Let us be absolutely faithful in resisting sin through the grace that God has given us under the new covenant. If we keep on putting to death the sinful deeds of our flesh, the Lord Jesus will finally come to us and prevail against His enemies, bringing upon them the full wrath of God. They shall be torn from our personalities root and branch. Then we shall go forth as calves of the stall, rejoicing in the Divine deliverance that has been brought to us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

By the expression "removing the presence of sin from us" we mean removing the love of the world, fleshly lusts, and our self-will and self-centeredness.

The presence of spiritual darkness, the compulsion and willingness to do what is contrary to God's Personality and will, shall be separated from our personality as part of the Divine redemption. We are to be at peace in the fullness of God's Presence, the presence of evil having been sent away from us.

After we receive the Lord Jesus, repent of our sins, and are baptized in water, the righteousness of Jesus is imputed (ascribed; given) to us. This means that God regards us as righteous even though there is much sin present in our personality. Because of our identification with Christ, God accepts our person.

God has forgiven our sins and has declared us to be righteous, accepted of Him. There may remain much worldliness, lust, and self-will in our personality. The first part of the atonement has been put into effect but the presence of sin has not as yet been removed from the camp.

The Church of the future is the holy Jerusalem. It is the Wife of the Lamb and is to be holy beyond all holiness. The new Jerusalem will be an unblemished Bride.

However, the new Jerusalem, the holy city, the Wife of the Lamb, is not to be holy merely by imputation (assigned righteousness). The new world over which the holy city reigns is not to be righteous merely by assigned righteousness. The presence of sin will have been actually removed from the new Jerusalem and also from the nations of saved peoples of the earth that walk in the light of the new Jerusalem.

In the hour in which we are living the Lord Jesus has forgiven our sins but the presence of sin remains in the churches and in the world. Yet we know that sin will not be present in the new world that is coming. It must be true, therefore, that at some point between the present age and the new world the presence of sin will be removed from the Church and from the nations of saved peoples of the earth.

The question is: where, when, and how will the removal of the presence of sin from the Church of Christ, and from the nations of saved peoples of the earth, take place? When will the fullness of the Day of Atonement be accomplished?

The removal of sin will take place on the earth. It is not impossible that judgment and deliverance will happen in the spirit realm, but we think we are correct in stating that the bulk of the Scriptures points toward the earth as the location of cleansing from sin.

To be continued.