January 8 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"...who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).

Devotional

There is no victory over the indwelling power of sin, and there is no pardon for the guilt of sin, except as you deal with the blood of Christ. The great end of our dear Lord's death was to destroy the works of the devil. Sin is the great work of Satan. To overcome this, to break its power, subdue its dominion, repair its ruins, and release from its condemnation, the blessed Son of God suffered the ignominious death of the cross. All that bitter agony which he endured—all that mental suffering, the sorrow of his soul in the garden, the sufferings of his body on the cross—all was for sin.

See, then, the close and beautiful connection between the death of Christ and the death of sin. All true sanctification comes through the cross. Reader, seek it there. The cross of Christ brought into your soul by the eternal Spirit will be the death of your sins. Go to the cross! Oh, go to the cross of Jesus! In simplicity of faith, go. With the strong corruption, go. With the burden of guilt, go. Go to the cross. You will find nothing but love there, nothing but welcome there, nothing but purity there.

The precious blood of Jesus "cleanses us from all sin" (1 Jn. 1:7). And while you are kept low beneath the cross of Christ, your enemy will not dare to approach you, sin will not have dominion over you, nor can Satan, your accuser, condemn you.

Jesus, keep me near the cross;
there a precious fountain,
free to all—a healing stream—
flows from Calvary's mountain.

Refrain:
In the cross, in the cross,
be my glory ever;
till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
love and mercy found me;
there the Sun of Righteousness
spread his wings around me.
(Refrain)

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day
with its shadow o'er me.
(Refrain)

Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
hoping, trusting ever,
till I reach the golden strand
just beyond the river.
(Refrain)

(Fanny J. Crosby, 1869 [st. 2 alt., LEW, 1984])

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.