When Did Jesus Act on Your Behalf?

Part Three of a Series

When did Jesus do all this?
He took this action while you were His enemy.

Ephesians 2:4-5 (KJV)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Colossians 2:13 (KJV)
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Romans 5:6-10 (KJV)
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

While we were spiritually dead and enemies of God, Jesus took action on our behalf.

It is interesting that Jesus died to sin. He did this so that the wages of sin, the unavoidable end result of sin, would be completely taken care of. Sin is not acceptable to God, yet all of us were born in sin, born unacceptable to God.

Romans 6:10 (KJV)
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once:

He died to sin. That was what it took to give us forgiveness. Somehow, we had to be changed, however. Somehow, we had to be made permanently acceptable to God. It could not be based on our behavior, or we would simply fail again. The bar is perfection and that is like saying we have to be able to leap to Pluto in a single bound. So, what could God do to correct this?

He crucified us with Jesus. That meant that just like Jesus, we died to sin.

Romans 6:6-7 (KJV)
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Do you see that? You died to sin. It is no longer a part of your life. Our issue is that we often fail to understand this truth about ourselves. Paul reiterates it as a reminder.

Romans 6:11 (KJV)
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Don’t miss this. It is a crucial part of what Jesus did for you at the cross. You have only one nature. You no longer have the nature you inherited from Adam. That nature was sinful.

Now you have the very nature of God Himself. You participate in His nature, according to 2 Peter 1:4. God's seed is in you, according to 1 John 3:9. This is the reason that sin no longer satisfies. We are dead to that. We are alive to God. Every part of us wants what is godly, right, true, and loving.

He loves us so much that He acted on our behalf to make all this available as a free gift while we were still His enemies.