.
Please read my article on the blood covenant.
I think that over time, church people unintentionally exchanged the word covenant with testament because covenant is such a messy operation to talk about.
If you were there to witness the true brutality of the Lord’s passion, your knees would buckle, and your stomach would churn. I doubt you could get through it without breaking down.
They condemned him in the house of the High Priest and his blood shed in the Palace of Pontius Pilate. His blood fell on the ground of both Jews and Gentiles, and all the way to the place of the skull.
The place where his blood was not shed was in the Temple area. Think about it. Jesus is the lamb but not sacrificed anywhere near the Temple. In fact, after the resurrection Jesus appeared in many places, but he never again appeared in the Temple. Hmmm.
Finally they nailed him to a pole, or cross. The Bible expounds that when the soldiers came to break his legs, Jesus was already dead. This fulfilled the prophecy: He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Psalm 34:20
They would have been happy to break his legs, but he most likely bled out, and overly traumatized. legs are broken so the victim cannot support himself and cannot breathe. They die quickly by suffocation.
The two malefactors crucified with him came straight from prison and crucified. They were not beaten or whiplashed. Normally, one crucified would suffer for many hours. They broke their legs so they would die quickly, and taken down from their crosses before Passover at sundown.
Jesus truly shed his blood in a most brutal and violent way. But that is what it took to cancel our debt of sin.
my blood–which is shed…
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matt. 26:28
I love my blood. It flows in my veins and brings nourishment to every cell of my body. But I want my lovely blood to stay right where it is and keep doing just what it does best — keep me alive!
Jesus wanted the same thing, but knew he had to die a bloody death. There was no escaping it.
The Jews considered blood to be the life of an animal or a person. They did not know biologically that blood nourishes every cell in the body.
But it was written and understood in the law of Moses, that life was in the blood:
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the (shedding of ) blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Leviticus 17:11
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Hebrews 9:22
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Hebrews 10:4
So, when Jesus shed his blood he was shedding his life or the essence of who he was! As his blood flowed, his life ebbed away. His life for our life. His blood for our blood.
Everything that is connected to redemption, remission, reconciliation, and restoration unto right relationship and reigning with Christ in heavenly places is reliant on the shedding of precious, innocent blood of Jesus Christ.
For the Remission of Sin
And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; Hebrews 10:11-12
Jesus sat down on the right hand of God because sitting is the position of rest. It shows that there was no more work to be done because salvation was complete.
We are also at rest, with Christ, as we sit on the throne with him in the heavenlies.
To further prove and confirm remission, cancelling of debt, and our full acceptance, let’s look at our current position. The New Covenant has the body of Christ, that’s you, already raised from the dead and already sitting with him on His Throne:
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:5-6
Benefits of the Blood
Remission opens the door to the rest of God’s benefits, the benefits that bring grace and peace, authority and protection to the Body of Christ.
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:17-18
There is no more offering for sin because Jesus was the last sacrifice.
There are many other things we can say about remission but I will finish this article by providing a partial list of the blessings and benefits of the shed blood of Jesus.
PEACE
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Colossians 1:20
REDEMPTION
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Ephesians 1:7
JUSTIFICATION
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Romans 5:9
BOLDNESS TO ENTER
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Hebrews 10:19-20
PURE CONSCIENCE
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:14
CLEANSING FROM SIN
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
SANCTIFATION
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21
NEW BIRTH
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1 Peter 1:18-19
OVERCOMING POWER
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Revelation 12:11
CHURCH FELLOWSHIP
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Acts 20:28
SAVED FROM WRATH
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Acts 20:28
If you are not born again
Please pray this prayer in a simple yet sincere way: Heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus and that he shed His blood for me. I receive Jesus into my heart right now and take Him as my Savior. Forgive me of all my sins and make me a new creation in Christ. Amen.