Clothed ourselves with Christ:

Galatians 3:27
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

            We have clothed ourselves with Christ - with the garments of righteousness. As far as the enemy is concerned, when he sees us, he sees Jesus. He sees Jesus’ righteousness. We should behave like we’re covered with that righteousness. We shouldn’t go around behaving like the people of the world. We should act in a manner becoming to those in shining white garments.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You have put on the garments of righteousness, when you are clothed with Me. You have immersed yourself in My holiness, as you enter into My baptism. You will walk in holiness, if you will allow Me to show you the way. You need not fear that you will be rejected. You will be greatly loved, and I will show you how to walk in My holiness.”

            29. When I was baptized, I clothed myself with Christ, like putting on an overcoat. Since I have clothed myself with Him, I should walk in newness of life the same as He did on earth.

Advocate with the Father:

1 John 2:1
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

            Here John is writing words of wisdom to help us see how to keep from sinning. We need God’s wisdom to show us the way. God’s desire is that we do not sin. He doesn’t say, “Well, they’re just human. They can’t help themselves. They are going to sin sooner or later.” His will is that we stop altogether. But, if we do happen to sin, He doesn’t abandon us to our own just deserts. He provides us with our very own attorney … and not just any attorney … Jesus Christ, the righteous. He, never having sinned, though tempted in all things just like we are tempted, could very easily say, “They’re getting what they deserve. I resisted. Why can’t they?” Instead, He does all He can to help us turn away from those sins and not do them again. But we have to be willing and put forth the effort.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You know that it is not the desire of your Father that you sin. But if you do sin, I am there to plead your cause. I am there to comfort you in time of need. I will plead your case, if you will but let Me. I will draw you unto the Father, as you draw unto Me. If you let Me, I will bring you into the Father’s forgiveness.”

            28. While it is no longer my nature to sin, it is possible that I might sin. If I should sin and confess it, Jesus pleads my case before the Father.

What His death accomplished:

            Takes away the sin of the world:

John 1:28-29
28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

            It’s extremely important that we have all our sins forgiven. But Jesus didn’t come just to absolve us of those wrongdoings. He came to help us keep from committing new sins, and to even take away our desire to do those things that are displeasing to God. It’s amazing that He could and would help us resist the urge to commit sin. It’s nearly impossible to believe that He can and will take away even the desire to do them.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My children, I did not come just to cover over your sin … to hide it so that it could not be seen. I came to remove it to the far corners of the universe so that it could never be discovered again. I did not come to just forgive a sin or two that you might do each day. I came to do away with the desire to sin again. I came that you might have the desire that I had when I was on the earth … to always do the will of My Father. That is what I expect of you … to always want to do His will. And you can always do His will as you allow His Spirit to control your wants and wishes. Allow His Spirit to have His way in your life, and you will not have to struggle to do the Father’s will. I will come supernaturally.”

            27. When I believed on Jesus, he took away my sin and my sinful nature. In return, He gave me the very nature of God.

Remembers our sins no more

Hebrews 8:10-12
10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”

            Keeping His commandments is not a matter of trying to keep some set of rules written down somewhere. These rules are written down on our hearts and minds. When we allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in us, He will automatically keep them. When people forgive us of wrongs that we have done to them, they still remember them and many times are not shy about reminding us of all the times that we have failed them. God is not that way. If we repent and confess our sins, He not only forgives us, but also He forgets them. He doesn’t keep dragging them up to remind us of our failures. If sins we have confessed keep plaguing us, it’s not God pointing them out. It’s either the enemy trying to oppress us, or our own poor self-image that doesn’t want to believe that God could and would forgive us.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "What you have done in the past is gone forever. I do not hold those things against you. You do not have to fear that one day I will chastise you for past wrongs. I only want good for you. I will guide you into the paths of righteousness for My name’s sake. I would not have you bring shame upon My name by wrong actions. I will show you the way to walk in My righteousness, if you will allow My Spirit to control your actions. You are My child, and I want you to walk in My ways. It is for your own good that I desire this. You can trust Me to do good for you. I will not remind you of past sins that are forgiven. You can depend on Me to only remind you of those things for which you have not received forgiveness.”

            26. God remembers my sins no more. Since He doesn’t, then neither should I.

            There is no one that a child would desire to be more like than his/her father. You can be like your Heavenly Father. In fact, you are destined to be like Him. Most of us did not like certain things our fathers habitually said or did. We said to ourselves that we would never say or do those things, especially to our own children. Then what happened? We caught ourselves saying or doing the same thing our fathers said or did. Oh how it irked us! It seemed like we were destined to say or do the same things.

            We are destined to say and do the same things that our Heavenly Father has said or done. That is very good news. Jesus only said and did the things His Father (who is our Father too) said and did. If Jesus did, then so should we.

He remains faithful:

2 Timothy 2:13
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

            We cannot depend on humans to remain faithful to us. Some will, but others won’t. Those remain faithful so long as everything is great and they are o.k. with the way we act. But if things go south or they don’t approve of what we do, they turn their backs on us. God isn’t that way. He remains faithful to us, even when we do things that He doesn’t approve of … even when we are not faithful to Him. It says it’s because He cannot deny Himself. That’s because He resides within us. We need have no fear that one day He will suddenly reject us, even if others have already rejected us.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You know Me, My children. I would not leave you alone, nor would I leave you defenseless. You know that I will always do what I say. I will never go back on My Word, but will always perform it. You can depend on Me, when I tell you that I will do something. I have only good for you. But you must trust Me to do what I say I will do for you. There is no other way than to trust Me to do what My Word says that I will do.”

            25. No matter what I may do, He remains faithful to me. He will never leave me nor forsake me.