Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin" ... 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Many people, even amongst us as Christians do not really understand the very serious nature of sin, and for this reason we continue to tamper with it from time to time, not knowing its deadly nature. God forgives the sinner by removing our transgressions and placing them upon the shoulders of Christ, but God cannot forgive sin itself, He never has, and He never will. At the end of the day somebody has to pay for it, because God cannot just say to us "I forgive you" without payment being made. Furthermore, the only way to eradicate sin is to completely burn it, a process that will take place via the fires of hell. A misunderstanding of the true nature of sin causes many of us to treat it lightly, and thereby also treat the sacrifice of Christ in our stead, as if it were a light thing.
In the ancient sanctuary system, a lamb or other animal was brought to the door of the tabernacle, where the sinner would confess his sins over the animal's head, thus signifying the transfer of his transgressions from himself to the animal. But the sin still existed. After that the priest would take the blood of the slain animal into the Holy place and sprinkle it upon the curtains which separated the Holy from the Most Holy place. But the sin still existed. Then once a year on the day of Atonement, the high priest would transfer the sins that had accumulated all year, from the Most Holy place to the head of the scapegoat, which was then carried by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, where it was let loose. But the sins still existed.
Sin will be finally eradicated when the fires of hell are kindled which will literally burn sin out of existence, for this is the one and only way to get rid of it. When the Bible speaks of God forgiving our sins we should understand intelligently what is being referred to. After it was determined in the courts of heaven that a rescue plan would be put in place to save the human race from utter destruction, there was only one question remaining to be answered, "Who's paying" and that question was answered by Christ, who voluntarily accepted the responsibility of paying the tab, and this is the one and only way that our sins are forgiven us, in that they are transferred from ourselves to The Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Let's read:
Hebrews 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come" .... 12 "By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
If I were to invite you home for lunch, the lunch will be free to you, but I will have to pay for it. Similarly, when God forgives us our sins, the forgiveness is free to us, but Someone has to pay for it, and it's this way and this way only that our sins are forgiven. Let us therefore not harbor or cherish any sin in our lives knowingly, for the wages of sin is still death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to remember the real reason why Jesus came to this world, and may we never negotiate or tamper with sin anymore, knowing the serious nature and consequences of our transgressions. Let's read:
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
May the Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!