Today was my first introduction to Patti Smith—singer, songwriter and poet—whose career began in 1975 when her album Horses debuted. I would have just skimmed over the article in Rolling Stone Magazine, except this lyric from her song Gloria caught my eye. Smith wrote, “Jesus died for somebody’s sin, but not mine.”
To me this was a sad and desperate line, so I continued reading the lyrics. She wrote, “My sins, my own they belong to me, me.” She actually wants to keep her sins. Her thinking is very worldly. The world will tell us we can manage sin. The world will boast of its sinful and hateful ways towards God. The world is proud of sin. The world honors sin because the world is corrupt. So the world will convince us to keep our sin.
Jesus addressed this very thing when He said, “If I had not come and spoken to them [sinners] then they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin” (John 15:22). And He said elsewhere, “If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin” (John 15:24).
Our sin does not have to belong to us. God sent His Son into the world to make it clear sin has been punished and atoned for in the body of Jesus. And we have been redeemed through the blood of Christ poured out for us on the cross. Bottom line: Sin doesn’t belong to us; our sin belongs to Christ our Savior. Through faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, our sin becomes the property of the Savior, and our sinful nature is justified, redeemed and sanctified through the Holy Spirit.
Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.
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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2