The Defeat of Sin and Satan

“And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness” (Lev. 16:20-22). Here we have just a small portion of what was done on the day of atonement under the old covenant for the remitting of the sins of the people of Israel. I just want to focus a moment on one aspect of the day of atonement, and when it’s all said and done it is certainly the most important aspect. The ‘live goat’ over which Aaron confessed the sins of the children of Israel represented Jesus, as did all of the sacrifices. However this goat was not actually a sacrifice, as it was sent away alive into “a land not ‘inhabited,’ bearing the sins of Israel upon it. The point that I want to make is that when we exercise genuine faith in Jesus and receive his Spirit thereby, all of our sins are sent away into that ‘land not inhabited’ (Jn. 7:38,39; I Cor. 6:11; Rom. 8:9). Literal translation - they are gone. The scripture clearly tells us that none of the old testament sacrifices ever took sin literally out of the hearts of men, and the scripture is just as clear that the sacrifice of Christ does exactly that for those who believe and receive the power of his Spirit into their hearts and souls (Heb. 10:4,11-15; Heb. 9:13,14). The more emphatic point here is that if our sins are literally ‘washed’ out of our hearts by the holy Ghost, as 1 Corinthians 6:11 says they are, then we don’t have to continue to put up with them anymore. According to the apostle Paul we have the capacity to live free from sin while in this life (Rom. 6:1,2,6,12,14; Rom. 8:2; Tit. 2:11,12; etc.). Go ahead, look up those verses. It’s true. Not only do we have the right and capacity to live free from sin, but we also have been given power by Jesus over the evil spirits that rule the darkened minds of this world of unbelief; and over sickness and physical affliction as well (Lk. 10:19; Eph. 6:11,12; Mat. 8:16,17; I Pet. 2:24).

So we do not have to put up with the oppression, fears, turmoil, unrest, despair, and assaults on our health that others without faith just accept as the norm. Jesus sent the power of all these adverse things into ‘a land not inhabited for all who believe, when he died at Calvary, raised from the dead, and sent back the holy Ghost from heaven for all who would believe on him for what he has done. What was done on the day of atonement was a type of what Jesus was going to do after a spiritual and real order of things later (Col. 2:16,17; Heb. 10:1). The difference is that what Jesus did and what he has provided for us DOES get the job done that the old covenant couldn’t get done (Gal. 2:16,21; Gal. 3:21). So when we are plagued by any of the things that Jesus suffered, died, rose from the dead, and mediates at the right hand of God for; we need only be reminded that he has given us "power from on high” wherewith we are able to send these evil forces back into that ‘land not inhabited’ (Lk. 24:49). Instead of being taken off guard by these spiritual assaults, we need to “be sober… and vigilant” as to what is happening to us, and to the fact that these things do not belong to us or with us (I Pet. 5:8). But we need to keep in mind that the only way that we can have the victory over these things is by “keeping [ourselves] pure” from sin (I Tim. 5:22; Mat. 5:8). Sin brings condemnation on the heart, and condemnation is the mortal enemy of faith (I Jn. 3:20-22; Jas. 1:6-8). As referenced in the previous verses, the beloved apostle gave us the only prescription for having the faith to obtain the promises of God: “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” The good news is that we have the availability and power to send both sin and the afflictions that are in the world because of sin, away ‘into a land not inhabited.’ With these things said, there remains only one exhortation: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). The devil lives in that “land not inhabited,” so let’s not be fooled to think that his devices live with us or belong to us (II Cor. 2:11). Send them and him back to where they belong. Amen.