“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18
“Suffered once for sins” may need a little explanation. Our sufferings and good works do not atone for our sin; Christ made atonement for us by His death on the cross. His death on the Cross was a once-for-all event, since He does not have to be “recrucified” each time we sin. His resurrection gives absolute certainty that His sacrifice was effective. Though the Levitical priesthood could not bring the fullness of God’s salvation, Jesus, the sinless and perfect Priest, freely brings us God’s eternal blessings through His sacrificial death. His perfect work reminds us that death will always cut short even the best effort that anyone makes to warrant God’s favor.
“Alive in the spirit. Christ’s human spirit and body, separated in death, were reunited in His resurrection. Luther said this, “We are one sacrifice with Him. As He dies, so we, too, die according to the flesh; as He lives in the spirit, so we, too, live in the spirit”.
God’s blessings on your day…